Category: Tin Top Racing

Onto the final day then of this classic event and what would the final 50km’s give us? Overnight rain made the roads wet and then the clouds cleared which led to the roads freezing. There was also frost on the edge of the roads.

The different crews had to make their tyre choices as there would not be any tyre fitting zone before the end of the day. There was also the additional aspect that the power stage was only being run once.

First up then was SS16 Avançon / Notre-Dame-du-Laus 2 – 13.97 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Kalle. Adrien could only manage the eighth fastest time and lost third place to his teammate Ott, now 4.5 behind the 2019 world champion. There was drama for Takamoto who went off the road and couldn’t get the car back on the road. Then Sami also went off at a bridge after losing control.

It all changed on the following stage, SS17 Digne-les-Bains / Chaudon-Norante 2 – 19.01 km with Adrien taking an amazing stage win by 4.5 seconds over Kalle and Elfyn. He’d narrowed the gap to Elfyn to just four seconds and also reduced the gap to Seb to just 22.2 from over 46 seconds. Also, to exit on this stage was Greg who’d hit some ice and hit the side of the mountain leading to damage which put him out for the rest of the day.

Onto the final stage then, SS18 La Bollène-Vésubie / Peïra-Cava [Power Stage] – 17.92 km and would the choice made by Elfyn and Seb to go with the studded tyres, or Adrien with the soft tyres and no studded tyres? Well, there was still quite a bit of snow and ice on the stage, particularly on the other side of the col du Turini. Well, the result showed that Seb and Elfyn took the right tyres to the stages as they set the pace with Adrien taking the third fastest time. Kalle was also on the pace and passed Ott for fourth overall.

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rallye Monte-Carlo

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s amazing to win this rally for the 10th time: it makes me incredibly happy and proud. This rally is the one that gave me the dream to be a rally driver, so if I could pick only one to win in a season, it would always be this one. This year it’s been a huge fight up until the very last stage. We had changing conditions, difficult tyre decisions and pressure right until the end so I’m glad we managed to keep it under control. We definitely had some moments but to win this rally I think you always need a bit of luck too. It’s a perfect start to the year for the team so we couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Elfyn Evans

“This was a typical Rallye Monte-Carlo, a bit more extreme than in recent years and it was a properly challenging weekend. I’m very happy to be here at the end with a decent haul of points. Today started off with some very tricky conditions, we made a change at the last moment to take four studded tyres and I wasn’t sure it was the right call. In the end it seems there wasn’t a lot between the two choices, and we had a pretty thrilling Power Stage to finish: we had a close moment a few corners from the end but thankfully we managed to get away with it.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Rallye Monte-Carlo is always tough, and it was especially so this year. For me personally it was a pretty difficult weekend. We didn’t have the result that we wanted or the pace that we wanted but we have to be happy at the end to have got some pretty good points. Today was not a bad day for us: we just tried our best, kept consistent and it paid off. A big thanks to the team, now let’s see what we can do in Sweden.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning in the first stage we knew that the conditions could be quite tricky, but we came to one right-hand corner that was frosty where we didn’t have that information in our pacenotes. We were quite slow going into the corner, but the car went wide and got stuck in a small ditch which we couldn’t get out of. Until then it had been quite a good rally, especially Saturday when the pace was good. It’s a pity but I just need to refocus on the next rally in Sweden and try to do a good job for the team there.”

Sami Pajari

“The approach for today was the same as before and we were not planning to push particularly hard. There was just one surprisingly icy braking point which just caught us out. It was an unfortunate end to our rally, as it been going according to plan until then. On Saturday especially we saw that the times were getting better, and the feeling was getting better and the confidence was rising. Everything felt under control so it’s a pity to end the rally like this, but we will try to learn from what happened and look forward to Sweden.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“Monte-Carlo is always something special, and to have such a great start with Hyundai is really positive so I am really pleased with my weekend. We put a lot of pressure on Elfyn and Seb, but we couldn’t push it that little bit more with that much snow on the road as we didn’t want to risk too much. It’s a shame, but it’s a part of game – we have no regrets. Sweden will be good, for sure; we will be second on the road in the snow and the cold temperatures, but I am really looking forward to it.”

Ott Tänak

“It was quite an entertaining weekend but still lots of positives to take away. We got some good points and can be a bit happier with the road position going to round two. There were some things we couldn’t get right, but obviously the base was there. We will get it sorted and working, but it takes a bit of time. I am looking forward to Sweden, and we will be able to try the upgraded car for the first time so hopefully we will see an improved performance on that side as well.”

Thierry Neuville

“All in all, it was a challenging weekend for us. It went wrong from the braking in the hairpin on Friday, and then the combination of our road position and the conditions today that didn’t favour us. Today there was less ice than expected, and cars were going faster on slick tyres – it was a difficult Sunday. We can optimistic about what’s coming next in Sweden; we will have a better road position and hopefully a better rally because of it, but we still need to make the most of it.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“Seventh overall at the Monte-Carlo Rally! What a way to kick off our Rally1 debut with the Ford Puma. It’s been a massive challenge with so many new elements – new car, new team, new co-driver, and Hankook tyres – but we kept our heads, did our own thing and learnt every step of the way. The conditions have been so demanding, but it’s been thoroughly enjoyable! Huge thanks to everyone who made this possible – we’re excited for our next event and to the snow of Sweden.

“It’s been an unforgettable experience, and I’m proud of what we achieved out there. The boys and girls at M-Sport have been phenomenal!”

Grégoire Munster

“I think there are quite a lot of positives to mention, I think generally we had some good pace and really improved day after day. We posted a fourth-fastest time on Thursday, two second-fastest on Friday and then our first stage win in the morning on Saturday. So, we’ve been consistently improving, and we’ve learned a lot as well. Thanks to the team for working late on Friday night to fix the car so we could go again on Saturday. It gave us a chance to grab some more experience which was super important, especially because we’re driving on the new tyres.

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been such a positive week. Apart from this silly moment on Thursday night, everything has gone really well. We’ve learned so much about the new car and straight away I want to say a big thanks to Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and the team – all the people at Printsport have been fantastic in making me feel at home with the Yaris.

“I said before the start that it was nice to be part of this Toyota family and competing with the GR Yaris and this is really what I feel from doing the first event.

“The car was quite different from what I was driving before, but we did a lot of testing which really helped me find a good feeling. The times we were able to set were really strong, it was nice to win a lot of stages and I really think we had the pace to win this one. It’s a little bit frustrating that we had this damage on Thursday night, but this is the game, this is the sport.”

“I have enjoyed driving this car in some really tricky conditions on the Monte this week,” continued Oliver. “The last day, over the classic Col de Turini stage, it was really tricky with the ice, dry Tarmac and some snow – it was impossible to find the perfect tyre choice – but we made the finish.

“Now, it’s time for the snow and time to go home and compete in Umeå. As you can imagine, this is one of my favourite rallies for the year and I can’t wait to take this Yaris to those roads.”

Summary

Well, what a great start to the new season for Toyota. Seb taking his tenth victory in this classic rally was amazing considering his moment when he went off the road and fell behind. What came after that was a masterclass in driving.

Elfyn also had a fantastic rally as expected and led as well, maintaining great pace to keep himself in the podium positions throughout the weekend. This is a great start to his title hopes for this season.

Finally, Adrien had a brilliant first event at Hyundai and utterly deserved his sixth ever podium in his career. Taking a stage win along the way shows how comfortable he has become with his new car. There is every chance he and Alex could take their first win this year.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings 
After round 1

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 1

Onto the longest day then of the rally with 120km’s over six stages and a break in the middle for service. This day also featured the longest stage of the weekend with the 27km opening the day and the afternoon stages.

Greg and Louis returned to the action after having a problem on the road section following the final stage of yesterday which meant they’d not made it back to service. They would restart under the super rally rules.

First up then was SS10 La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 1 – 27 km and opening the road would be the place to be as Greg took his first ever stage win. He was sat on the road section watching the live coverage when the final car came through which of course was Seb. He was really close to Greg’s time and was second fastest whilst Kalle was third. Adrien and Elfyn set the same time as they continued to fight for second overall.

Next was SS11 Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 1 – 15.48 km and Ott was fastest from Adrien and Elfyn. The Estonian had found some pace and was really quick in this one, moving to just three seconds of Kalle who was in fourth place. Meanwhile ahead of them both Adrien moved ahead of Elfyn and into second place.

The final stage before service SS12 La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 1 – 17.85 km and Takamoto was fastest from Thierry and Seb. Elfyn lost a few more seconds to Adrien, the gap now 2.8 seconds. Ott was also looking to pass Kalle as he moved to within one second of the Finn.

After service came SS13 La Motte-Chalancon / Saint-Nazaire 2 – 27 km and Ott was fastest from Elfyn and Takamoto. The result of these quick times was that Elfyn was back ahead of Adrien and Ott moved ahead of Kalle. Seb was maintaining a very good pace and had a 18.4 second lead over his teammate.

Into SS14 Aucelon / Recoubeau-Jansac 2 – 15.48 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Thierry. There was another swap between Adrien and Elfyn as the Frenchman moved back into second place. The gap was tiny though, just seven tenths separated them both. Meanwhile Ott was closing on them both and had the gap down to less than ten seconds.

The final stage then SS15 La Bâtie-des-Fonts / Aspremont 2 – 17.85 km and Ott was fastest again from Elfyn and Takamoto who’d had an excellent end to Saturday’s stages. Elfyn was back ahead of Adrien and Ott was now just 2.5 seconds from his teammate. The Estonian had had a brilliant day once he and his team had got the i20 into the sweet spot.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“Again, it was not an easy day. Some sections were fun to drive, and others were tricky, especially at the end of the day when it was getting dark and I had some little moments on the mud, so I’m glad to have this day behind me and that we could increase the gap a little bit. The gap is not a comfortable one but it’s still a positive one to take into the last day. Like usual it will be difficult until the end because the weather tonight looks unpredictable, so we need to make the right tyre choice and stay focused.”

Elfyn Evans

“Overall, I’m pretty happy with the day and we’re still in a pretty good position tonight. We had some very mixed conditions out there with a lot of pollution on the stages, and our performance was a bit mixed with it. We pushed when we felt good and maybe took a little bit too much caution at other times. I was pretty happy with the last stage of the day, to not lose too much time to Ott and to take back second from Adrien, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow: we don’t know fully what to expect, but we could be facing some quite difficult conditions.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was still quite a challenging day today. Some stages and some sections were pretty good and then we were just losing a bit too much time in other places. I was just not feeling completely confident, so it was still a difficult day. With the team we’re trying to change some small things and at least we still have tomorrow, when we can try something new and see how it’s going. We’ll try to do our best of course and hopefully get some extra points.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It was a very good and positive day for me. Last night with the team we changed some things in the setup and today I felt a much better feeling with the car, so I was able to push more. I was able to go much quicker than yesterday and we set some good times, which was giving me better confidence. Tomorrow will be quite a big day and the weather could be very interesting. I will try to do my best to take some points.”

Sami Pajari

“Today we did a clear step forwards and I had a much nicer and more enjoyable feeling. We didn’t really change the plan, but the feeling was getting better and also the times were nicer, so that made it more enjoyable also. We can see that we just need some time and experience, and the times get better. From what we’re hearing, the conditions tomorrow could be even more challenging so it could be another different and difficult day ahead.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been quite a rollercoaster at this Monte-Carlo. I was not so happy with my pace this afternoon; I was struggling to get the grip. Tomorrow is a big day; we have kept a reasonable gap to Elfyn but then Ott came back really strong this afternoon so we will see what happens. He had a really good pace today, so our focus will be understanding why this afternoon I didn’t have the same. Tomorrow will be a big challenge with the rain that is expected and the potential of black ice, so it’s going to be an interesting day.”

Ott Tänak

“It’s been a very positive afternoon. Finally, I found a good feeling in the car and immediately I had a good rhythm to actually enjoy myself. The gravel crew did a very good job in these very tricky conditions, particularly in the last one, that helped me find my confidence. This morning we found which way to go with the setup. I had no mileage with this tyre at all, so we didn’t know which direction to go, but we began to understand, and it started to work for me. I’m looking to keep a good rhythm and enjoy myself in the car tomorrow.”

Thierry Neuville

“We slightly touched the wall on stage 14, and I was bit surprised, we weren’t aware it was wet in that corner, but it was nothing major. I don’t know if the progress we made today is enough to maximise our day tomorrow, and the weather conditions could have a huge impact. We have to prepare as best as we can and make some changes to the setup because things are not feeling as they should. Maybe we change the gearbox and then see how things are in the morning – with Super Sunday and the Power Stage there is still an opportunity to bring some points home.”

Sunday

Sunday’s stages will see the crews tackle 50km’s over three stages. In an unusual move the power stage will only be run once.

Will Seb take a tenth win and what will happen as Elfyn, Adrien and Ott battle over the remaining podium positions?

After the first three stages on Thursday evening and 50km’s gave a top three of Thierry, Elfyn and Seb.

First up then was SS4 Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 1 – 18.68 km and Kalle was fastest from Greg and Sami. Of course, the leaders were quite different with Elfyn moving into the overall lead from Thierry who was leading at the start of the day and Seb holding third. Four seconds covered the top three.

Sadly, SS5 Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 1 – 16.68 km was cancelled as there was a medical emergency with one of the spectators.

Next up then came SS6 La Bréole / Selonnet 1 – 18.31 km and with frost near the end of the stage it would be a very tricky end. However, three crews had trouble with moments in the stage. First was Thierry who went off the road at a right-hand hairpin. He’d broken the rear left suspension, and the tyre was dragging along the road. Next up Seb went wide on a left hander but didn’t lose too much time. However, Ott also had a moment as well and went off the road into a ditch on the right-hand side of the road. When he got to the end of the stage he discovered huge damage to the bodywork at the rear. There was a change to the standings behind Welshman Elfyn with Seb and Adrien both gaining a position each as they moved into second and third overall.

After the service break came SS7 Saint-Maurice / Aubessagne 2 – 18.68 km and Elfyn was fastest from Kalle and Thierry. Kalle gained two positions in this stage, moving ahead of Ott and Greg. It seemed that the two-time champion was finding some pace out there. There was 15.4 seconds covering the top three which remained Elfyn, Seb and Adrien.

Onto SS8 Saint-Léger-les-Mélèzes / La Bâtie-Neuve 2 – 16.68 km and there was a change in positions at the front. Elfyn who was leading by 7.9 seconds at the start of the stage emerged 6.8 behind Seb at the end. The reason for this lay in the halfway point of the stage, around 10km’s as the Welshman had a spin at the exit of a right-hander which was very slippery with ice and snow. He and Scott had to reverse to reposition the car leading to the time loss. The top three fastest were Seb, Adrien and Thierry.

The final stage then, SS9 La Bréole / Selonnet 2 – 18.31 km and Seb was fastest from Adrien and Elfyn. There was more drama for Thierry as he went off the road again at the same corner as earlier. One of his front tyres had failed and he could not stop the car again. Once returned around, he completed the stage in road mode.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a positive day, turning a 13s deficit into a 12s lead, but not everything has been perfect. I was struggling to find a rhythm in the morning and also in the first stage this afternoon, when I was not really driving close enough to the limit. I’m glad I managed to find that for the last two stages, and especially that I managed to win my home stage with a lot of family and friends watching. But we can’t relax yet, there’s still a long way to go and we have to continue in this way tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been tricky again out there today. This morning, the first stage was evolving with every car, and the last one of the loop was hard to judge also with the sun coming out and melting the ice that had been marked in our pacenotes. We had a pretty decent start to the afternoon, then in the middle stage a bit of a spin on the one full icy corner that we had, which cost us the lead. We lost a bit more on the last one too but it’s still not a huge gap and there’s a long way to go.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“For us it’s been a clean day with no drama, but overall, we were just not quick enough. In the morning the conditions were tricky, but it was going OK. The pace seems to be good when we’re on the snow or studded tyres, but I still need to find some more pace for when the road is cleaner and we’re on the slick tyres. Tomorrow it seems like the roads will be a bit drier so hopefully I can find some more speed.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This afternoon was much better for me than the morning, when I was struggling to follow the information that was in my pacenotes. The route note crews went through the stages very early in the morning when there was a lot of black ice and frost, some of which had melted by the time we did the stages, so I found it hard to know how much grip to expect. In the afternoon it was easier, just a bit muddy and a few icy corners. There’s still interesting days to come and I just want to stay calm.”

Sami Pajari

“It’s been a really tricky day. Some stages were really good and some split times really good. We were also trying some different tyre combinations just for the experience. I can see many places where I can improve, but my mindset is to be clean and build up the confidence and knowledge step-by-step and then increase our pace. In this sense everything is still going to plan even though I would like to be a bit quicker. Tomorrow the conditions could be easier for us but we need to see how it is in the morning.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been a really good day. We didn’t make any mistakes with the tyres, we had really good pace and we made it to third in the provisional classification. There’s still a long rally ahead, but we are really pleased with what we have achieved so far. I think every driver wants to win here, although it is not my target, but we will keep this pace and see where we are. As a team today has been quite a shame, but it’s positive for us so we will see what happens. Tomorrow will be a new challenge, but we are confident that we can keep a good pace – nothing is impossible at Rallye Monte-Carlo.”

Ott Tänak

“It’s been a demanding day; lots of condition changes, even from first loop to second loop you don’t really recognise the conditions. We have seen more or less everything today – from dry tarmac to black ice. The contrast is huge between the grip levels we had on the same stage, so in the end we just had to go with the information we had, trust it and go for it. This afternoon was a bit of a struggle to get into the rhythm. Before the last stage we balanced some settings on the car, and after that it behaved a bit better. Now we need to get back into the faster rhythm. We need to see what’s coming tomorrow, and we are still not sure what is waiting for us.”

Thierry Neuville

“Today was a day to forget, I made a mistake this morning and misjudged the braking with these studded tyres. The target this afternoon was to see if we could gain back a bit of time this afternoon, maybe a position or two, and then unfortunately we had a puncture three kilometres into the same stage. We don’t know these tyres very well, but we decided to continue with the puncture and the tyre went in a braking zone. I am disappointed with the one mistake this morning, but a puncture can happen to anybody. We made some changes overnight for the day and I couldn’t find the confidence I needed all day. We’ll go back to the setup we used Thursday evening and see if we feel more comfortable.”

Saturday’s stages.

Saturday sees the longest day of action with 120km’s over six stages and the longest stage of the whole weekend is the first stage of the day. At 27km the crews will need to be ready for this. Who knows what it has in store!

The final day then of the rally and of the season. What would the day hold? Andreas would again open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS17 Nukata 1 – 20.23 km and Andreas made the best of the cleaner road conditions winning the stage from Elfyn and Thierry. However, there was huge drama as Ott and Martin came into the final kilometre of the stage and went wide on a right-hander. The result of this was that they crashed out from the lead of the rally. There were celebrations with the two Hyundai crews that had finished the stage. Of course, there didn’t seem to be much disappointment with the situation after the crash their teammates suffered as we saw in the

Next up was SS18 Lake Mikawako 1 – 13.98 km the first run of the later to run power stage. Thierry took the stage win from Andreas and Adrien. The Belgian came to the stop line and was of course delighted to have it confirmed that he’d taken the title. However, it was sad to not hear any acknowledgment of the situation with his teammate crashing out.

Onto SS19 Nukata 2 – 20.23 km and Thierry again was fastest from Seb and Andreas. The Belgian and Frenchman set an identical time on this one. Amazing! The top three remained Elfyn, Seb and Adrien.

The following stage was the third time during the weekend which the 2.15km stadium stage was run and as mentioned previously in my view is not rallying.

We came therefore to the final stage, SS21 Lake Mikawako 2[Power Stage] – 13.98 km. Andreas was the guy setting the rally1 pace and slid wide on a corner leading to some damage to the right-hand front bumper and the headlamp was gone as well. The stage result was making things interesting as the manufacturers championship was up for either Hyundai or Toyota to win. Ultimately Seb would be fastest from Thierry, Elfyn, Takamoto and Andreas. The points scored in the powerstage meant that Toyota would take the title. It was also great to see Elfyn and Scott take victory in this final round.

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Japan

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a very exciting last day of Rally Japan and we’re delighted with the final result. It’s a very special event as a home rally for the team and I’m naturally very happy to win it again. With it I’m also really happy to contribute towards the manufacturers’ title: it means a lot for every member of the team and I’m proud to be a part of it. We maybe didn’t always have the performance we wanted during the whole weekend, but we kept trying until the end. I felt for Ott this morning as he had to push, and that opened up the opportunity for us, but it still wasn’t easy to bring it home and get the points we needed.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I think you could not have written a better finish to the season for us, with everything to play for on the final stage here in Japan. There was a lot of pressure, it was all or nothing in the Power Stage, and of course we are very delighted that we managed to produce this performance in this moment and clinch the title together with the team. Seeing the happy faces of everyone in the team, and of our chairman Morizo-san, is the best feeling and also good reward for all the effort that every team member has made during the season. It’s proof again of why we should never give up.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very tough season but at the end we were able to take back the manufacturers’ championship, and it’s such a great feeling. I had to be patient this weekend which has not been easy, but I managed to stay on the road and push in the Power Stage. The whole team did a fantastic job, and without their support I would not have been able to do it, so a huge thanks to them and to my team-mates. There were a lot of fans cheering for me this weekend. I’m sorry for them that it was not possible to take a podium myself this time, but thanks to them for their support as well.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“What a fantastic day. Words cannot describe how we are feeling. I think we deserved the title after such a challenging year. We had a lot more pressure than we would have liked coming to this final event, but we managed our weekend as best as we could with the problems we had. After the first stage and the titles were confirmed, we were able to relax a bit and push as hard as we could for the manufacturers’ fight. We went flat out with nothing to lose – we really wanted to bring home that crown for the team, as they really deserved it. Sadly, it wasn’t enough this time but everyone in the team should be incredibly proud of the work they have done this year.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“After we decided to stop yesterday, we wanted to really prepare for today as best as possible. I think we did that well; we were very fast and fighting at the front, showing good speed and having a nice feeling in the car all day. I’m disappointed for the team as they really deserved the manufacturers’ title this year. Everyone has done such an amazing job, the car has been working well and very reliable all season, so it is tough to feel this title slip away from us. However, I am so happy for Thierry. I grew up with him and have raced him since we both started out in national rallying. Being good mates as well, I am really emotional seeing him clinch the title. I’m very proud of him.”

Ott Tänak

“It is difficult to describe what happened other than complete disaster. We weren’t expecting slippery conditions in the corner and as soon as we arrived, the front washed out. It was too far off the road to recover the car. While we are disappointed to end the season this way, we have to recognise what a great season this has been for Thierry. He has been very consistent, managing the pressure well, and he is a worthy champion.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“As we expected, it’s been a really challenging rally with really tricky conditions from the beginning. The conditions have been drying up all weekend, so where we have improved the pace we’ve been fighting for the podium.

“From Saturday morning it’s been a really nice fight with Takamoto Katsuta and Seb Ogier. It’s been really nice to end the season with another podium, my first one on Tarmac with the Ford Puma Rally1. It’s been a really great season for us, we always want more that’s for sure, but still we have some really nice positive results, so it’s been good for my comeback to Rally1.

“Thanks to everyone at M-Sport for the season, there’s been really great commitment from everybody, and we’ve had a great feeling from the start. Alex and I really appreciate the hard work from everyone.”

Grégoire Munster

“I’m just happy to get back-to-back top five results and finish the season on a positive note. I think our pace on Saturday was really positive with a second-fastest time and two third-fastest times. At some points we struggled with the set-up of the car, but we always reacted quite well and managed to find solutions, so there was a lot of good learning for me as a driver working with engineers.

“It was a good way to finish the year and I just want to thank all the team for their hard work all throughout the season and for their guidance, it has helped me perform and learn a lot as a driver.”

Summary

Well, what an incredible weekend in Japan for the finale of the championship. It had everything, drama for the championship leader, position changes for the top three and a final day drama which led to Toyota taking the manufacturers title.

It was great to see Elfyn and Scott take their ninth victory, just a bit of a sad way for this to happen with Ott and Martin crashing out. However, this is motorsport, and it is often the way things happen.

For Seb and Vincent after their puncture on Friday, they showed amazing pace to take many stage wins and a deserved second overall.

For Adrien and Alex, a fantastic third place was deservedly theirs, their fifth of this season as well. They have a bright future whether they remain at M-Sport or move elsewhere. My personal view is that they should stay at Malcolm’s team, and they could take a first victory there.

Finally, a few words for Thierry and Martijn. They have had a great season and undoubtedly deserve the championship. However, the manner of their celebrations following their teammates crashing out and the lack of words from Thierry at the end of the following stage to acknowledge this as well show a driver that is selfish and appears to only care for himself.

The second full day of the rally would see the crews tackle 103km’s over seven stages. Andreas and Torstein would restart and open the road, but then the Hyundai team would swap him around with Thierry so the championship leader could open the road.

First up then was SS10 Mt. Kasagi 1 – 16.47 km and Elfyn was fastest from Ott and Gregoire. Thierry was on the move, gaining two positions. His i20 was back working properly and he set the fifth best time.

Next up was SS11 Nenoue Kougen 1 – 11.60 km and Thierry set the best time from Seb and Takamoto. The Japanese star gained a position moving ahead of Adrien and into third overall. Thierry was also gaining positions, now into twelfth place and just around 22 seconds from the points paying positions. The recovery drive was going well this morning.

The final stage before the tyre fitting zone, SS12 Ena 1 – 22.79 km saw the stage interrupted meaning that the top two, Ott and Elfyn did not start the stage along with the WRC2 runners. They were given a notional time, the same as Seb who’d set the fastest time. There was drama for Takamoto who had a spin in the stage, and he dropped down to fifth. He was one of the driver to complete the stage earlier before the interruption.

After the short break came SS13 Mt. Kasagi 2 – 16.47 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Takamoto. Adrien fell behind his fellow countryman Seb who passed him for third overall. Thierry was now in ninth overall and just three tenths of a second behind eighth placed Sami. Sadly, Elfyns’ pace had deserted him and after winning this stage earlier he could only manage the sixth best time. The Welshman reported understeer sapping his confidence in the corners.

Two proper stages remained the first being SS14 Nenoue Kougen 2 – 11.60 km and Thierry and Seb set an identical time on this one, with Takamoto third. Rally leader Ott was fourth in this one, but with his closest rival Elfyn sixth was still increasing his lead. Thierry was up another position and into eighth place.

The final proper stage then of Saturday’s action, SS15 Ena 2 – 22.79 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Adrien. The Frenchman’s pace allowed him to pull away from Takamoto. Meanwhile erstwhile championship leader Thierry had gained another position and was now seventh.

The final stage didn’t see any changes in position and at only 2.15km’s in a stadium is not really rallying anyway.

Let’s take a look at the standings and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“All the stages have been extremely demanding today, very slow in places and seemingly never-ending. At the same time, we’ve had changeable grip and a lot of surprises and some moments. While it’s been another tough day, we had something special in the second loop. Elfyn was definitely winding up this morning, but we were stronger this afternoon to end the day with things still in our favour. We’ve been on it all weekend so far and we will be again tomorrow: our main target is the manufacturers’ championship, and we want to achieve it. The Toyotas are very quick so we all need to give our best so we can hopefully bring it home.”

Thierry Neuville

“We’re satisfied that we’ve been able to catch seventh, which didn’t seem very realistic this morning. Of course, it could have been a much better weekend result, but I have faced many setbacks in my career, and I have learnt to stay calm and deal with the situation. I think we managed that very well today, considering we had everything to lose while others had a lot to gain. It could be a big day tomorrow, so we will cross our fingers and try to have a good night sleep, but there is still a fight, and we have to win some more points. Let’s see after a few stages tomorrow where we are and what we have to do.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“After yesterday’s accident, we wanted to make sure that the car was working optimally after the repairs in service. We ran the morning loop to shakedown the car and ensure everything was working well. As we were happy with the performance and the speed this morning, we decided together with the team to withdraw from the afternoon loop in preparation for a big push tomorrow. There was nothing to be gained today but we have a big opportunity on Sunday to support the team in the manufacturers’ championship fight.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We made a pretty strong start this morning when the conditions were not easy, and we were hoping to keep the pressure on in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way. The feeling was not so bad in the car but we were struggling just a little bit in the slower speed sections and that was resulting in quite a big time loss. Things were OK in the faster places but there weren’t so many of them. So, we’re looking with the team tonight to understand it and try to put it right for tomorrow, when we need to give a final push and do what we can.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a positive day for us. We were the fastest over the day with three stage wins, and we got back to the podium places to bank good points for the team, so I think there was not much more we could do. Of course, I would have loved even more but our chances in the manufacturers’ championship are still alive up until the last day of the season, and we need to give it everything. We just have to push for the maximum points from Sunday and hope for some luck on our side, and in rallying you never know what can happen.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s good to reach the end of today: this was one of the main targets for me. There were some difficulties during the day – I had a spin in the last stage of the morning and lost a few seconds there – but I felt some good feelings from the car as well, so I was able to set some good times. Overall, everything was OK. Tomorrow is going to be a very important day for the team as well, so I just need to try and find even better feeling and focus on that.”

Sunday

The final day will see the crews tackle 70km’s over five stages, including the overused 2.15km stadium stage.

The first full day of action saw the crews tackle eight stages, including two super special stages at the end of the day. The total amount of competitive kilometres was 128km’s.

Of course, leading the championship meant that Thierry and Martijn would open the road and have the best of the road conditions. We’d already had one short stage with Adrien and Alex holding the lead from Ott and Martin and local hero Takamoto and Aaron holding third.

Into SS2 Isegami’s Tunnel 1 – 23.67 km and Thierry was fastest from Ott, with Elfyn third. All three crews gained positions and were the new top three overall. The two Toyota’s of Takamoto and Seb both suffered punctures and fell down the leaderboard sadly.

Next up was SS3 Inabu / Shitara 1 – 19.38 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Ott. The Frenchman gained eight positions and moved into tenth overall. Takamoto was also climbing the leaderboard moving into fifth overall.

The final morning stage SS3 Inabu / Shitara 1 – 19.38 km and Elfyn was fastest from Seb and Ott. There was drama for Thierry though as he started to lose time only setting the tenth best time in the stage. He was suffering with a lack of power and lost a huge amount of time but was still third overall.

After the tyre fitting zone it was back to SS5 Isegami’s Tunnel 2 – 23.67 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. The Estonian moved ahead of his former M-Sport teammate and into the lead. Meanwhile Thierry continued to lose time and fell down to eighth and was now over three minutes from the lead. Takamoto was now into third overall as well. There was huge drama for Andreas though as he crashed his i20 and blocked the stage. All the crews behind were given a notional time.

Onto SS6 Inabu / Shitara 2 – 19.38 km and Ott again was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. Seb was climbing the leaderboard with his quick times, now into fifth overall. Thierry continued to fall down the leaderboard, losing a further six positions and was now over five minutes behind the leader. At this stage he was around half a minute from tenth place.

Another stage win for Elfyn followed in SS7 Shinshiro 2 – 17.41 km and Ott and Seb were again second and third fastest. Thierry lost nearly two minutes on this one and was now over seven minutes behind the leader and now over a minute from the top ten. Further to the front of the field, Adrien moved past Takamoto and into third overall. The Frenchman decided to run the extra pod lights, and this meant that he could see the road much better.

The last two stages were just the short 2.54km Okazaki SSS and these stages are not really rallying to be honest.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day One

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“It’s been a long day, but a solid effort. The car was not too difficult to drive this morning, but we had some understeer and couldn’t perform at the level we would have liked. However, after the tricky first stage of the afternoon, we managed to improve the balance on the higher grip tarmac, and I felt a lot better on those two stages. Let’s see what tomorrow brings and the conditions we will face – there has been rain here and there, and we have some new stages too.”

Thierry Neuville

“At the moment, we don’t know exactly what happened to cause our technical issue. Of course, we are disappointed, but it is what it is. There are two more days to come, and they have to be excellent now. It is a shame as we were lying in second position, comfortable in the car, and managing the risk with our speed – third would have been enough today, and that was our target, but in the end the problem occurred and there was nothing we could have done.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“We were running with a hard tyre on the front right of the car when we came into a slippery section. There was a river of water running down on the right, which we caught and lost all grip, so we crashed. It’s very disappointing as we were trying to increase our speed in the afternoon, and our split times were looking promising, but it doesn’t matter if you don’t reach the finish. It’s not what we wanted from today, but hopefully the car will be fixed for tomorrow, with everything to drive for on Sunday.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It was a demanding start this morning with a lot of grip changes. Some of them were difficult to read so we had a few slides here and there like probably everybody had. I think the tyre choice for the morning was pretty good – we took the benefit of our extra hard tyres later on – but it wasn’t such a straightforward choice for the afternoon. This time the grip was probably better than we expected and so our tyre choice maybe wasn’t perfect, but things did get better through the loop, and we finished it positively. It’s all still open for tomorrow. As a team we’re all still in the game and we’ll keep doing our best right until the end.”

Sébastien Ogier

“This first stage of the day here in Japan is always a very challenging one and not my luckiest one. For the second time in three years, we picked up a puncture in a similar section of the stage. I couldn’t really feel where it happened, so it was very disappointing and hard to take, but that’s the way it goes. We tried from the next stage to keep the focus, which is not easy in this situation, and at least we could recover some positions already. At the moment it’s not enough and we still need to get some more places for the team, but there are many stages still to go, anything can happen, and we keep fighting.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning we did not have the start that we planned in the first stage, where we unfortunately had a tyre off the rim. That was very unfortunate and disappointing but luckily we didn’t lose too much time and could still come back to fourth overall at the end of the day, which is not so bad considering how it started this morning. I had to change my approach and drive a bit more on the safe side to gain positions when others had problems, but it worked out OK. There’s still a long way to go and many things have already happened, so we don’t give up. I just need to keep focused on doing my own job for the team and on my own driving.”

Summary

Well, what a first full day of action. Championship leaders Thierry and Martijn had a nightmare day, losing power and time hand over fist. Meanwhile their teammates Ott and Martin were holding the lead.

Let’s see what Saturday holds in store!

Well, here we go again and for the final time this year as well. Thierry and Martijn hold the lead over their teammates and 2019 world champions Ott and Martin. The Belgians hold a significant twenty-five-point advantage over their teammates though and it would take a big mistake from them to not take their first championship.

Meanwhile in the manufacturer standings the gap is much smaller with just fifteen points separating Hyundai and Toyota. We won’t know until the end of the powerstage on Sunday afternoon who has taken the manufacturers title.

Now then, who could win the rally this weekend? One crew that has to be considered, won the 2023 event – Welshman Elfyn and his English co-driver Scott. They have always had pace on dry and wet tarmac and have to be considered as, dare I say it, the favourites.

However, there are plenty of crews that will fight for victory and really it could be any of the regular crews.

Let’s take a look at the stages awaiting the crews.

Competitive action begins under the floodlights of SS1 Toyota Stadium (2.15km) on Thursday night.

Friday opens with the longest stage of the weekend, the notoriously narrow SS2/5 Isegami’s Tunnel (23.67km).

The brand-new SS10/13 Mt. Kasagi stage debuts on Saturday morning, opening the third day of competition.

Five stages close the 2024 FIA WRC season, with SS21 Lake Mikawako 2 acting as the weekend’s Power Stage.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“The target at Rally Japan is to bring home that drivers’ title and to support the team in the fight for the manufacturers’ championship as well. We have done a good job on that already throughout the season, but of course if there is any opportunity where we can support those efforts, then we will. In Japan, the weather and the roads make the biggest difference. They are super dirty when it’s cold, and the leaves on the road make grip very challenging. There are also some new stages, so altogether it’s going to be a very challenging event. We have no testing for Japan, so all of our information has been carried over from Central European Rally. We have plenty of the feedback from previous years here, so we can predict the starting set-up now before doing the fine tuning when we arrive in Japan.”

Ott Tänak

“Rally Japan is another pretty challenging event, probably one of the most difficult we have done on tarmac. It’s definitely the slowest tarmac rally we have done this year; it’s very twisty, narrow, more or less slow everywhere. Normally the stages are never-ending, so together with surface changes and general challenges it’s a tricky event. Japan is crucial for all the championships, so we are definitely planning to do everything we can to give our best performance. With the situation we are in in the championships, we cannot afford to hold back. We know Toyota will go all in and the points difference is pretty small, so we definitely need to fight to keep our lead. All of us need to do their best job: will go into this in fighting mode with the plan to give it our best.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Rally Japan is an event that I did for the first-time last year. It was very enjoyable even though the conditions were very, very difficult, but it was a great challenge. The roads are very twisty and very technical, and at this time of the year the conditions are even more unpredictable. It’s quite different to all the other tarmac rallies that we compete at, the only rally that could be a bit similar is Corsica in terms of being very technical – but it contrasts greatly to Central European Rally. My goal for the weekend is to help us seal the manufacturers’ title. The most important aspect of this event will obviously be the fight with Toyota, so I am sure it will be tough fight them on their home ground – they have nothing to lose. It will be a very big battle, but I think we are all ready for it.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We always receive a very warm welcome driving for Toyota in Japan. Of course, with that comes a lot of expectation to do well but it’s also something we can thrive off. We still have something to fight for in the manufacturers’ championship, and even if it is a difficult task ahead of us, we want to give it our all and give ourselves the best chance. To repeat our result from last year will definitely be the aim: it was a pretty difficult event with a lot of rain and a lot of leaves on the road, and conditions could be similar again. Even if it’s dry, the roads are more technical and twisty than Corsica, which was famous for the number of corners, so it’s a very demanding and busy event both with the pacenotes and with the steering wheel.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s always exciting to go to Rally Japan, and especially this year given we are still in a fight to try and secure the manufacturers’ title. We know that we are not in the ideal position, and we need a close-to-perfect weekend for the team, but it’s definitely not out of reach. Our performance recently has been good and on my side, we want to turn around our fortunes and transform that speed into a good result. The stages in the forests in Japan can be very difficult and conditions are always a big question mark, especially as the event takes place one week later this year. Of course, as Toyota drivers we always feel such strong support which is very nice, and we will try to bring home the result that all the fans are hoping for.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I am really looking forward to Rally Japan. Of course, I always feel a different kind of pressure at my home rally, but it’s a nice kind of pressure: I am really excited to drive in front of my family, my friends and all the fans. Last year, I felt really good in the car and the weekend went well except for one mistake. This year, I want to try and make a good result happen. I think the most important thing will be to assess the situation and the conditions and try to use my performance when I feel confident, a bit like I did on the Central European Rally. It will be challenging but I don’t really mind whether it’s wet or it’s dry: I will do my best and hope I can perform well.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Japan is the last rally of the season, we want to finish the great season we’ve had with a nice result, especially on Tarmac. There are some really tricky, technical roads here and it is quite narrow in places, and the forests can be quite dark this time of year.

“Because it’s a long-haul event, no one has done any testing in preparation, so it’s going to be interesting to see where we can be compared to the others. I’m also looking forward to experiencing the culture again, we didn’t get the result we wanted last time so hopefully this year we can combine success with a great experience of the country.”

Grégoire Munster

“Japan is a rally I like a lot; I have been quite competitive here in the Rally2 category in the last couple of years. Plus, it is really nice to come to Japan and enjoy another culture. I always notice the love of motorsport and rally here is as big, or even bigger, than in Europe so it’s nice to experience the atmosphere. There are a lot of nice ceremonies, especially the prize giving in the stadium, where a lot of fans gather which is really cool.

“Regarding the stages, there are some new stages on the itinerary this year which will be exciting, and the weather conditions are always challenging in Japan during this season. So, anything can happen!”

Summary

We will have a new world champion on Sunday and the first to not be driving a Toyota since Seb Ogier won his sixth title when at M-Sport Ford in 2018. Whether it is Ott and Martin celebrating or Thierry and Martijn it will be an exciting end to the season.

Enjoy!!

Onto the final day then and with 54km’s over the four stages what would the outcome be at the end of the eighteenth stage? Adrien and Alex returned to the action and would open the road.

First stage then of the day, SS15 Am Hochwald 1 – 12.17 km and we had a change for the lead as Adrien was fastest from Elfyn and Takamoto. There was drama for Seb and even more for his teammate Sami. The Frenchman slid off the road and after a little detour rejoined the road and completed the stage with the seventh fastest time. However, for Sami, there was even more drama, as he slid wide, and the front of the Yaris dug in and made the car roll a few times. He was out for the rest of the day. A big shame after a very accomplished first drive on asphalt in the Yaris Rally1. In terms of the lead change, Ott was now in the lead ahead of Seb by just 1.9 seconds and Elfyn a further 5.3 seconds back.

Onto SS16 Passauer Land 1 – 14.87 km Takamoto was fastest from Seb and Ott in this one. The Frenchman closed the gap a little in this one to Ott with the Estonians lead just 1.5 with two stages left.

Next up was SS17 Am Hochwald 2 – 12.17 km and it was a third different stage winner as Elfyn won this one from Ott and Takamoto. However, there was drama again for Toyota as Seb lost the rear of his Yaris and ended up spinning and then collided head on with a telegraph pole. There was large damage to caused and live images showed Seb out of the car.

The final stage then SS18 Passauer Land 2[Power Stage] – 14.87 km and Takamoto set the benchmark which no-one could beat. The rest of the power stage points went to Andreas, Elfyn, Thierry and Adrien. Ott and Martin took their second win of the year and twenty-first of their career. This also meant that they had outscored their teammates and championship rivals and confirmation that the driver’s world championship will be taken by a Hyundai crew.

Let’s take a look at the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Classification – Central European Rally

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“The rally was really intense – demanding from the get-go, with four drivers so close together and never more than ten seconds apart. The conditions were never easy, and although today was the best weather wise yet it was still challenging and unpredictable. I fought very hard with Seb and really tried to push today to secure the win. There is still hope for our drivers’ championship campaign but the manufacturers’ standings is very close with Toyota, so we have a big fight ahead of us in Japan.”

Thierry Neuville

“Overall, it has been a good weekend. Obviously, we came here with the hopes of winning the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles in Germany, and a lot of supporters came down to line the stages to live an incredible moment with us, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Nevertheless, it was a good operation for the team, and we only lost two points to Toyota. Going to Rally Japan with 225 points is a comfortable lead, but we still need a trouble-free rally and a reliable car, especially on Sunday, to get through and hopefully secure the well-deserved titles.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Result wise, this is not what we expected from this weekend. We had a crash on Friday, but otherwise there are a lot of positives to take from Central European Rally as well. Our speed overall when we were pushing has been close to the front, and the Power Stage was definitely the highlight. It’s a big step forward since Croatia; our feeling with the car was completely different, I felt at one with the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid on tarmac and really enjoyed driving it.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s not been a bad weekend for us. Together with Scott we come away as the crew that scored the most points and we have to be somewhat satisfied about that and it’s good for the team. Maybe we were not always setting the stage times alight, but we had some strong moments, and it was quite a consistent weekend. We were missing a little bit here and there but we’re here at the end in second place and we can be reasonably happy with that. In terms of manufacturers’ points we took a little hit today unfortunately, but it wasn’t bad on that side so at least we’re still in the game and it’s all open for Rally Japan.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I want to say a huge thanks to the team for the incredible support they gave me through some difficult moments in the last two months. It’s been a very tough season for myself, so I felt a lot of pressure to do a good job here, but we are able to do it with full points on Super Sunday and the Power Stage as well as fourth overall. I was really enjoying the driving and the feeling in the car, and I’m really happy to finish the rally with this result. Of course, we have still one rally to go at Rally Japan and I will try to do my best there together with the team. We never give up and we keep pushing.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I feel really very sorry for the team for what happened today. In this penultimate stage the first corner going under the trees was much muddier than I anticipated, and I just understeered wide and hit the tree on the outside. The route note, crews did not have the chance to pass through this stage before us so I didn’t have the information in my notes, but this is no excuse because I’m behind the wheel and the other drivers didn’t make the same mistake. Right now, I feel very disappointed, especially for the team because it could have been a strong weekend for us. It’s been three rallies in a row where we clearly have the speed but not the result at the end. Thanks to Elfyn and Taka we still have a chance in the championship at Rally Japan and we will try our best again there.”

Sami Pajari

“In the first stage today, I went a bit wide on one corner and we were maybe a bit unlucky to roll so easily, but it was my mistake. It’s a pity and I’m sorry for the team. I just need to learn from this, understand what happened and be better in the future. Up to then, the rally had been really nice for us, every day was really clean, and there was clear development through the weekend. I got quite a nice feeling with the car and did some decent stage times, and most importantly we learned a lot. These three rallies in the Rally1 car have been really amazing, a dream come true for me, and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. Now I look forward to doing my best at Rally Japan in WRC2.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“A tricky weekend with the weather conditions, and the different types of stages, but all in all we didn’t do too badly. We improved the set-up of the car in different conditions, and we worked a lot towards Japan as well, so it’s all positive things. A top-five result, at the end, which equals our top-five result in Sardinia, makes it quite a positive weekend overall.”

William Creighton

“A tricky rally, so I’m glad we didn’t have any major issues and have gained the experience. It’s been amazing to compete in my first WRC2 season, I have learnt a lot! Thank you to the MI Rally Academy, M-Sport and everyone else for making it possible.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“We went to CER on an impulse. Very limited preparation, no hybrid… we hoped for a cool weekend and a Top 20 finish. Actually, it was not exactly cool, especially in technique, but we enjoyed a lot Saturday and Sunday. And we achieved the target. Fantastic ambiance inside the team. It will be full of good memories…!”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Just a difficult Friday and Saturday with some technical issues, it’s not the result we would expect after winning the rally last year in the RC2 category. The good point is that after we fixed the car on Saturday evening, we clinched the first fastest time of the day and third overall on Super Sunday, with one extra point for the Power Stage. So at least we showed some good pace on the Sunday.”

Summary

Well, we had a very exciting and dramatic rally with a number of different leaders. Thierry led early on before he went off the road on Saturday, then Ott and Seb both had their times as leaders before the Frenchman’s unusual mistake.

The Estonian duo took a well-deserved victory, bringing them back into championship contention. Now the gap is a not insignificant twenty-five points and this would need Thierry and Martijn to suffer quite a bad result at the final round for the 2019 world champions to take their second title.

Elfyn and Scott showed again why they should always be considered as one of the best crews in the championship with a great fight at the front. The Welshman is always really hard on himself and yet does not always give himself credit with how good he is. With the result he took here, he’s taken third in the championship standings again.

Thierry and Martijn could have taken the title this weekend, but a mistake put them out of the lead meaning that the title will be decided in Japan, late November. They still have one hand on the trophy. Let’s see what happens next month.

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 12

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 12

One final round remains then, Rally Japan from the 21^st to the 24^th of November.

The second full day of action would see the crews tackle 123km’s over six stages. Thierry held the overnight lead from Seb and Ott and less than eight seconds covered the top three, with Elfyn a further 7.3 seconds back in fourth.

First up was SS9 Granit und Wald 1 – 20.05 km and there was drama for Adrien and Alex as their Puma went off the road but still completed the stage. They had a problem with part of the transmission which had caused their off. At the front, Ott was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. Rally leader Thierry could only manage the fifth best time over 7 seconds slower than his teammate and now his lead was only half a second from Ott.

Onto SS10 Beyond Borders 1 – 24.33 km and Adrien continued to have problems, going off the road again and damaging his Puma. Meanwhile, Elfyn was fastest from Seb and Thierry. This time it was Ott that lost time, only going fifth fastest and with Seb only 1.2 seconds slower than his teammate the Frenchman moved ahead of his former M-Sport teammate and into second overall.

SS11 Schärdinger Innviertel 1 – 17.35 km the final morning stage and after Seb, Elfyn and Ott had completed, Thierry who would be last to complete the stage from the group of Rally1 cars and had a spin in a left hander and did a full 360-degree spin before getting back underway. Further on though, he then went wide on a corner and then got stuck rejoining the road in the drainage ditch. He would lose over 30 seconds and with that fell to fourth overall, behind the new top three. Also, to have problems was Takamoto as he went wide onto the grass and lost around ten seconds whilst rejoining on the slippery grass.

After the service break next up was SS12 Granit und Wald 2 – 20.05 km and Ott was fastest from Seb and Elfyn who set the joint second fastest time. Ott had reduced Seb’s lead to just 1.1 seconds.

The penultimate stage of the day, SS13 Beyond Borders 2 – 24.33 km and Seb was again fastest from Thierry and Ott. Twelve seconds covered the top three, whilst the former leader Thierry was 37.7 seconds behind and 25.7 from the podium.

The final stage then of the day, SS14 Schärdinger Innviertel 2 – 17.35 km and Seb was again fastest from Ott and Elfyn.

Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m happy with my day. It’s been a very close fight for the whole day. The conditions were tricky this morning, but we were quite consistent. Ott was really fast on the opening stage on both passes and we had to react to that, especially this afternoon in order to rebuild our lead. We tried to push even more on the last two stages, but five seconds is not that much of an advantage so the same kind of approach will be needed tomorrow. So far, it’s been a good weekend, and the car is working well considering it’s our first asphalt rally for six months. With these positions after Saturday, we’re catching up in the manufacturers’ championship and let’s try to get some more points tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“I think it’s been a solid day for us in more very mixed conditions. The morning especially was pretty difficult with a bit of fog bringing quite a lot of moisture onto the road, and this evolved between our route-note crews going through and us driving the stage. Therefore, we had to use our own judgement and it seems from the times that this wasn’t so bad. In the afternoon it was drier, but the road was quite polluted with mud, and we didn’t seem to cope with that so well. The margins were only small, but we lost a bit of ground there. Still, it’s been a strong day for the team, and we’ll keep fighting for more points tomorrow.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today my target was again to have a clean day. This morning it went well except for this last stage, which was quite tricky with surface changes and bits of gravel on the road. I realised under braking for this one corner there was not enough grip, so I decided to go straight. It felt like a long time sliding on the grass, but we got back on the road without any issues. This afternoon the conditions were much drier and easier, and we could have a clean loop. Tomorrow I’ll aim for a good run through the first stages and see if I can do anything in the Power Stage, but my main job is to be there for the team.”

Sami Pajari

“It has been quite fun today. The conditions were a bit different from the morning to the afternoon as it was getting drier and more grippy, and that was a different kind of a challenge with new things to learn: when it’s like that you need to try and go for it and that’s quite demanding with a Rally1 car. The pace that the top guys are doing is so high, but it’s quite nice to see that we can be as close as we have been in our first rally on asphalt, and I have many ideas where I can improve. Already the improvement during the rally has been quite good and the confidence is growing nicely. I’m looking forward to doing four more stages with this car tomorrow.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“It has been quite an intense day. This morning I had one bad stage where I lost too much time, and the rhythm wasn’t good enough, however this afternoon the car worked really well on the first stage in what was the most difficult, dirty and challenging conditions. The next two were too clean and high grip, and my setup was just not racy enough to get the speed out of the car. We know from last year you want to prepare a forgiving car, and while it’s a bit different on the roads this year, the car is not bad to drive – it’s just missing the top speed in nice conditions. We all need to have a strong day tomorrow to bring home important points for the championship.”

Thierry Neuville

“I’m obviously very disappointed for what happened today, we paid the price for a mistake during the recce. It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. We didn’t expect to be fighting for the lead this weekend; we came here with the target of finishing the rally, however we were in a situation yesterday where we were in a close battle with all the title contenders as well as for important manufacturers’ points. We had to drive fast, and we did what we could today. Tomorrow, we need to try and take as many extra points as possible, so we go into Japan with a comfortable lead. The stages look quite interesting – hopefully they will be drier and less tricky than today.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“Today we worked a bit on the setup of the car to prepare for Super Sunday. We had very different conditions on the second loop; it was much drier, which required some changes. Overall, we had a good, clean loop. We stayed away from taking big risks so for sure there is still time to gain, but I don’t feel that I am too far away. We tested some things on the car, some of which worked well, so we are going in the right direction, but we know we have one more gear for tomorrow. I want to contribute to the team’s manufacturers’ fight, so we will wake up with a fresh mind and give it our best.”

Oliver Solberg

“We softened the car for the afternoon,” he said. “That made quite a big difference. It gave me more confidence and grip. I should have taken this set-up this morning, but it’s all about experience. I haven’t competed on Tarmac for nine months, so I was a little bit out of practice!

“The stages have been a lot of fun again today – that last one was super-nice. This morning was quite tricky with conditions changing a lot, it was easy to get caught out. Hopefully it will stay a bit drier through Sunday, but I have a good feeling for the set-up now.

“Let’s see what happens – but again the number of fans and the enthusiasm they are having out there has been really cool.”

Sunday

The final day of the rally will see the crews tackle 54km’s over the final four stages. Will there be another sting in the tail, or can Seb hold on for victory?