After years of near-misses, together with 5 irritating runner-up finishes, Thierry Neuville may lastly rejoice a primary FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ title on the season-closing Rally Japan. However his Hyundai Motorsport group missed out on a WRC title double as Toyota Gazoo Racing snatched the producers’ crown after a gripping last day.
Neuville (at proper, above, with co-driver Martijn Wydaghe), secured his championship in dramatic style early on Sunday when teammate Ott Tanak – the one driver with a mathematical probability of beating him – crashed his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 out of the rally lead on the day’s opening stage. With a 25-point cushion heading into the all-asphalt season finale and Tanak bagging zero factors in Japan, Neuville’s title was assured with 4 phases to spare.
Ott Tanak ended his slim WRC title hopes after crashing out on Sunday’s opening stage. He was rapidly joined by Heikki Kovalainen’s Skoda. WRC media
“I’m feeling nice, to be trustworthy — we labored so lengthy for this,” mentioned Neuville, who’s led the WRC standings since his opening-round victory on January’s Monte Carlo Rally. “I don’t have the phrases, however I need to thank all people who was a part of it, who fought for us and the entire group as effectively. We had been many occasions very shut; we at all times give it our all, however this 12 months we now have been rewarded for it.”
The late drama capped off a rollercoaster week for the Belgian, who battled again from fifteenth place after a turbocharger failure on Friday to complete sixth total. His title win is a primary not just for him and Wydaeghe, but in addition for his or her dwelling nation of Belgium. It’s additionally the primary drivers’ title for Hyundai Motorsport after a decade within the WRC.
Whereas Neuville reveled in his long-awaited triumph, Tanak’s crash delivered a merciless twist to Hyundai’s WRC producers’ title aspirations. The Korean marque had the higher hand heading into the ultimate day, however the pendulum swung again to Toyota and its fleet of GR Yaris Rally1 machines after a tense showdown on the rally-closing Wolf Energy Stage. Toyota trio Sebastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta delivered clutch performances when it mattered most, serving to the Japanese marque take its eighth WRC producers’ title by a razor-thin margin of three factors – the closest since Lancia captured the crown by simply two factors in 1983.
Evans loved a double celebration, inheriting the rally win after Tanak’s retirement and changing into the sixth totally different winner in a extremely aggressive 2024 WRC season. The Welshman’s triumph additionally secured him second place within the drivers’ standings – a bittersweet milestone he’s now achieved for the fourth time.
“It wasn’t trying so good at one level, however we’re very pleased with the end result and for the group,” he mentioned. “Thanks to my teammates additionally – they did a terrific job. We’re sorry we couldn’t ship [the drivers] championship, however we’ll strive once more subsequent 12 months.”
Elfyn Evans’ first win of 2024 helped Toyota seize an eighth WRC producers’ title. Pink Bull Content material Pool
Ogier accomplished a Toyota 1-2, ending 1m27.3s behind Evans. The eight-time WRC champ’s rally was blighted by a expensive wheel change on Friday that dropped him out of rivalry for the win, however his restoration drive ensured important factors for Toyota of their title struggle.
Adrien Fourmaux capped a breakthrough season by finishing the rostrum in his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. The Frenchman’s constant kind has earned him 5 podium finishes in 2024 and fifth place within the last WRC drivers’ factors – his greatest season up to now.
Fourmaux completed simply 7.1s forward of Toyota’s Katsuta, who delighted his dwelling crowd by ending fourth total, whereas Gregoire Munster rounded out the highest 5 after a constant weekend within the second M-Sport Ford Puma.
In WRC2, the second tier of worldwide rallying, Sami Pajari and co-driver Enni Malkonen sealed the 2024 title in type, delivering a wonderfully executed drive to complete second at school on the slippery Japanese phases.
Arriving on the season finale in Aichi figuring out {that a} top-two end would safe the WRC2 crown, the Finnish duo stored to their gameplan, sustaining a composed and constant method to lock within the runner-up spot from begin to end.
The end result additionally marked a championship-winning debut season for Toyota’s GR Yaris Rally2, with Pajari showcasing the automotive’s potential all through the marketing campaign.
“It’s a very nice feeling,” mentioned Pajari. “A giant aid after two days of driving a bit slowly and taking good care of every part, not doing something foolish and reaching the end line.”
The category victory in Japan went to Nikolay Gryazin, who led the occasion from the outset in his Citroen C3. Gryazin put in a commanding drive, main from the opening stage to complete 1m46.5s away from Pajari and safe his third WRC2 win of the season.
Sami Pajari did what he wanted to do in Japan, ending second at school to safe the WRC2 title. McKlein/Motorsport Photos
The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship is ready for an expanded 14-round calendar that features all-new occasions in Saudi Arabia, Paraguay and Spain’s Canary Isles. However as standard, the motion begins Jan. 23-26 at one of many sequence’ most historic and prestigious occasions, the Monte Carlo Rally, with its difficult, typically icy, all-asphalt phases within the French Alps.
WRC Rally Japan, last positions after Leg Three, SS21
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h23m41.0s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m27.3s
3 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria Ford Puma Rally1) +1m55.5s
4 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m02.6s
5 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m11.5s
6 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +6m54.1s
7 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroen C3 – WRC2 winner) +10m04.3s
8 Sami Pajari/Enni Malkonen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 champion) +11m50.8s
9 Hiroki Arai/Shunsuke Matsuo (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +13m24.3s
10 Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +14m15.8s
WRC Drivers’ Championship after 13 of 13 rounds
1 Neuville 242 factors
2 Evans 210
3 Tanak 200
4 Ogier 191
5 Fourmaux 162
WRC Producers’ Championship after 13 of 13 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 561 factors
2 Hyundai Motorsport 558
3 M-Sport Ford 295
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