Two wildly different paths to the record books are colliding in Rally1 Rewind, pitching Sami Pajari's unprecedented winning streak straight against Sébastien Ogier's ninth world championship crown.
Let's start with the history Pajari and his co-driver Marko Salminen carved out for themselves. By taking their maiden WRC victory in Estonia, following it up with a home triumph in Finland, and then reaching the finish in Paraguay on 30 August, the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 crew achieved something no one else ever had. They became the first crew in WRC history to claim their opening three outright wins at consecutive rounds.
I never thought that this moment of a ninth title would come,
That third success wasn't handed to them, either. It required navigating an early water leak, grinding into the lead, and surviving brutal bumps, rocks, and constantly shifting conditions to finish 25.8 seconds ahead of Hayden Paddon. As Pajari put it himself, it was not about being flat-out all the time. The drive proved he could mix the raw pace of his first two wins with the shrewd judgement needed to conquer a savage gravel test, pulling him within 20 points of championship leader Elfyn Evans.
On the other side of the bracket stands none other than Sébastien Ogier (yes, that Sébastien Loeb-equaling Sébastien Ogier). Arriving at the inaugural Rally Saudi Arabia three points behind team-mate Elfyn Evans, Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais turned the deficit around to snatch a four-point championship victory by the end of the desert event.
That punishing rally threw road cleaning and tyre damage at both contenders. The decisive blow finally fell on the penultimate Asfan stage, where Ogier outpaced Evans and climbed to third overall as rivals struck trouble. That third-place finish, paired with final-day points, sealed title number nine and Landais' first co-drivers' crown. It was the crowning achievement of a selected programme where Ogier won six of his 11 starts, arriving four years after his previous championship.
“I never thought that this moment of a ninth title would come,” Ogier admitted. With that result, Sébastien Loeb's record has company, as two French drivers now share the highest championship total in the history of the sport.
