Not Even a Mud-Coated Windshield and No Wipers Could Keep Sebastien Ogier From Winning Rally Monza
Superhuman rally-bot Ogier clinched his seventh World Rally Championship title with the Monza win—even though he couldn’t see part of it.
Sébastien Ogier claimed his seventh World Rally Championship title almost doesn't seem like news at this point, but there's good reason for that: he's an absolute beast behind the wheel. Case in point: This absurd moment from Rally Monza where Ogier's wipers quit working in the mud, forcing him to drive blind for a bit.
Rally Monza's final power stage took place at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, where drivers drifted spectacularly onto Monza's infamously steep original banking. It's one of the most entertaining WRC features in ages, not to mention the perfect intersection of big racing nerd interests for someone who loves both Formula 1 and WRC.
Conditions for Sunday's final stage were quite mucky, with snow, rain and mud all popping up throughout the rally. While the power stage had a lot of tighter sections, these cars still accelerate rather quick and demand the driver's and codriver's full attention. Toyota keeps a lot of stats about its current car—including its acceleration—under wraps for good reason, but the 2017 version of Ogier's Yaris WRC went from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.7 seconds, according to Toyota Car Reviews.
This didn't deter Ogier, who kept driving with mud coating the windshield even though his windshield wipers wouldn't turn on.
Initially, WRC's commentary team just thought Ogier was deep in concentration and didn't want to be bothered with the wipers flapping around, but cutting back to the completely obscured windshield disproved that theory. Thankfully, after Ogier turned on the washers to try and clear off the mud, the wipers came on, but that was a brown-coated Code Brown if there ever was one for a bit.
Ogier finished seventh in the power stage, but first overall at Rally Monza, securing his seventh world drivers' championship. Ogier's six previous titles were all consecutive starting in 2013, with Ott Tänak as the c-c-c-combo breaker champion in 2019 when Ogier was in a thoroughly lackluster Citroën. Ogier's Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans nearly won the championship this year as he led in championship points heading into Rally Monza, but a heartbreaking crash mid-rally threw Evans' hopes away, leaving it open for Ogier to clinch yet another title.
It's worth checking out the highlights from this rally, as watching WRC cars blast down Monza's iconic banking is a genuine delight.
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