Ranking the top 10 WRC drivers of 2022

After two seasons of titles going down to the wire, Kalle Rovanpera brought his own brand of dominance to World Rally Championship in 2022, blitzing the competition to secure a maiden title. While Rovanpera grabbed the headlines by re-defining the WRC winning formula at the tender age of 22, the Finn’s dominance wasn’t the only storyline from an action-packed season.

PLUS: How trailblazer Kalle Rovanpera has ripped up the WRC record book

Arguably the championship’s most significant set of regulations changes provided both drivers and teams a huge challenge to conquer the new Rally1 ruleset. Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport Ford beavered away to construct all-new cars from the ground up, featuring hybrid technology for the first time.

In addition to the challenge of adapting to these new 500 horsepower beasts, crews would do battle across a 13-round calendar that included returns to New Zealand and Japan after more than a decade away.

Despite the seismic shift in rules, all three WRC teams enjoyed victories while 10 crews enjoyed visits to the podium. It was a season where old faces came back to the fore, while new faces provided a glimpse into the future. Here are Autosport's top 10 drivers from the 2022 season.

10. Pierre-Louis Loubet - M-Sport Ford

Loubet was the WRC's surprise package in 2022, occasionally overshadowing his full-time M-Sport team-mates

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Championship: 13th
Total podiums: 0
Wins: 0 
Stage wins: 3

After a dismal 2021 WRC campaign, few would have predicted Pierre-Louis Loubet would return to the top flight this year. The 2019 WRC2 champion scored a solitary points finish last year, driving a 2C Competition Hyundai. A season littered by misfortune ended with Loubet missing the final two rounds, after he was hit by a driver while crossing a street in Paris to incur a broken hip.

However, M-Sport had seen something in the Frenchman, who signed a seven rally deal to drive a Ford Puma. And Loubet's showings in 2022, as the WRC's surprise package, have re-ignited his career. Alongside co-driver Vincent Landais, the 25-year-old instantly gelled with the new Puma and at times overshadowed his full-time M-Sport team-mates.

He set a new career high by finishing fourth in Sardinia, which he then matched on the rough gravel of Acropolis Rally Greece. It was here where Loubet shone brightest as he scored his maiden stage win, which he backed up on the very next test. It propelled him into the rally lead and in a fight with his hero and now team-mate Sebastien Loeb.

While there were retirements in Finland and Estonia, and punctures hampered him in Croatia, four points finishes from seven events outlined his potential as a future star.

9. Esapekka Lappi - Toyota Gazoo Racing

Lappi's WRC return with Toyota has helped to propel him into a Hyundai seat for 2023

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Championship: 9th
Total podiums: 3 
Wins: 0
Stage wins: 14

By his own admission, Esapekka Lappi thought that perhaps his World Rally Championship career was over after losing his drive at the end of 2020. But fast forward to 2022, and a lifeline thrown by Toyota has left the Finn hailing the “best and strongest season of my career”.

Needing a driver to share its third GR Yaris with eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier, Toyota returned to a former son, and its faith in a driver that had starred for the team in 2017 and 2018 was rewarded.

Lappi returned to the top flight in style, notching up three podiums from seven events to help Toyota to the manufacturers’ crown. The first podium visit arrived on his maiden 2022 outing in Sweden, a pivotal moment for the Lappi.

“I still feel that actually the podium in Sweden was sort of the most important personally,” he told Autosport earlier this year.

PLUS: How a Toyota lifeline reignited Lappi's WRC career

“It’s just I’m sure I had the best feeling there. I felt so proud of myself, but also because of Janne [Ferm, co-driver], what we managed to do after a long break. And thinking about Monza 2020, I really thought that maybe my career was over. But stepping on the podium again after these kind of thoughts, that felt pretty great.

“I think it’s definitely the strongest performance from our side, that’s 100% sure.”

The Finn delivered pace capable of challenging for wins and was resourceful to salvage valuable championship points. The most talked-about example arrived after a roll in Finland on the final day. Lappi was seen running to a nearby lake to fill up his leaking radiator, before he and Ferme performed a road side repair to keep their podium hopes intact. The pair donned a pair of goggles to pilot a GR Yaris sans windscreen and roof to third.

8. Dani Sordo - Hyundai Motorsport

Sordo claimed three podiums from five starts with the third Hyundai in 2022

Photo by: Austral / Hyundai Motorsport

Championship: 8th
Total podiums: 3
Wins: 0
Stage wins: 5

Once again, Dani Sordo showcased to the world that he is one the safest and most reliable pairs of hands in the World Rally Championship. The Spaniard only contested five rallies, but produced an impressive strike rate to outline why the 39-year-old is continually hired by Hyundai as a part-time driver year after year.

On his first competitive outing in Rally1 machinery, Sordo was able to tame the i20 N and edged Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta to the final podium at Rally Portugal. He then backed up that pace with a third in the heat of Sardinia, before playing a crucial role in completing Hyundai’s maiden WRC 1-2-3 at Acropolis Rally Greece. That third podium of the season extended his run of consecutive third place finishes, which began in Spain last year, to five.

Sordo salvaged fifth on his home event in Spain, after losing valuable time to a puncture. Then after Hyundai elected to part ways with Oliver Solberg, with whom he was sharing the third i20 N, Sordo was installed for the season finale in Japan but his run of points finishes was sadly ended by a spectacular fire.

Sordo impressed in all events contested, which has resulted in Hyundai retaining his services for an 18th year in rallying’s top tier.

7. Takamoto Katsuta - Toyota Gazoo Racing

Katsuta's record of points-scoring was unrivalled in the 2022 season

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Championship: 5th
Total podiums: 2 
Wins: 0
Stage wins: 2

Takamoto Katsuta is most definitely a star on the rise in WRC. The Japanese was the championship’s most consistent driver, scoring points finishes in 12 of the 13 rallies, a feat unmatched by any of his full-time rivals.

Competing in only his third season at the top level, Katsuta continued his upward trajectory in 2022, meeting a target set by his Toyota boss Jari-Matti Latvala by recording two podium finishes.

Last season, he scored a maiden podium finish but consistency tapered away in the second half of the campaign. This year Katsuta delivered in every event - with his only blemish being a retirement when he slipped off the road in tricky conditions at rally New Zealand.

Katsuta showed pace when he needed to, claiming two stage wins. But it was his consistently that marked him out as, New Zealand retirement aside, the 29-year-old finished no lower than eighth during the season. His steady haul of points earned him a career high championship finish of fifth, only 12 points shy of last year’s runner-up Elfyn Evans.

The fan favourite capped off an impressive season with a well received third on home soil in Rally Japan, which cemented Toyota’s plans to promote him to the factory team next year. The pressure will increase next year now he will be tasked to deliver manufacturers points in events that Ogier will be absent.

6. Elfyn Evans - Toyota Gazoo Racing

Evans had a disappointing season as he dropped from second to fourth in the standings

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Championship: 4th
Total podiums: 4 
Wins: 0
Stage wins: 31

After two seasons of taking the championship title down to the wire, 2022 was a disappointing season for Elfyn Evans. The Welshman never completely gelled with the new hybrid Rally1 GR Yaris and often struggled to match his team-mate Kalle Rovanpera for pace when the pair went head-to-head.

Four second places finishes showed glimpses of rally winning speed, although costly errors and reliability issues were damaging.

His season started in promising fashion, having found himself in the podium hunt in Monte Carlo, but a mistake left him stranded on a mountain side. In Sweden, Evans was also firmly in the victory hunt but a penalty for shortcutting Saturday night’s super special proved costly and a crash on the following day left him on the backfoot.

Evans had further opportunities to notch up a win, but was unable to extract the same pace from the car in the wet as Rovanpera could. Rovanpera beat Evans to wins in Portugal, Kenya and Estonia - all weather-affected events. There was another trip to the podium on asphalt in Belgium, missing out on the win by a mere 5.0s to Ott Tanak. That result could have been different had he avoided a 10s penalty for checking in late to a stage.

Evans appeared to be on course to perhaps end his year with a victory in Japan, but a puncture on the final day ultimately left him winless in 2022. It was just one of those seasons for Evans, but the two-time runner-up is confident he has found direction with car for 2023.

“I don’t think it is fair to pin everything on luck,” said Evans. “There are things I could have done better and it is clear to see that Kalle adapted much faster to the new car.

“I think all the lessons we have learned should put us in a better position for next year. There are still a lot of areas that we need to work on to be better next year.

“There have been improvements in the year and I think we have a clearer direction on how to make the car work a bit better for me.”

5. Sebastien Ogier - Toyota Gazoo Racing

Ogier scored his first win with new co-driver Veillas, who replaced long-time partner Julien Ingrassia in Spain

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Championship: 6th
Total podiums: 3 
Wins: 1 (Spain)
Stage wins: 25

The 2021 champion returned, but elected against defending his title in favour of a part-time drive in third Toyota GR Yaris which he dovetailed with a dip into sportscar racing in the World Endurance Championship.

The eight-time world champion seemed to have little trouble adapting to the new hybrid machinery and was unlucky not to win first time out in Monte Carlo. Ogier lost out in a fascinating battle of the all time greats with Sebastien Loeb, when a puncture on the penultimate stage wrestled the victory from his grasp.

Punctures would be the story of Ogier’s six events, suffering failures in four rallies. However, the speed that guided him to his stunning array of rally wins and titles remained, and was encapsulated by a stunning domination of Rally Spain to stretch his record of scoring wins in every season since 2013.

PLUS: The message a WRC stalwart sent which its new king couldn’t answer

Again punctures proved costly in Portugal, where he suffered two during a loop that put him out of the event, and he was again vocal about Pirelli’s rubber after failures in Kenya and Japan when in contention for wins.

Interestingly, on gravel when he went to head-to-head with Rovanpera, he was second best to further outline Rovanpera’s class when conditions became slippery.

However, Ogier proved to be valuable weapon for Toyota to rack up crucial championship points as the Frenchman’s victory in Spain sealed a sixth manufacturers’s crown for Toyota. Ogier will return in 2023, where he will once again share the third GR Yaris.

4. Sebastien Loeb - M-Sport Ford

Loeb began the season with victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, the best result of 2022 for M-Sport

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Championship: 11th
Total podiums: 1
Wins: 1 (Monte Carlo)
Stage wins: 14

At the age of 48, Sebastien Loeb showed there is plenty of life in the nine-time world champion, becoming the oldest ever WRC winner in Monte Carlo.

Joining M-Sport Ford for what turned into a four-rally programme, the Frenchman quickly gelled with the new hybrid Puma as he became involved in titanic scrap with old rival Sebastien Ogier on their hallowed Monte Carlo asphalt.

Loeb, partnered by maths teacher-turned co-driver Isabelle Galmiche, benefited from a late Ogier puncture to claim a record-extending 80th victory of his WRC career. While Ogier’s puncture brought them back into the win battle, they had pushed the former all the way. Loeb even described the triumph, M-Sport’s only win of 2022, as “one of his best memories” of his glittering career.

The mercurial Loeb backed up that Monte Carlo pace by leading rallies in Portugal and Greece, before trouble halted a likely path to another podium visit. A rare collectors item of a driver error resulted in Loeb crashing out of the lead in Portugal, while an alternator failure put him out of the lead in Greece. There could have been another podium in Kenya, had he not suffered an engine fire that triggered a retirement.

Loeb proved that in his hands the Puma was a weapon that could compete with the bulletproof Toyota, and the fast but fragile Hyundai.

3. Thierry Neuville - Hyundai Motorsport

Neuville clocked up two wins in 2022, and gave away another in Belgium to team-mate Tanak which cost him second in the points

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Championship: 3rd
Total podiums: 5
Wins: 2 (Greece, Japan)
Stage wins: 34

Hyundai’s reliability woes hampered Thierry Neuville perhaps more than anyone. But 34 stage wins, two victories and third in the championship was a thoroughly deserved outcome after a challenging season.

The five-time runner-up made the most of a frail and under developed i20 N in the early part of the season to net the team’s first podium, with a second in Sweden. The result arrived after leading the Hyundai’s charge at Monte Carlo, where he was almost eight minutes adrift in sixth to highlight how far the South Korean marque was behind its opposition.

Neuville epitomised the never give up attitude and this was perhaps best displayed in Croatia. He finished third, despite he and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe both collapsing on the ground after pushing their unreliable i20 N for more than a kilometre into service.

In fast gravel rallies, Neuville struggled to match his faster team-mate Ott Tanak and was particularly found wanting in Estonia and Finland. There were costly errors too when the Belgian threw away likely win on home soil through a rare mistake that ended with the car nestled in a ditch.

But in Greece and Japan he produced faultless drives to claim victories, which were thoroughly deserved.

2. Ott Tanak - Hyundai Motorsport

Tanak secured three victories in 2022 to be Rovanpera's closest championship challenger

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

Championship: 2nd
Total podiums: 8
Wins: 3 (Sardinia, Finland, Belgium)
Stage wins: 41

The 2019 world champion was realistically the only driver able to apply pressure on the champion Kalle Rovanpera through a series of sterling drives where he outperformed his machinery.

Tanak was the only driver to tame the loose-handling i20 N on fast gravel rallies. The most impressive example of this was his stunning display at Rally Finland. The Estonian was on the ragged edge for the entire rally as he reeled off a series of blistering stage times to defeat firm favourite Rovanpera on home soil. It will be remembered as one of his greatest ever victories.

PLUS: How Tanak spoiled Rovanpera’s Finnish homecoming

Extracting the most out of i20 N that faced a myriad of hybrid issues was Tanak’s party trick. Somehow, he managed to wrestle the car to score Hyundai’s first of five wins on Sardinia’s rough gravel roads. A third victory arrived in Belgium on tarmac after profiting from Neuville’s costly error.

Tanak’s performances were made even more impressive given they arrived amid a team struggling internally. The Estonian was critical of his team and its deputy team director Julien Moncet, with this coming to a head in Greece. There, the team elected against issuing orders to Neuville to hand Tanak a win that would have increased the pressure on runaway championship leader Rovanpera.

Had the i20 N started the year as strongly as it ended 2022, Tanak could have pushed Rovanpera all the way. Instead, the season ended with Tanak leaving Hyundai with a year remaining on his contract as the relationship soured.

1. Kalle Rovanpera - Toyota Gazoo Racing

Rovanpera won six rallies in 2022 as he romped to the title, breaking records along the way

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Championship: 1st
Total podiums: 8
Wins: 6 (Sweden, Croatia, Portugal, Kenya, Estonia, New Zealand)
Stage wins: 70

The World Rally Championship’s new wonderkid defied belief at times by the way he dominated his opposition at such a tender age. Rovanpera was superb in his six wins from 13 rallies as he chalked up 70 stage wins. Incredibly, the season didn’t start brilliantly for the Finn who struggled to initially adapt to the hybrid cars on the opening day at Monte Carlo.

PLUS: The key steps on Rovanpera's romp to a history-making WRC title

However, something clicked in his brain, and it did so emphatically, as Rovanpera swept to his first of six wins next time out on the snow of Sweden. It was the start of three wins on the bounce, triumphing in Croatia and then Portugal. It was his Croatia win that sent a message to his rivals, after seeing off Tanak on compromised tyres for the conditions to overhaul the Estonian on the final stage and snatch victory.

In the wet, nobody could tough the young Finn. When it rained, Rovanpera saw it as a moment to attack and did so to devastating effect. His wet weather masterclasses helped him net wins in Portugal , Kenya, Estonia and New Zealand, where he blew away team-mate Sebastien Ogier to secure the title in style with two rounds to spare.

His calmness and maturity behind the wheel in stressful scenarios marked him out from the rest of the pack. These skills are usually befitting of a much more experienced driver.

While Rovanpera’s season wasn’t perfect, courtesy of crashes in Belgium and Greece, he always managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Seven powerstage wins were proof of that, including one in Belgium that arrived two days after a monster crash and showed his confidence hadn’t been knocked. Remarkably, he managed to notch up 50 of his 255 points total from powerstages alone.

To smash Colin McRae’s youngest ever world champion record by five years and 88 days proved Rovanpera is indeed a very special talent that could dominate for years to come.

Rovanpera's win in Croatia helped to establish him as the championship favourite

Photo by: Toyota Racing