Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia wrapped up the 2020 WRC season in style by winning the final round – Rally Monza – and claimed their seventh world title in eight seasons! Meanwhile, defending constructors' champion Hyundai secured the title once again by defeating Toyota by just five points.
As expected, the final round of the 2020 WRC season was packed with drama and the snow-covered terrain of Monza, coupled with a torrential downpour, made the proceedings all the more challenging for the competitors and even more heart-stopping for the viewers and followers.
Heading into the final round, Toyota driver Elfyn Evans was the championship favourite as he sat on top of the leaderboard with 111 points, 14 points clear of teammate and closest championship challenger Sebastien Ogier. And, as it turned out, the final battle for the crown was shaping up to be a duel between these two drivers, until the penultimate leg of Rally Monza on Saturday.
Unfortunately, Evans' title hopes came crashing down on Saturday as his WRC Yaris ran off a bank and went into the trees. This gave Ogier the ideal opportunity to open up a lead on the Hyundai duo of Dani Sordo and Ott Tanak.
While Ogier did manage to win the final leg and the rally on Sunday with a comfortable lead of 13.9 seconds (122 points), it was definitely not an easy outing for him as the snow-covered mountain roads of Monza and the hard downpour made the conditions as tricky as ever. Ogier even had a brief scare in the final moments of the Wolf Power Stage when his wipers failed momentarily, causing him to drive in near-zero front visibility for a few seconds.
Behind Ogier, Hyundai drivers Ott Tanak (105 points) and Dani Sordo (42 points) managed to hold their ground and after constantly exchanging positions, Tanak crossed the line in second place, just 1.4 seconds ahead of Sordo, who finished third. This double-podium finish managed to give Hyundai just that edge over Toyota to claim their second consecutive constructors' championship title (241 points). While Toyota won the driver's championship, they missed out on the constructors' title by a narrow margin of just five points (236 points).
While Evans still managed to become the overall runner-up of the 2020 WRC season with 114 points, outgoing WRC champion Tanak claimed the final spot on the championship podium, with 105 points in total.
Read more:
WRC 2020 Rally Italy: Sordo and Neuville secure a Hyundai 1-2 finish
WRC 2020 Rally Turkey: Toyota's Elfyn Evans scores a dramatic win
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