For a long time, rallies were considered a discipline where the best results were achieved around the age of thirty. The explosion of Kalle Rovanpera, who won his first race at 20 years and 289 days (Rally Estonia 2021) and his first World Championship at 22 years and one day, shattered this belief.
However, there are 12 drivers who have managed to win a World Rally Championship round after celebrating their 40th birthday. The latest to join the list was Sébastien Ogier, thanks to his victory this year in Croatia.
The Frenchman will turn 41 the week before Christmas, when the championship will already be over: this means he will have to wait until 2025 to enter the Top 10 oldest drivers to have won a WRC race.
Here is the Top 10 of the most experienced drivers who have won a race
10th place Kenneth Eriksson: 41 years and 83 days
The Swede won 6 rallies in the World Championship: the first in 1987, the last ten years later in New Zealand with the Subaru Impreza WRC97. In the 1997 race, he took the lead in the eleventh special stage and maintained the lead until the finish. On the podium with him were the Ford Escort WRCs of Carlos Sainz and Juha Kankkunen, respectively 13 and 19 seconds behind, both with Brembo brakes.
9th place Carlos Sainz: 42 years and 98 days
Nicknamed the Matador, the Spaniard won 2 World Championships before dedicating himself to rally raids (4 wins and 47 stages won at the Dakar) where, as in the World Rally Championship, he often relied on Brembo braking systems. His last rally victory was with the Citroën Xsara WRC in Argentina in 2004, beating the twin car driven by Sébastien Loeb by one minute 32 seconds and 4 tenths. With that victory, he improved Colin McRae's then-record of 25 wins.
8th place Ingvar Carlsson: 42 years and 107 days
Despite having competed in 42 World Championship rallies, the Swede was long negatively affected by the use of private cars. His fate changed when Mazda believed in him in 1984. He repaid them by winning two rallies in 1989, in Sweden and New Zealand. The latter victory came after almost 7 hours of racing and with a lead of 2 minutes and 42 seconds over Rod Millen, also with the 323 4WD.
7th place Didier Auriol: 42 years and 219 days
The 1994 World Champion with Toyota had his last satisfaction in the World Championship by winning the Rally Catalunya 2001 with the Peugeot 206 WRC: 23 seconds and 2 tenths his margin over teammate Gilles Panizzi, enough to guarantee him his twentieth career victory. To achieve it, he needed only 4 special stage wins, half of Philippe Bugalski who, however, lost several minutes due to a series of breakdowns.
6th place Kenjiro Shinozuka: 44 years and 13 days
Like Sainz, the Japanese also competed for years in Rallies and the Dakar, but unlike his colleague, he did so simultaneously and always with Mitsubishi. With the Galant VR-4, he won two editions of the Rally Ivory Coast, the last included in the World Championship calendar: in 1991 with over 2 hours of advantage over the second-placed while the following year he settled for preceding Bruno Thiry by an hour 23 minutes and 18 seconds.
5th place Joginder Singh: 44 years and 70 days
The Kenyan limited his appearances in the World Championship to the Safari Rally, held continuously from 1973 to 1980. He won it in 1974 and 1976 with the Mitsubishi Lancer equipped with Brembo brakes on both occasions, over distances ranging from 5,200 to 4,950 km per edition. In 1976 he beat compatriot Robin Ulyate by 24 minutes while Andrew Cowan came third, ensuring a memorable triple for Mitsubishi.
4th place Pentti Airikkala: 44 years and 80 days
The final round of the 1989 World Championship is the RAC Rally but Miki Biasion and Lancia (which in those years built their legend also thanks to Brembo brakes) skipped the trip as they were already mathematically champions. Of the 55 RAC special stages, 22 were won by the Finn with the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, who jumped to the top of the standings in the third last stage after chasing Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard's troubles allowed Airikkala to win by one minute and 28 seconds.
3rd place Hannu Mikkola: 44 years and 331 days
The Finn won 18 World Championship rallies over a span of 13 years, from 1974 to 1987. He won all the last 10 with Audi, with which he became World Champion in 1983. Apparently, the easiest success with the Four Rings, at least for the final advantage, was the Safari Rally at the wheel of the 200 Quattro: Mikkola preceded Walter Rohrl by 17 minutes and 15 seconds and the third-placed by over 51 minutes.
2nd place Bjorn Waldegard: 46 years and 155 days
For 31 years, the Swede was the oldest winner of a World Championship rally. His career was endless, as evidenced by his first World Championship victory in 1975 with the Lancia Stratos in Sweden. The last one was in 1990, at the Safari with the Toyota Celica GT-Four. In that race, 59 started but only 10 reached the finish line, with Waldegard dominating everyone so much that he gave 38 minutes to the second, 2 hours and 47 to the third, and 4 hours and 20 to the fourth.
1st place Sébastien Loeb: 47 years and 331 days
The 2022 Monte Carlo marks the debut of the new Rally1. Ogier wins the first 2 special stages, Loeb the next 4 and takes the lead. With the success in the eleventh and good placements in the following ones, Ogier goes to sleep in the lead. Loeb wins the fourth last but loses time in the next one. It seems done for Ogier who, however, punctures the front left in the penultimate special stage, losing 34 seconds in one go. For Loeb, it is the 80th World Championship victory, the eighth in Monte Carlo, but the first with the Ford Puma equipped with Brembo brakes.