Category: WRC

Onto the second day then of the event and the crews had just over 130km’s over six stages. Nasser would open the road throughout the day, whilst championship leader Elfyn would be the fourth driver into the stages. Adrien as the overnight leader would be the final driver from the top class to start giving them a bit of an advantage perhaps with the road conditions.

First up then was SS9 Alghullah 1 – 11.69 km and Adrien was fastest from Sami and Martins. Best of the rest was Ott who was fourth fastest and 18 seconds from the lead. For the three championship challengers it was Kalle who made the best time but was only half a second faster than Seb, the gap between them over thirty seconds.

Onto the longest stage then of the day, SS10 Um Al Jerem 1 – 30.58 km and Ott was fastest from Martins and Sami. The Latvian duo moved past Sami and back into second overall and were now just over four seconds away from Adrien and the lead. Kalle and Elfyn were both quicker than Seb in this one with the Finn moving closer to the Frenchman.

The final morning stage then SS11 Wadi Almatwi 1 – 24.90 km and Ott was fastest again from Martins and Sami. The rally leader, Adrien was fourth and saw his lead cut to a little under three seconds. Meanwhile there was drama for the championship leaders who lost over two minutes after having to stop for a puncture near the start of the stage. They fell one position to tenth, now over ten seconds behind Greg.

Into the afternoon stages SS12 Alghullah 2 – 11.69 km and Ott made it three stage wins in a row setting the pace from Martins and Adrien. Once again, Martins moved a little closer to Adrien with the gap now under two seconds. Ott’s pace took him onto the same overall time as Sami in fourth. Elfyn closed on Greg for ninth the gap now under sixth seconds.

Next it was back to the SS13 Um Al Jerem 2 – 30.58 km and Martins took the stage win from Thierry and Takamoto. This was a brilliant run by the M-Sport crew and took them back into the overall lead by over twenty-two seconds. The former leader, Adrien, had an overshoot at a junction and was only seventh fastest. Ott had drama as he suffered a puncture losing over a minute and a half. The Estonian duo dropped two positions as a result. Sami also had the same problem and fell five positions to eighth place as Elfyn moved up one place to ninth. The top three were now Martins, Adrien and Thierry, whilst Takamoto was now in fourth. Seb and Kalle also gain one position each moving into sixth and seventh respectively.

Time then for the final stage of the day, SS14 Wadi Almatwi 2 – 24.90 km and Kalle was fastest in this one from Thierry and Takamoto. There was drama for the top two as both Martins and Adrien suffered punctures which they did not stop to change. There were others who had punctures including Seb, Thierry, Greg, Takamoto and Ott. In fact, the Estonian had two punctures. They stopped to change the first before getting another later in the stage. The top three was Martins, Thierry and Takamoto. When the stage ended Adrien was holding the lead but was later was given a one-minute penalty for being early to the time control. This meant that the Frenchman was now in fourth, 57 seconds behind new leader Martins. There were changes in positions in the championship contenders as Kalle passed Seb and moved into fifth place, Seb now in sixth and Elfyn was now in eighth place. We lost Ott on the road section as there was suspension damage to his car and a decision was taken to retire the car after the double puncture.

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

Classification after Day Two

1 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 2:43:20.1 2 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3.4 3 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +41.5 4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +57.6 5 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:12.6 6 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:12.8 7 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:34.8 8 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +3:52.6 9 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +6:13.4 10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +7:26.7

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It was a very tough day out there. We were pushed to our limits, and we had to somehow find a good approach to allow us to go fast and avoid the stones. This rally is a big lottery for everybody – you need to have a bit of luck here. We got punctures yesterday, and one front-right puncture on the last stage today but luckily not too far from the finish so we didn’t drop too much time. There’s room for more, so we’re going to try and find that tomorrow.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I was really pleased with our performance today. I think we might have been able to push more, but we were playing with the balance of pushing or saving the car and the tyres and I think we managed that quite well. We came back here in the lead, with a small gap, ready to fight tomorrow – we were enjoying being in the battle with all the young guns, but now we are fourth after a time penalty for an early check-in. We’re not sure what happened, but at the moment I can only focus on myself and let the team investigate further.”

Ott Tänak

“We had a lot of punctures today; it is what it is but at least we tried. We want to get to the end of this rally, but hopefully there will still be a fight for the podium tomorrow we can follow. It’s been a proper lottery, and we didn’t have too good a weekend.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s good to be up to third overall tonight. We had some difficulties during the afternoon with the tyres, but we managed it without needing to stop on the stage, and this helped a lot to gain the positions. To have 42s to the lead is quite a big gap, but there’s still three stages to go and you never know what can happen, especially here with how tough this rally has been. We will just try to keep going like this tomorrow and avoid problems and see where we are at the end.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a long and tricky day. I tried to just be fast and avoid the trouble. The conditions were really tough already on the first pass; even with only four cars in front of us, we still had a lot of surprises and loose stones. The last stage of the loop was especially rough and that’s where everyone else started to get issues and we managed to make up some positions. The situation is still not in our favour but at least we are in the mix, and we will just try to enjoy our final day tomorrow and go for it.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a demanding day. I knew that Elfyn had stopped in the last stage of the morning and took that stage a bit more carefully because of that, but it didn’t really change much about the championship: we still had to try and stay ahead of Kalle. We anticipated that this last stage of the day would be the roughest one of the weekend and I tried to have a careful rhythm there but had this loss of tyre pressure at the end. At least we still have our destiny in our hands: tomorrow we hope to stay out of trouble and have to go for it.”

Sami Pajari

“It was a really close fight still today. I was expecting there would start to be some bigger time gaps, but everyone was pushing quite hard, and the margins were small. I still felt I was being clever in the places where I could see a risk of damaging the car or tyres, and in other sections I was doing all I can. Unfortunately, we had to stop and change the tyre in SS13. We were not the only ones to have such trouble, but we were chasing for our first victory and really in the fight. The pace was there, so it’s a big disappointment but of course we need to take the positives into the last day tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“It wasn’t ideal what happened to us this morning. We got the tyre pressure alarm quite early in the third stage of the loop and with so far still to go we had to make the decision to stop and change it rather than try to drive on it. Thankfully we could make up some places this afternoon with others having issues and so it’s still quite open and it will all come down to tomorrow now. It’s pretty straightforward in a way: we just have to give it the best shot we can and see what happens.”

 

Oliver Solberg

Oliver said: “It’s been another good day. This rally has been such a cool challenge, it’s amazing to come somewhere new like this and to meet new people and new fans. And the roads are incredible, so tough, but so rewarding to drive.

“I was in the last stage this afternoon and all the way from the start line to the finish, across the mountains I could see this helicopter following us – it was HRH Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal with my fiancée Chloe and my mom and dad. It was super-cool, they were with me for the whole way and when I had a straight section, I had time to wave to them a little bit!

“Tomorrow is going to be another big day for Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and me. It’s the final day of the season with this fantastic Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and with this fantastic Printsport team. I want to go out on a real high and win some more stages and really enjoy myself – but Elliott and I are still learning and taking more experience.”

 

Summary

Well, what a day. We had a number of changes of the leader plus punctures and a penalty for Adrien which gave Martins the overnight lead heading into the final day of the rally and the year.

The crews face almost 66m’s over three stages with a single run through the longest stage of the weekend which is 33km’s. What will we witness? Elfyn and Scott’s first crown or Seb and Vincent’s first championship as a crew and Seb’s ninth title? Or perhaps Kalle and Jonne will take it?

Will we also witness Martins and Renars first win at the top level and the first win for M-Sport since Ott and Martin won in Chile 2023?

The first full day of action would see the crews tackle 112km’s over seven stages. There had been a single stage run in the previous evening and we had a top three of Ott, Seb and Martins whilst Elfyn was fifth overall, 2.1 seconds from the overnight leader. Of course, the championship leader would open the road throughout the first full day of action.

 

Into SS2 Al Fasallyah 1 – 19.36 km and the top three in the championship would set very different time. Seb managed the third best time, Kalle sixth and Elfyn was ninth, reflecting the different road positions they faced. The top two in the stage were Martins and Sami. The surprise result was that the Latvian duo we now leading from Seb, whilst Sami gained four positions and moved into third overall.

 

Next up came SS3 Moon Stage 1 – 20.12 km which had quite a different character to the first stage with a harder surface and rocks lining the road. Martins was again fastest from Adrien and Ott this time, whilst Kalle was the fastest of the three challengers in eighth with Seb tenth and Elfyn twelfth. The three of them held seventh to ninth in the overall standings.

The final morning stage then SS4 Khulays 1 – 11.33 km and Sami was fastest from Adrien and Thierry this time. Martins had a moment on the stage at the same point as Elfyn as they both had to reverse back to the correct part of the stage and they both lost around six seconds. The Latvian held onto the lead from Adrien by just 1.3 seconds.

 

After service came SS5 Al Fasallyah 2 – 19.36 km and Martins kept his pace high going fastest again from Sami and Adrien who’d set the same time as Seb who was fourth fastest. Elfyn was ninth finding the conditions really tricky but was holding eighth overall one position behind Seb.

 

Onwards to SS6 Moon Stage 2 – 20.12 km and Sami was fastest from Takamoto and Adrien third. Thierry and Ott set the same time for fourth and fifth fastest. Kalle moved up one position to ninth overall and was now 5.6 seconds behind Elfyn. There was drama for Martins though as he got a puncture. He fell to third overall but remained close to the top, just 12.9 seconds from the new leader Sami.

 

Onto the final proper stage then of the day, SS7 Khulays 2 – 11.33 km and it was a 1-2-3 for the Hyundai crews as Ott was fastest from Thierry and Adrien. Martins was fourth in this one as Adrien moved into the lead. Sami had a tyre breakup and lost over ten seconds. Further back Kalle also passed Elfyn for eighth overall.

 

The final stage then, SS8 Jameel Motorsport Super Special 2 – 5.22 km and Martins and Seb set the same time with Ott a further half a second back with the third fastest time. The top positions closed up with Martins in third overall, just 6.9 seconds from the lead.

 

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

Classification after Day One

1 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 1:18:45.3 2 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +6.0 3 M. Sesks R. Francis Ford Puma Rally1 +6.9 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +13.7 5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +14.9 6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +22.9 7 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +44.2 8 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:21.2 9 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:25.3 10 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +2:10.9

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m really pleased with today. I always think we can push more, but we are playing with the balance of pushing or saving the car and the tyres and I think we managed that quite well. We are leading tonight, but the gaps are small, so nothing is certain. Today was demanding on the tyres, especially on the second stage of the afternoon loop. It’s really nice to be in the fight with the young guns. Tomorrow the stages all vary, but they all have similarities to some of today’s. It’s positive to finish a day like this, and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

Ott Tänak

“Today has been all about surviving and keeping it clean, we’ve done that so it’s good and I’m happy there haven’t been any big incidents. Hopefully we have learnt enough from today and can improve the feeling in the car a bit. Everything is still very close so it’s all possible, but we need a bit more speed.”

Thierry Neuville

“I enjoyed today, the diversity of the stages and the profile meant I had good fun. There’s a good mix of challenging and rough conditions, and I think we managed them quite well. I was generally happy with my tyre choice this afternoon; we just had a couple of issues today including a delamination on SS7 which cost us a bit of time. For us there is no championship pressure, so we are just having fun while trying to stay in the fight for the result. We are just over 16 seconds from the lead, so on that side all good.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sami Pajari

“It’s been a really positive day for us. To take a couple of stage wins, be consistently close to the top times and even leading the rally at one point is really good. It’s a pity what happened with the tyre on the last gravel stage because we dropped a bit of time there, but we’re still only a few seconds away from the lead. It’s not easy to manage things here, but I tried to push in the sections that felt safe and be smarter in the tricky places. Tomorrow will be a longer day but it would be good if we can continue like this.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This first full day was a tough one as expected. It’s very hot out there but the team has done a really good job to try and make us comfortable. This first stage of the loop in the desert was really nice, with super high speed and big jumps. Otherwise, we were just trying to avoid mistakes and the puncture risk, which was quite high this afternoon. I’d like to be higher than sixth but there’s still a long way to go, so we’ll just keep going and see what happens tomorrow.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a challenging day like we expected, and with a massive cleaning effect especially in the super twisty sections on the second and third stages of the loop. The first stage of the loop was smoother, so I tried to take the opportunity to push there and gain some time. Maybe we can’t see it in our overall position, but I think we did a really good job today. I don’t think there was anything more we could do in our position. The main target is to be in front of Elfyn and Kalle, but the gaps are still small, so we need to try and keep going tomorrow and try to gain more places if we can.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Today has been quite tough, but it’s much the same for everybody. Unfortunately, we sustained this tyre damage in the last stage of the morning. We made the right call not to stop and change the tyre, but we still lost quite a bit of time with that and some starting positions for tomorrow, which is not so good. As we have seen today, the cleaning effect is maybe even greater than we thought, so tomorrow can be tough also. There’s still a long way to go though, so let’s see what we can do.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a tough day out there. This morning I was too conservative on the first stage and a bit disappointed to give away so much time. After that, the cleaning effect was more dramatic on the next two stages, and it felt like my pace wasn’t so bad compared to Seb just behind. I think the cleaning was maybe even worse in some places on the second pass of the stages. It’s tough to know how well you’re driving when the road is evolving so fast. But we’re still here and tomorrow we have a longer loop of stages where staying out of trouble will probably be quite tough, but I’ll just stay focused on my own driving.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a really good day,” said Oliver. “In places this morning, it was definitely more slippery than we were expecting, but the car was perfect, and we were able to enjoy the roads while taking more and more experience.

“In the afternoon, we had to be more strategic with the tyres. We pushed quite hard on the stage in the loop, but then took it easier in the middle one. We knew this Moon Stage was really abrasive, so we looked after the tyres a little bit and then pushed harder in the last one. It worked well for us.

“Some of the roads here are amazing and so much fun, but all the time you have to be keeping these rocks in mind – they are everywhere! Tomorrow will be another tough day, but me and Elliott are ready for it.”

 

Friday

The second full day of action will see the crews face a longer day with 134km’s over six stages. This includes a double run of a thirty-and-a-half-kilometre stage.

 

What will the positions be at the end of day two?

Time then for the fourteenth and final round of this years World Rally Championship on the sand and gravel roads of Saudi Arabia. This round is a complete unknown with roads which will have never been used before in the championship and in this respect it will be interesting how things develop with each car coming through. There will be completely new pace notes to prepare for the crews during recce Road position could and likely will be crucial in the ultimate result taken at the end of the rally, and this will likely have a huge bearing as to who takes the drivers and co-drivers titles.

Just three points separate Elfyn and Scott from the second placed crew of Seb and Vincent, whilst Kalle and Jonne are a further 24 points in third.

 

Now just some housekeeping to mention at this point. This will be the final WRC event for Ott and Martin as was announced by Hyundai after Rally Japan. The 2019 world champions are calling a day on their careers. Joining them in retirement are Kalle and Jonne, with Kalle switching codes to circuit racing next year in Super Formula.

 

We know who is joining Toyota’s Rally1 squad as well, as WRC2 champions Oliver and Elliot will be in the top spec GR Yaris. What we don’t know yet is whether Hyundai will run three cars next year and should they do who the third crew will be?

 

One final thing to mention following the sporting news and this is a bit political from me. Why on earth have the FIA decided to give a round of this amazing championship to a country which has a questionable government which is alleged to have carried out some really bad things against its own citizens is beyond me? I know there are a huge number of fans who’d love to see the championship back in Britain. Can you imagine the huge interest as Elfyn and Scott who lead the points standings if they were competing at home for the title on some of the most iconic stages? Only last weekend was the thirtieth anniversary of Colin and Derek taking the 1995 championship and we could have had this for the Toyota crew. I think that it is a huge shame Wales Rally GB has now been missing for six years from the championship.

 

Now, let’s take a look at the stages.

Competitive action commences on Wednesday evening with the first run of Jameel Motorsport Super Special (SS1/8, 5.22km).

A jam-packed Thursday will see crews contest seven stages: two loops of Al Faisaliyah (SS2/5, 19.36km), Moon Stage (SS3/6, 20.12km) and Khulais (SS4/7, 11.33km) followed by the final run of Jameel Motorsport Super Special (SS1/8, 5.22km).

 

Friday’s itinerary features six stages: two loops of Alghulah (SS9/12, 11.69km), Um Al Jerem (SS10/13, 30.58km) and Wadi Almatwi (SS11/14, 28.59km).

 

The final day of competition includes three stages and features the event’s longest stage: two loops of Thahban (SS15/17, 16.39km) sandwich the treacherous Asfan (SS16, 33.88km).

 

There are 319km’s over seventeen stages with the longest day of competitive action being Friday’s stages. Also, the event actually finishes on Saturday instead of Sunday.

 

Let’s hear from the drivers then.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“We go to Saudi Arabia knowing that everything is still to play for and very open in the championship. Seb is a tough opponent and performing at a really high level, and Kalle cannot be counted out at this stage either. It will be tough, but we’re going to give it our best shot of course. Nobody really knows what to expect from this event. None of the drivers have done it before and many of the stages are completely new anyway, so it’s basically a clean sheet for all of us. We just have to arrive there, focus on doing the best rally we can, and see what comes.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It was an intense battle with Elfyn for the win at Rally Japan and it was good for us to close the gap in the championship before the final round. It’s been a strong year, I’m happy with the performance we’ve had, and I’ve really enjoyed driving the car. Hopefully this all-new rally can be a good and exciting finale for the championship. Nobody has much experience of what the stages are like there, so there can be the potential for a lot of surprises. There could be rough sections with a lot of rocks around, but hopefully the conditions are fair for all of us, and may the best man win!”

Kalle Rovanperä

“For us the championship is not really in our hands anymore, but we still have a chance, so let’s see how it goes in Saudi Arabia. The stages look to be quite tricky with a lot of rocks around, so there could be a fairly big chance of something happening for any of the drivers. All that we can do is focus on trying to do a good job and get a good result for ourselves, and we would still need the others to have a bad result. Whatever happens, hopefully we can make it a good last rally to finish this chapter in a nice way.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m looking forward to discovering Rally Saudi Arabia for the first time. None of us have been there before and from the information we have, it looks like it’s going to be very tough. It could be quite like Kenya in some places, and maybe a similar kind of approach could be needed. That has suited me well in the past, but we need to see what it’s like when we get there. I hope to be able to finish the year with some positive feelings to be able to take into next year, and I’ll try my best like always.”

Sami Pajari

“It was really nice to achieve our first podium finish at Rally Japan, and it shows that we have been moving in a good direction through this first proper season with the Rally1 car. Now we have something completely new to end the year in Saudi Arabia. Nobody knows really what’s going to happen there, but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless. I would guess that it might be quite like Kenya in some ways – there we took a steady approach that really paid off in the end with a good result – but we need to wait to see exactly what challenges we face.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“We are going into the unknown with Rally Saudi Arabia, so we will have to go there and discover what the event has to offer. We will be back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 evo for the event, a car which has performed especially well on rough gravel. We don’t know exactly what to expect from the rough gravel in Saudi Arabia, but the team has been strong in these sort of conditions in the past.”

Thierry Neuville

“We don’t know too much about the event; we only have some footage of the stages which we can check to get a better idea of the surface and the layout. We won’t get a full understanding until we arrive in Jeddah. It’s hard to say exactly what we will need from the car setup, but with the high risk of punctures, loose stones and rough surface, we need a reliable car and a high ride height for maximum protection. We’ve had a tough year, but we will go all in for one final victory for the team – we have nothing to lose.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“I really enjoy brand-new events because all crews go into it with the same level of experience – and so it becomes all about pacenotes. We’re expecting it to be a very rough event with a lot of sand and rocks, but then also quite fast and soft in certain places, making it hard to find the perfect setup. It’s going to be warm for us inside the car, and we’ll have to manage our tyres well. I would love to finish the season on a high. We have done well in terms of performance, but this hasn’t been reflected in our results. It would be really nice to clinch our first victory at the final round of the season.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“This is my first time in Saudi Arabia, and I’m really interested to experience the culture here and discover this brand-new rally. The stages are definitely going to be a real challenge. The terrain is a mix of sandy sections and much rougher patches, with plenty of big rocks lining the roads, so managing punctures and keeping the car in good shape will be crucial.

“It’s going to be a demanding rally, but also one that offers opportunities if you stay smart. We’ll approach it with a solid plan, and hopefully turn it into a strong result to end the season.”

Josh McErlean

“Heading into Saudi Arabia, I’m fully focused on ending my debut Rally1 season on a strong note. Japan was a tough weekend, but we’ve reset quickly and put everything into preparing for this new challenge. With the event being completely new for everyone, it really levels the playing field with no previous data to rely on.

“From what we’ve learned so far, the stages will change character quickly, so it’s the kind of rally where you need to be smart, stay committed, and strike the right balance between caution and pushing on. I’m excited for the challenge and ready to give it everything.”

Mārtiņš Sesks

“I’m excited to be back with M-Sport for the final round of the season, especially for a new event as intriguing as Rally Saudi Arabia. This is another great opportunity to continue the progression we’ve made with the Puma throughout the 2025 season. With the rally being brand-new for all the crews, it puts everyone on equal ground, which is a nice challenge to take on.

“The stages will be challenging, and adapting quickly will be key. I’m looking forward to learning as much as possible, supporting the team, and finishing the season with a positive performance.”

Nasser Al-Attiyah

“I’m incredibly proud to make my Rally1 debut with M-Sport Ford, and to do it here in Saudi Arabia makes the moment even more special. I’ve followed the evolution of the Puma Rally1 closely, and it’s an honour to finally experience this level of performance for myself. Rallying in the region is growing rapidly, and to be part of the first WRC event in Saudi Arabia is a huge privilege. My goal is to enjoy the challenge, learn as much as I can, and represent the fans here in the Middle East with a strong performance.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“What a season we’ve had,” smiled this year’s WRC2 World Rally Champion. “And what a place to end the year… Saudi Arabia. This is really a unique event in the championship, something so different and so exciting. Honestly, I think it’s impossible to predict what’s coming on this event – the roads are incredible, with so many rocks waiting to catch you out.

“It’s an amazing place to come to decide a world championship, and really good to be bringing the WRC back to the Middle East after so long (it’s 14 years since Rally Jordan in 2011). I’m looking forward to meeting lots of fans we haven’t seen before and showing them why ours is the best sport in the world!

“But before we start what’s going to be one the most challenging rounds of the season, Elliott and me want to say thank you and offer some genuine appreciation to every single person in the Printsport team – the best team in WRC2. You guys have been just incredible, you’re all a total pleasure to work with, super-professional and simply the best. Thank you. Kiitos.

“And the same to TOYOTA GAZOO Racing for making the GR Yaris Rally2 the unbelievable car it is. When I tested this car for the first time, it was quite different to what I’d been used to and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I loved it then and I really love it now. Between TOYOTA, Printsport, Elliott and me, I think we made some nice results, a nice title and a really nice team.

“To our amazing friends at Monster Energy – I couldn’t have done this without you. And to all our other partners, what an amazing journey we’ve been on. And now, to the next chapter.

“Like you know, we have signed to join the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team next season; this is my dream, it always has been. Thank you again to everybody for helping me realise my dream. Now, let’s live it together.

“But first, to Saudi Arabia and the adventure that lies in wait in the deserts and mountains of round 14. The aim? One more win. Let’s see…”

 

Summary

This is it then, whether you like it or not the final rally is taking place in Saudi Arabia. This will be a huge challenge for the crews fighting for the championship. Can Elfyn and Scott finally secure their first world title and join Colin and Derek and Richard and Robert as British World Rally Champions?

Their teammates will be working hard to do everything to take the title and perhaps the road position on Thursday’s first full day of stages will be key? Of course, as championship leaders, Elfyn and Scott will open the road.

The action gets underway with shakedown at just after eight tomorrow morning UK time. (Wednesday 26 November 2025)

The final day then of this thirteenth round of the rally championship dawned with rain falling on all the stages bringing an extra dimension of sketchiness to the roads. The plan was for Thierry to return to the action after his retirement at the start of Saturday. However, he would not start as the i20 suffered a failure of the windscreen wipers which would not work. He came back to the service park and parked up for the day. Takamoto and Aaron would therefore open the road throughout the six stages.

 

First up then was SS15 Nukata 1 – 20.23 km and the rain had made the whole stage really tricky for the crews. Takamoto had probably the best conditions and would set the third best time behind Ott and Kalle. Elfyn and Seb continued their fight for victory and in this one the Welshman was a little faster, bringing the gap down to just under six seconds.

 

Onto SS16 Lake Mikawako 1 – 13.98 km and Takamoto was once again third fastest with his teammates Seb and Elfyn the only two to go faster in the dress rehearsal for the powerstage as the Frenchman set the pace and increased his lead by a second. There was drama though for Adrien who went off the road and with that lost the right-hand door. He regained the road and finished the stage but there was no way that he and Alex could continue. Now Sami was into third overall.

 

The first of two runs of SS17 Okazaki SSS 1 – 1.98 km was won by Seb whose time was equalled by Takamoto whilst Ott was third. Elfyn was fourth fastest, but it could have been so much worse as he went down a bank near the end of the stage. He emerged just over a second slower than Seb and maintained his second place overall.

 

The second run of SS18 Okazaki SSS 2 – 1.98 km saw Takamoto set the pace from Ott and Seb with Elfyn keeping his car on the road and finishing just half a second behind Seb. The gap between the two title fighters had grown to just over eight seconds.

 

Now it was time to return to SS19 Nukata 2 – 20.23 km and the rain was still falling. Interestingly, Ott was having a good day so far and was able to set some good pace on these wet stages. Once again Seb was fastest from Elfyn with Ott with the third best time. The gap grew some more between Seb and Elfyn, now 11.5 seconds separating them.

 

We came now to the final stage, SS20 Lake Mikawako 2[Power Stage] – 13.98 km and the question was could Elfyn beat Seb on the stage and take victory? Well, Kalle who was looking to keep him and Jonne in the title fight would set the benchmark time on their final tarmac stage. However, then Elfyn came through and beat this time by over nine seconds. As Seb came through the splits showed that at first Elfyn was slower, but as Seb came closer to the end of the stage it was much closer and Seb won the stage but only one tenth separated them. Ott and Greg completed the top five.

 

Seb had won the rally and also set the fastest time on Sunday’s stages, plus taken the top points in the powerstage. It was a maximum score for him bringing him closer to Elfyn at the top of the championship.

 

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

 

Final Overall Classification – Rally Japan

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3:21:08.9 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +11.6 3 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:16.6 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +3:18.1 5 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +6:48.7 6 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +7:01.5 7 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +9:35.5 8 A. Cachón B. Rozada Toyota GR Yaris +10:41.6 9 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +11:36.2 10 J. Solans R. Sanjuan Toyota GR Yaris +12:26.0

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“This is the perfect result for us and I’m very happy to win this rally in Japan at home for Toyota. It’s been an intense weekend, especially this last day with very challenging conditions. A big congratulations to the team for giving us a great car again to fight like this, because today we started a completely different rally with a completely different setup, and it worked straight away. Elfyn was pushing me the whole weekend, and great wins only happen when you have great opponents.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a fun and strong weekend overall and another great result for the team at home in Japan. It wasn’t easy today to be in such a big fight in those difficult conditions. We gave it our best shot, but Seb was driving very well and was too tough to beat today. It was so close between the two of us, especially in the Power Stage, and it feels like we’ve missed out on quite a few points, but that’s the name of the game and everything is still to play for going into the final rally.”

Sami Pajari

“This result feels really, really nice. It’s always special to take the first podium, and to do it in Japan and get a 1-2-3 for Toyota at home makes this even more special. There were super tricky conditions today, but we had good pace on the first two days, and today we had some margin that meant we could just make sure that we finish. It’s been a really good event, and we must be really pleased with this. It’s been a super job by all the team, and it shows we are going forwards in a good way.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a tricky weekend overall for us and today conditions got really difficult with a lot of rain and standing water. We tried what we could to get some extra points from Sunday, but it’s not been the weekend or the result that we wanted to have. We’ve just been a bit too inconsistent this year, but we still have the chance to go for it one more time on the final round and we will try to make that a good one and see what happens.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Thank you to the team and the fans for their great support in my home rally. I couldn’t get a good result in the end and I’m sorry for that, but I saw so much support this week and I really appreciate it. Thanks to the team for fixing the car; today I tried my best to drive for the fans. I felt good confidence and pace, but in the Power Stage there was a lot of standing water, and it didn’t work out well. I can see that it’s possible to get a good result here in the future and I will keep trying.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“The conditions today have been demanding but I enjoyed them as the car was driving better than the days before. We didn’t have to push too hard today, but it was much more drivable. We don’t know what was causing our issues over the last few days, but we will investigate with the team. We need to go to Saudi and discover what it’s like, but Hyundai have been good on rough gravel, so these kind of conditions should suit us.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Firstly, and most importantly, both Alex and I are OK. There was a lot of mist on my windscreen which made it difficult to see the road. I didn’t hear Alex’s pacenote warning about a tricky corner, and I didn’t see it either, so we went slightly wide into the trees, which damaged the door and side of the car. Without the door and with the timecard inside, we had no choice but to retire. Of course, I am disappointed, but at the same time, we were able to fight at the front all weekend and make good progress with the car. Overall, we can say it was a really positive weekend.”

Thierry Neuville

“Unfortunately, we experienced an electrical issue on the way to the first stage this morning, which caused the wipers to stop working and forced us to retire from Rally Japan. It’s a real shame, as we were looking forward to gaining more mileage today and continuing to improve the car. Overall, it has been a very disappointing rally for us, but now it’s time to reset and focus on Rally Saudi Arabia, where we hope to be back fighting at the front.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m happy with a top-five finish in Japan. We didn’t start the rally as we had hoped, but the team worked hard on Friday and Saturday to find solutions and get the car into a much better working window. Sunday brought really tricky conditions with the rain, and it was our first time running the Hankook wet tyres. It wasn’t an easy mission, as we had to fight to hold onto fifth with Kalle behind us – finding the right balance to push without making a mistake. Overall, we’re happy to bring a top-five result home after a difficult season, and it’s a strong reward for the team’s efforts.”

Josh McErlean

“It’s really disappointing to end our rally like that. We ran wide and had a big shunt on SS3, but the main thing is that we’re both OK. It’s not the result we wanted after all the effort to get here by the team and our supporters, but we’ll regroup and come back stronger for the exciting challenge of Saudi.”

 

Oliver Solberg

The 24-year-old said: “It was quite strange coming here to compete for the first time. I love this country, I love the people, I love everything about Japan, and I’ve been here so many times, coming since I was a young boy.

“But I’d never driven a rally here!

“With the championship already sorted, the emphasis for me and Elliott was always to take experience for next year. We wanted to understand the roads as much as possible, to understand how the tyres work on the surface and build as much knowledge as possible for next year.

“Of course, we wanted to take another win in the class, but the experience was always most important. So, to be able to do both is something really cool for us. The roads here are quite amazing, so many corners. We had really dry conditions for the first two days, then it rained like crazy today [Sunday].

“It was good to see the roads in different conditions, this was giving us some more data and understanding. Me and Elliott are really happy for the team; once again everybody has been fantastic. The support we had here, like all year, has been incredible.

“But I have to save some words for the people of Toyota City. Like I said, I came here before, we have done the recce and been kind of like tourists and really enjoyed it – but coming here and feeling the amazing appreciation, emotion and passion from all of the fans is something else.

“It’s been an honour to be here competing in a Toyota. Arigatō to everybody and see you all next year.”

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 13

1 E. Evans 272 2 S. Ogier 269 3 K. Rovanperä 248 4 O. Tänak 213 5 T. Neuville 166 6 T. Katsuta 111 7 A. Fourmaux 96 8 S. Pajari 94 9 O. Solberg 70 10 G. Munster 36

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 13

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 692 2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 464 3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 191 4 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 145

 

 

Summary

Well, it’s really close at the top of the championship with just three points between Elfyn who remains at the top of the championship and in the best position to take this year’s world championship and Seb who is looking to take his ninth title.

 

It was a close battle between the two crews for this weekend’s rally victory and I suspect that the championship will be decided potentially on the final day of the final rally.

There were a three drivers who challenged for the final podium position this weekend and it was Sami and Marko who were the one’s who secured their first, and I suspect, not the last overall WRC podium.

 

The final round then is in the middle east as the championship heads to Saudi Arabia which takes place from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-ninth of November.

The second full day of action would see the crews tackle 122km’s over seven stages. Kalle and Jonne would open the road throughout the day due to their time loss in stages three and four after their incident which left the Yaris damaged.

 

Into the action then with SS8 Obara 1 – 16.44 km first up and it was a great start from Adrien who was fastest from Elfyn and Sami. The Welshman passed Takamoto in this one after the Japanese driver was only fifth fastest. The was drama for Thierry who sadly had a problem with his transmission crawled through the stage and then headed back to service. Without a lunchtime service there was no point in risking the car any further. The good news for Elfyn was that he’d closed the gap to Seb to just 8.9 seconds.

 

Onto SS9 Ena 1 – 21.25 km Adrien was once again fastest from Elfyn and Takamoto. Meanwhile Seb was again not quite on the pace only setting the fifth best time and was now just 7.4 seconds ahead of his teammate.

 

Next up was SS10 Mt. Kasagi 1 – 21.74 km and Elfyn was fastest in this one from Takamoto and Adrien. It was a great stage from the Welshman who reduced Seb’s lead to just two seconds. This was not over by any means for Elfyn to take victory and extend his championship lead. Meanwhile his teammate Kalle was making his way up the leaderboard and was now into the top ten.

 

After the tyre fitting zone came SS11 Mt. Kasagi 2 – 21.74 km and once again Elfyn set the pace from Seb and Adrien. There was drama for Takamoto sadly who made a mistake and collided with some barriers in part of the stage. This impact caused damage to the front of his car and crucially caused damage to the power steering system meaning it failed in the stage. He struggled with the failure losing almost four and a half minutes and falling to seventh position. This meant that Adrien was now into third overall.

 

Into SS12 Ena 2 – 21.25 km then and Seb hit back on this one with his first fastest time of the day going three tenths faster than Elfyn whilst Adrien was third. Meanwhile Greg was having a better day with the Puma working better than it did on Friday’s stages.

Onto the last proper stage then of Saturday, SS13 Obara 2 – 16.44 km and Seb was fastest again from Adrien and Elfyn and saw his lead grow again over the Welshman to 4.9 seconds. Further back Kalle gained another position, passing Oliver for seventh overall.

 

All that remained was SS14 Toyota City SSS – 3.05 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn and Adrien. The Frenchman saw his lead grow to six and a half seconds.

 

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

Classification after Day Two

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:32:55.0 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +6.5 3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +23.6 4 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +45.4 5 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:34.5 6 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +4:39.6 7 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +6:27.9 8 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +6:40.6 9 A. Cachón B. Rozada Toyota GR Yaris +7:54.9 10 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +8:21.8

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I feel that I’ve done a good job this afternoon, but I could have done better this morning – I think that’s the summary of the day. In the end we cannot be unsatisfied with what we’ve done. Elfyn was driving very well with strong pace. In the morning we lost a bit too much ground, especially in the last stage of the loop, but after that we had a good response. The gaps were still incredibly small, but going into the last day in the lead can only be positive. The conditions will probably be extra challenging for everybody, and we will have to be on it straight away.”

Elfyn Evans

“Overall, it’s been a good day. This morning things were going well and working much better than yesterday. I was maybe driving more smoothly also, and we were able to close the gap to Seb. We still had good runs through the first two stages this afternoon, but then probably gave away more than I would have liked in the last two. It’s still pretty close though and all to play for going into tomorrow. It sounds as though the weather could be very difficult, so anything can happen and we’re definitely going to keep fighting.”

Sami Pajari

“I think it has been another solid day. We again had quite consistent stage times and some good sections on most of the stages. At the same time, there are some places where I feel I should be able to improve, but that’s normal. Overall, I think I can be quite satisfied with the pace we have been doing. There’s still one day to go and I guess it will be tricky with the rain that is likely coming; let’s see together with the team how we approach it.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s good that we are at least now back into the top 10 and scoring some points, so it’s been quite an OK day in that sense. Tomorrow we have the extra Sunday and Power Stage points available, and the rain looks to be coming which can make things more tricky. Not many drivers have experience with this year’s wet tyres in such conditions, so it will be something new. There’s a lot at stake in the championship so it will be an interesting day, and also my last day on asphalt with a rally car for now, so I’ll try to enjoy it.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning we were closing the gap to the lead, even though it didn’t feel so fast in the car. Then in the first stage of the afternoon, I don’t know exactly what happened, but I couldn’t get the car slowed enough for the narrow entrance to this arena section. I hit the barrier, and it damaged the cooling and power steering systems. We tried what we could to fix the car; Aaron did an amazing job together with the information the team was giving us. We were able to finish the day but lost too much time. Right now, I just feel so sorry for the team and especially the fans who are supporting me.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I was really satisfied with my pace today; it was one of my best days of the season so far. I felt very comfortable pushing on every stage, and with two stage wins and getting close on the others it’s been really positive. I continued to push with the setup we had, and it’s been working well. Tomorrow will be a difficult day, so I will keep my head down and focus on pushing in the wet.”

Ott Tänak

“We are nowhere on this rally. There’s still one day to go, and that’s the best we can do. We’re almost three minutes behind, so it’s going to be hard to find any opportunity when the rain comes.”

Thierry Neuville

“The failure happened on the road section before the start of the stage, similar to Shakedown, so we will have to investigate. It was very disappointing, because we wanted to use today to get more mileage and try different things, and unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Tomorrow will be a different day with the rain, but we don’t want to risk our chances of Super Sunday points in those conditions.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“Another great day today,” said Oliver. “I’m not so sure there’s much more to say… The fans have been amazing again and the car has been even better!

“Elliott and me have been really working hard to focus on taking as much experience as possible from this event and these roads – we have to be ready for next year. These roads are really technical, so twisty and so much to understand with the way the grip works and evolves. We’ve taken a lot of data and experience for the tyre.

“And tomorrow, we hear there’s a lot of rain coming, this will give us some very different conditions and the chance to learn more.”

Sunday

The final day will see the crews tackle 72km’s over seven stages. Rain is due to fall throughout the day bringing an extra dimension to the challenge for the crews. Can Elfyn use this to his advantage to take victory, or will we see Seb win this rally? What can Kalle do to keep him in the fight for the title as he begins his last day of rallying on tarmac?

The first full day of the penultimate rally of this season with 111km’s over six stages. The first stage of the rally was on the previous day with Kalle holding the lead from Ott and Takamoto. The top eight was also covered by one second with the championship leaders just eight tenths of a second from the rally leaders.

 

First up was SS2 Inabu / Shitara 1 – 17.08 km and Seb made a great start to the first full day of action setting the fastest time from Takamoto and Elfyn. The pace that the three of them set meant that Seb moved up three positions and into the lead from Takamoto and Elfyn who was third. Just 3.1 seconds covered them all. Kalle was the big loser in this one falling to fifth position, the last of the five Toyota crews.

 

Into SS3 Shinshiro 1 – 17.41 km and Takamoto was fastest in this one from Elfyn and Seb and took the lead from Seb whilst Elfyn remained in third and 3.1 from the new leader. Ironically the Welshman was closer to Seb after going half a second faster, but the new overall leader had the same advantage over third place. Adrien was the best placed of the three Hyundai crews holding fifth place. The Frenchman had gained one position after Kalle’s mistake in the stage which left him with broken rear left suspension. The Finn last almost two and a half minutes as he limped his damaged Yaris to the end of the stage. Elsewhere there was bigger drama for Josh in his Puma who went off the road at around the middle of the stage. The damage would mean that he and Eoin would retire from the rally.

The final morning stage then, SS4 Isegami’s Tunnel 1 – 19.66 km which was run in the opposite direction from the previous years and Elfyn was fastest this time from Seb and Takamoto. They both leapfrogged the Japanese driver with Seb going back into the lead from Elfyn. Incredibly the gap between the three of them was now just 1.7 seconds. Adrien closed the gap to Sami for fourth overall by just over two seconds, the gap between them coming down to just over six seconds.

 

After the service break came SS5 Isegami’s Tunnel 2 – 19.66 km. The morning stages were being run in a different way to the morning format. Seb was fastest in this one from Takamoto with Adrien third. This was the first time Toyota’s stranglehold on the top three stage times had been interrupted. Elfyn was fourth fastest and fell to third overall. Meanwhile Adrien great time plus Sami only able to set the fifth best time meant the overall gap between them came down to just 1.2 seconds.

 

Onto the penultimate stage of the day then, SS6 Inabu / Shitara 2 – 17.08 km and Seb again was fastest from Elfyn and Sami. In fact, Takamoto set the same time as Sami but was given fourth fastest in the stage. The young Finn actually doubled the gap to Adrien to 2.4 seconds. It had been a very good day so far for the Frenchman in the Hyundai though as he was only 24 seconds from the lead whilst his champion teammates had really struggled and were in Ott’s case a minute and seven seconds from the lead and Thierry was a further twenty seconds back.

 

We came then to the final stage of the day SS7 Shinshiro 2 – 17.41 km which saw the sun setting as the crews came through. Elfyn finished the day with a great time which could not be beaten and Adrien and Takamoto were second and third fastest respectively, just one tenth slower! Very close! Adrien’s pace saw him move ahead of Sami and into fourth but with just three tenths of a second between them it was certainly not over.

 

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

Classification after Day One

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:11:48.2 2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +7.9 3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +10.2 4 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +24.0 5 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +24.3 6 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:12.3 7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:33.5 8 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +2:35.9 9 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +3:22.3 10 A. Cachón B. Rozada Toyota GR Yaris +3:45.5

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I think we can be pleased tonight; it’s been a good day for us. This morning we had a decent rhythm but there was not much between the top drivers. Then we were able to have a bit more of a push this afternoon when we had a bit more certainty in the pacenotes and the grip conditions for the second pass. It’s nice that we’ve been able to build this small gap: it’s not much, but always better to be in this position. There’s a long way to go but for now it’s been the start that we wanted to the rally.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s nice to be at the end of Friday in second place. It has been a bit up and down in terms of the feeling for me: on some stages I was quite happy with the car and in some stages I was struggling for some reason, but we will look into this with the team tonight. Also, on the second pass of Isegami’s Tunnel I didn’t take much risk in the tricky places, and Seb was able to take some time there. Still, it’s a long weekend and I will continue to push where I can; let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Elfyn Evans

“We had a decent start this morning. There were some changeable conditions like we expected, and everything was quite close, but the feeling was OK. Then it wasn’t the best afternoon for us, especially in the opening stage of the loop where we seemed to give away a bit of time in a couple of sections. Otherwise, we have not been too far away, but we can’t be completely happy tonight. Still, there is a long way to go in this rally and we will keep trying everything.”

Sami Pajari

“I think it’s been quite a good day overall. It’s my first time here with the Rally1 car and the pace of my team-mates is really high, but we are not so far away and some of the stage times especially were really close to them. Of course, there were also some sections where we were maybe losing a little bit too much time, but the feeling has not been bad, and we will try to improve in these areas for tomorrow.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“The feeling was not so good on the first stage this morning, which was kind of expected with such twisty roads, but on the next stage it was starting to feel pretty good. Unfortunately, we went a bit too fast into one corner – the pacenote was probably too optimistic – and we slid into the rail on the outside and broke the suspension. We could make a creative fix to get back to service where the team was able to repair it properly. We tried a few things with the setup this afternoon and the feeling was getting better, and we’ll keep pushing tomorrow and see what we can gain.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m quite pleased with the balance I found this morning, we decided not to change the setup too much and just push which seemed to be the right approach. We overtook Sami, finished in fourth and are not too far away from the podium. The rally is long, but I will keep my head down and focus on driving to the best of my abilities. Now that I’ve got the right balance, we can look into any other setup issues later on.”

Ott Tänak

“The conditions have been really nice and very consistent today; we haven’t been on the pace, but other than that it’s been okay. Adrien is doing very well, and it seems like the potential of the evo car is finally showing itself now – he’s been on the pace.”

Thierry Neuville

“Obviously it’s been a challenging day out there; we were carrying a technical issue all morning, so we were trying to work our setup around that. We got through this afternoon with a fresh rear differential and some new dampers, so we started from scratch trying to find a basic setup to get as much speed as possible. Tomorrow we’ll start again on something new, I have a list of things I want to test.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a really strong day for us,” he said. “We won quite a few stages and really enjoyed driving this amazing Yaris on some very challenging roads. It was quite hard to judge the grip in some places – we were caught out in Isegami’s Tunnel first time through. I caught one of the drainage ditches and it spun the car. We dropped around 12 seconds. That was a little bit frustrating, but otherwise it’s been fantastic.

“It’s amazing to see so many fans at the side of the road and a real pleasure to be here competing for the first time. Let’s see what tomorrow brings now.”

 

Saturday

The second full day of competition will see the crews tackle seven stages and a total of almost 122km’s. What will the second day bring for the championship battle?

The battle between the Toyota teammates has come down to the final two rounds of this season in the World Rally Championship. Elfyn and Scott hold a thirteen-point advantage over their multiple world champion teammates, whilst Ott and Martin are fifty points behind their former M-Sport teammates.

 

Of course, it is worth mentioning at this point that Elfyn and Scott have won in Japan for the last two years, 2023 and 2024 and this along with the fact that they will opening the road on Friday’s stages means that they will have a great opportunity to have a great weekend and hope to increase their championship lead.

Let’s take a look at the stages then.

Weekend at a Glance

Cars take to the stages for the first time on Thursday, with Shakedown at Kuragaike Park followed by the Kuragaike Super Special Stage (SS1, 2.75km) in the evening.

Friday’s action takes crews deep into the mountains of Aichi, featuring two loops of Inabu Shitara (SS2/6, 17.08km), Shinshiro (SS3/7, 17.41km) and Isegami’s Tunnel (SS4/5, 19.66km).

Saturday is the longest and most technical day of the rally, with two runs of Obara (SS8/13, 16.44km), Ena (SS9/12, 21.25km) and Mt. Kasagi (SS10/SS11, 21.74km) – before concluding with a run of Toyota City (SS14, 3.05km).

Sunday will round off the event with Nukata (SS15/19, 20.23km) and Lake Mikawako (SS16/20, 13.98km) split by two attempts of Okazaki (SS17/18, 1.98km).

There are 305km’s over twenty stages this year and as always it will be a big challenge.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“Rally Japan is always a big week as the home event for TGR and there’s a very special atmosphere. It’s not an easy rally with very demanding and twisty stages, and in the last few years we’ve seen some quite difficult conditions at times. Even when it’s dry, there’s very little margin for error and it’s easy to make a small but costly mistake. The first key is to get through without issue, and then it’s about having a good feeling with the car and maintaining concentration for all those corners. We’ve had some good runs there in the past and we’ll be aiming as high as we can again to try and secure a good result for the team at home and for ourselves for the championship.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“I’m really looking forward to competing at Rally Japan again this year. I always enjoy any trip to Japan, and the fans give this event a unique atmosphere compared to other rallies, especially for us as Toyota drivers. The rally itself is a tricky one. There are a few wider and faster sections which are really enjoyable, and a lot of narrow and more technical roads which have maybe not suited me so well in the past. At the moment though I have a really good feeling with this car and tyre on asphalt, so let’s see what we can do this time. The championship is close, and I hope that we can keep pushing hard and score another good result.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Rally Japan is always a special date in the calendar for us, and this year it should be even more interesting for everyone to follow given how close the drivers’ championship is with just two rounds to go. The stages on this rally are very demanding as they are really narrow and technical without much room for error, and we’ve seen that the weather at this time of year can make things even more complicated. The last rally didn’t go our way personally, but we know that we have the speed, and we still have the possibility to fight, and we will be doing our best to achieve a top result in Japan for that and for all of the fans who are giving us such great support there.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Rally Japan is very special for me as my home rally and I’m really looking forward to driving there again in front of family and friends. It will be the fourth time that we’ve competed in the WRC event in Japan and, after being on the podium in 2022, I would definitely like to try to get back there this year. It’s never an easy rally with the narrow mountain roads, the changing grip levels, and the chance of difficult weather. I can take some confidence from the good stage times and result we did in Central Europe, and I will give everything to get the best result ever for myself, the team and the Japanese rally fans.”

Sami Pajari

“I’m really looking forward to my first Rally Japan as a Rally1 driver with Toyota. I have some good memories from last year when we won the WRC2 title there, and I could already feel the support of the Japanese fans then, so I’m sure that this year it might be on another level. I enjoy the stages in Japan: they are not so fast, but you have to be really precise because they’re so narrow and twisty. We had good speed on some stages in Central Europe and hopefully we can continue that in Japan, where the road generally stays a bit cleaner for each car because there are fewer chances to cut the corners.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“Japan is one of the slowest of the tarmac rallies. We’ve only ever competed when the weather is unpredictable, so with the changing conditions, it’s one of the most challenging tarmac events. There’s definitely an optimum way to set up – it’s actually quite a smooth rally, so not much protection is needed. It’s more about precision and managing the low-grip conditions. We’re lucky to be able to go there at a time of year when the nature is so colourful, the atmosphere is always very warm and kind, so I love going there. For sure, I hope to give my best in Japan, so let’s see how it goes, and hopefully the minor changes we’ve made to the car since CER will help us get a good feeling right away to fight at the top.”

Thierry Neuville

“We’ve definitely had some great memories in Japan. We’re very keen to go back and target another good result, but in our current position we have to focus on improving the car and learning as much as we can from this event, rather than on a top result. We know how technically challenging the event is – it is probably the most twisty event I’ve ever done on tarmac! It’s very demanding and requires a lot of energy and concentration. Due to the time of year, we’re expecting lots of leaves, tricky road conditions and lots of humidity – everything is possible in Japan!”

Adrien Fourmaux

“Rally Japan is unique. The mountain stages are twisty, narrow, and quite dark due to the high trees. In the dry, it is demanding on the tyres, but in the rain it is a completely different challenge. There is a lot of pollution on the roads, which get really slippery, and combined with the visibility it can be really tricky. We struggled for some performance in CER, so we want to show the steps we have made since that rally. Last year was a great event for us, and we would like to replicate that result and be back on the podium in Japan.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“Rally Japan is very special to us because it’s where we took our first WRC2 win. It’s a rally that really suits me because there are so many corners and generally narrow stages. The rain can make it tricky, as we often have to choose a mixed tyre package. Japan is quite unique and very different from what we see in Europe, so it’s always great to come here, try the local food, and experience the culture. The fans – whether in the service park, on the stages, or along the liaison sections – are incredibly supportive. It’s amazing to see so many passionate people and fans.”

Josh McErlean

“It’s great to be back in Japan! I competed here in a Rally2 car last year, so I know how tricky, and also rewarding, these stages can be. After a positive run in Central Europe, the aim is to keep that momentum going and end the event in a good place with M-Sport whilst improving our tarmac pace. I love Japan and its culture, plus the fans are incredible; it’s one of the best places to visit of the season.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“I drive a GR Yaris on the road,” said Oliver. “It’s the most fantastic street car I think I ever had. It would be really cool to try to meet some of the people who made it and make it to say thank you to them! For the rally car, of course, like always it’s prepared by Printsport. What can we say about these guys? They have done the most amazing job for the whole season – the championship me and Elliott won is as much for them as for us.

“The feeling on the last rally (Central European Rally) was a little bit strange. We won the championship in Chile and then we went to Germany and didn’t take any of the pressure for the title race. Me and Elliott focused well and drove it like it was any normal rally – it was nice to take another class win.

“But coming here to Japan, we really have quite a job to do. Like I mentioned, this is the first time here for us and we need to understand the roads and how things change with the weather and how much cutting is going on. There’s a lot to do, a lot of experience to take – and that’s the priority for us here: we want to learn about this rally.

“At the same time, we’re travelling a little bit earlier so we can stay in Tokyo for a while, to enjoy the place, the people and the amazing food. But then we take a test on Sunday and a big focus on the job with the recce and the rally. But all the time, surrounded by these lovely smiling people. I can’t wait!”

Summary

This is going to be a great rally on the roads around Tokyo City and any of the top drivers could stand on the podium. As the championship leaders Elfyn and Scott will want to repeat the victories from the last two years.

 

There are a group of fans who are hoping that they will take this year’s title. I know they’ll be really excited to see if the crew they support can take a closer step to the championship.

We came then to the final day of this event and with 77.78km’s over four stages this was not over and with Seb and Vincent returning to the action and opening the road throughout the day, what would they be able to do with the clean roads ahead of them?

First up was SS15 Beyond Borders 1 – 12.37 km and only three crews finished the stage at competitive speed with Seb setting the pace from Josh and Greg. The reason they were the only three crews which completed the stage was because Thierry crashed on the entry onto a bridge just after a sharp left-hand corner. The rest of the crews were given a notional time.

Next up was SS16 Mühltal 1 – 26.52 km the first run through what would be the power stage. Seb was fastest in this one from Elfyn and Kalle. Ott was the best placed Hyundai with the fourth best time and the gap between him and Elfyn came down to just a little over five seconds. The Welshman had started the day well. Meanwhile Kalle continued to hold the lead with no problems.

Now it was back to SS17 Beyond Borders 2 – 12.37 km and the question was would the knowledge of the stage which Seb completed earlier give him the advantage over those who’d not done the stage, but had fresh tyres? Well, the fact was that with Seb going fastest from Kalle and Elfyn it was clear that the knowledge was the key thing. Ott was only seventh fastest and saw the gap between him and Elfyn fall to just 1.1 seconds.

Onto the final stage then, SS18 Mühltal 2[Power Stage] – 26.52 km and Seb would set the pace from Elfyn, Kalle and Takamoto. The Toyota team occupied the full top five in the stage which saw the Toyota take their fifth manufacturers championship in a row. Meanwhile Elfyn’s pace took him ahead of Ott and into second overall as the Estonian was only sixth in the stage.

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

Final Overall Classification – Central European Rally

1 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 2:36:20.1 2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +43.7 3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +49.3 4 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:06.8 5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:04.6 6 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:13.9 7 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +5:48.8 8 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +8:56.2 9 J. Černý O. Krajča Škoda Fabia RS +10:51.1 10 F. Mareš R. Bucha Toyota GR Yaris +11:21.2

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“Huge congratulations to the whole team, including everybody in the workshop and here in the service park. To win the manufacturers’ championship again proves that we are the best team. Everyone is working super well together, so thank you. It has been a really good weekend for us. It was nice to be back on asphalt and the pace that we had was pretty fast, so we have done a great job together with the team. The drivers’ championship still won’t be easy, but we have at least increased our chances with this result, and we will try to continue like this on the next rally in Japan.”

Elfyn Evans

“I’m overjoyed for this team winning the manufacturers’ championship once again. There’s a massive effort behind this and everybody is working very hard to deliver us the best car and give us the best chances, so I have to say a huge thank you and well done. For me it maybe wasn’t quite the weekend we really hoped for. I think we should have had the potential to do more, so I’m a bit frustrated. It was important to turn things around a bit today and it was a much better day. We managed to grab the second place back from Ott, so I’m happy with how things turned out.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s fantastic that we won the manufacturers’ title again this year. A huge thanks to everybody in the team, they are working so hard, and my team-mates who have done a great job also. For me it has been nice to have a good drive like this here in Central Europe and get a good feeling with the car and the tyres before Rally Japan. I can’t be fully happy and there are still some areas I need to improve, but I will keep working and pushing as much as I can for Rally Japan, which is very important to me.”

Sami Pajari

“A big thank you and congratulations to the team on winning the manufacturers’ championship. It has been quite an OK weekend on my side. I think we had some really good stage times during the weekend. There was also quite a bit of learning still, especially when the conditions were more tricky, but that’s a part of the game for us this season. Overall, I think there are a lot of positive things we can take away from this event, looking towards the next one in Japan and also for the future.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It feels fantastic to win another manufacturers’ title with this team. It’s never easy to keep improving and keep winning but that’s the spirit that this whole team has and I’m very proud of that. We need to celebrate it because nothing ever comes easy, and we will keep pushing and try to continue this success. The car was perfect today, so thank you to the team for fixing it and giving us the tools to recover the maximum points that we could after the incident yesterday. Of course, we would have preferred to come away from this rally with a better result, but we still have a real possibility to fight for the title and we can look forward to the next event in Japan.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“We did everything we could this weekend, and we need to be happy with this outcome. It’s been a tough weekend, we struggled on Friday and gave away a lot, but yesterday we were able to fight back a bit. Today had some very high grip conditions, it was also getting very racy, and we just didn’t have the answer to the Toyotas. I enjoyed the fight, but I didn’t enjoy losing it. We learnt a lot ahead of Japan, so let’s see if we can do some minor changes to improve a bit more.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“We were running well for the first few stages of the rally, but we just didn’t perform well enough on the slippery and bumpy sections. Over the weekend, we made some progress with the flat roads, but we lost time anywhere else. Today was harder, I was fighting the car a lot, but I think we have made some important progress to try and find the right setup for Japan. We still need to work on it, but I’m hoping it’s not going to be the same as this weekend.”

Thierry Neuville

“Martijn and I had quite a big hit this morning. We have completed our medical checks thanks to the ambulance crew and hospital staff who did a great job to make sure we were okay and get us cleared. Everything was normal, and then I made a mistake just before the bridge. It was our mistake; we were too optimistic with a pace note and understeered into the bridge barriers. We know that in rallying the smallest errors can have massive consequences, and that’s what happened today. We will do everything we can to come back stronger in Japan.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Josh McErlean

“It’s been a big learning experience – we’ve had a bit of everything this weekend, running at the front and the back of the field. It was great to see Grégoire back out after his mishap on Friday so we could properly compare times. From the start of the rally to now, we’ve closed that gap to him, and that was one of our main goals coming into this event.”

Grégoire Munster

“It’s not the result we wanted after my mistake on Friday – we landed a jump and broke the suspension, but we had to try something on that stage. Overall, we’ve seen that we’re much closer to the others than we were in Gran Canaria, which is very encouraging. It’s nice to see that even in tricky Tarmac conditions we can be right there with the rest, and I think in Japan we’ll have another opportunity to show that.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“I’m really happy for this one – my first Rally2 win on Tarmac! The Printsport team has done a fantastic job, Elliott has been perfect again and, of course, the Toyota is the perfect car!

“The car has been so consistent for us through the weekend. Even when the weather was a little bit complicated with the rain on Saturday, we could still make everything work. We only drove Canarias on Tarmac with this car before this week, so the experience wasn’t so high for me – but, like I said, the team helped so much to give me so much confidence.”

Arriving at the history-making CER – the first ever world championship round to include competition across three countries in one day – with the WRC2 title sewn up made for a different approach for the 24-year-old.

“It was a little bit strange coming in here,” admitted Oliver. “But Elliott and me wanted to treat this like any other rally and that’s exactly what we did. When you start the event, you put your head down and do your job – this is what we’ve done all year. I’m so proud of what we have achieved.”

Summary

Well, it’s been a great drive by Kalle and Jonne this weekend. They took the most stage wins, kept the mistakes to a minimum and took a very good win. They have brought themselves right back into the championship fight. They remain third in the championship but are on the same points as Seb and Vincent.

 

Elfyn and Scott had their moments of pace and kept it safe when they didn’t feel it was the right thing to do. The penalty on Friday certainly didn’t help but they held their nerve and took a well-deserved second overall which put them back into the lead of the championship.

 

Ott and Martin did enough to take third place after their teammates either made mistakes or just did not have good enough pace throughout the whole weekend to be able to deliver a strong result. They almost had enough for second overall but didn’t have the pace to hold off Elfyn and Scott.

Next up is Rally Japan for the thirteenth round of this year’s championship over the sixth to ninth of November.

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 12

1 E. Evans 247 2 S. Ogier 234 3 K. Rovanperä 234 4 O. Tänak 197 5 T. Neuville 166 6 T. Katsuta 110 7 A. Fourmaux 96 8 S. Pajari 79 9 O. Solberg 64 10 J. McErlean 26

 

 

2025 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 12

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 632 2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 464 3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 176 4 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 2 127

Onto the second day of the rally and with 103km’s over six stages the crews had an interesting challenge ahead of them. Four of the stages were run in Czech Republic with the first and last stages in Germany. Seb of course was leading Kalle by just six tenths of a second coming into Saturday’s action.

 

First up was SS9 Made in FRG 1 – 14.30 km and Kalle was fastest from Ott and Seb. The Finns pace took him ahead of his teammate and into the lead. There was some drama in the early part of the stage as Greg had a spin.

 

Into SS10 Keply 1 – 21.95 km and Kalle took another fastest time from Elfyn and Ott. There was big drama for Seb and Vincent though. Just before 17 or so kilometres the car understeered on a right-hander before hitting a bank on the left-hand side of the road, then colliding with a small tree which then spun the car 180 degrees, the result of which meant the Yaris was damaged on the left-hand side with the front wheel and suspension pulled out. He was frustrated, angry and out for the rest of the day. The team would need to check the car when it arrived back at the service to be sure they could restart on Sunday. Also having a moment was Greg, although at least they were able to continue.

 

The final morning stage then before the tyre fitting zone and Takamoto was fastest from Ott and Kalle. Elfyn was fourth fastest and lost a little bit of time to Ott as the Estonian moved a little closer to passing the Welshman.

 

After the break, SS12 Keply 2 – 21.95 km was next and Ott was fastest from Kalle and Elfyn. There was a position change as Ott moved ahead of Elfyn and into second place. Further back Greg was showing some good pace setting the seventh best time even ahead of Sami in this one. His teammate Josh was continuing to run well inside the top ten, holding eighth position.

Onto the penultimate stage then, SS13 Klatovy 2 – 15.57 km and Takamoto was fastest again from Ott and Sami. Elfyn set the fifth best time, actually faster than the rally leader with Kalle only able to set the sixth best time. He remained firmly in charge though with the lead now 38.2 seconds to Ott.

 

It was back then into Germany for the final stage of the day, SS14 Made in FRG 2 – 14.30 km just as the sun was setting. Thierry set the early pace which even his teammate Ott could not beat whilst Takamoto was third quickest. Elfyn lost more time to Ott as he set the seventh best time, the gap now having grown to 8.4 seconds between them.

 

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

Classification after Day Three

1 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:56:14.7 2 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +36.3 3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +44.7 4 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +58.3 5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:37.7 6 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:59.0 7 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +2:30.9 8 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +4:39.3 9 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +6:32.5 10 J. Černý O. Krajča Škoda Fabia RS +8:26.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a good day for us. We had a really good and tight fight going on with Seb and it’s never easy against him. It was not nice to see what happened to him, and the best thing is that he and Vincent are both OK. After that we just had to focus on our own job and I think we did pretty well, as there was a lot of dirt coming onto the road with every car. We still kept a good pace and rhythm and enjoyed the driving without taking any risk. Tomorrow will be a big day at this point of the season, with four of us who need all the points we can get. We also have the rally win to secure, so it won’t be easy, but we’ll try our best.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been an OK day but I’m naturally not happy with the pace that we were able to show, especially this afternoon. We were pushing but not really able to deliver the pace, and we haven’t been at the level that I want to be at. We tried to change some things on the car during the day, but it didn’t necessarily go in the right direction. So we need to try and find out why tonight and have another go at it tomorrow, with a lot of points available.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a good day overall. I can’t be fully happy, as I lost quite a bit of time on the second stage this morning. The conditions were very tricky in sections, and I was not really committed enough in those places. Otherwise, we could do two fastest times in Klatovy – things were working well in that stage. In the other stages too, the car feels good and when I’m pushing, the times are there so that’s a good sign. There is still a long Sunday to come, and I will try to keep pushing.”

Sami Pajari

“It has again been a tricky day. Like yesterday, I think we had some strong stage times and some that were not so great. So, there is plenty of learning to take from that, but I’m generally satisfied that we had no mistakes or issues and some steady pace, getting closer to the front. There are still quite many kilometres tomorrow, especially in the Power Stage, which is quite long, but they’re nice stages so I’m looking forward to them.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I knew that this second stage of the day would be the most difficult with the rain and the leaves on the road, but we were driving with a good rhythm and feeling. Unfortunately, we started to lose pressure from the front-left tyre close to the end of the stage. Going through a fast right-hander, I couldn’t do anything, and we just understeered into the ditch and hit a tree. It’s frustrating but I don’t think I could have done anything differently and sometimes it’s just a matter of luck. The good news is that we should be able to restart tomorrow, and we will do our best to take the full 10 bonus points.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“Today was consistent, but we’re still missing a bit in the trickier conditions. We managed to improve the balance a bit to carry some more speed over the stages, but we’re still not able to match the fastest cars. I don’t know if tomorrow’s stages are going to suit us, but I’ll give it my best to take everything I can to protect the position we are in at the end of today.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“We found some direction today with Thierry, he found a slightly better setup than us, so we now understand what we are missing. We’ve found really good pace on the flat roads that we didn’t have in the Canaries, but now we’re struggling on the bumpier, greasier sections. I want to enjoy tomorrow, so we will take our learnings from today and go for it.”

Thierry Neuville

“We learned a lot today, there was definitely some improvement for us in the afternoon. Tomorrow is another day to maximise the information we can take from this weekend. Ott is feeling much more comfortable today, especially in the trickier places, so these are all steps forward. We will keep testing different setups tomorrow, we are already in Japan with our thinking – those few extra points may change the season.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“We’d never driven this car with a cross-tyre set-up,” said Oliver. “When the rain was coming on the second stage this morning, we crossed wet tyres with the soft – it was interesting and really good experience. If I’m honest, maybe I was a little bit slow, but we learned some more and that’s what we’re here for.

“We’ve been working a lot with the set-up of the car as well, just discovering more and more on how to get the best out of it. From what we hear, the weather could be getting colder tonight, which could make the morning stages even more interesting tomorrow.”

 

Sunday

Well, the final day will see the crews take on 77km’s over four stages between Germany and Austria. This includes the longest stage run ever as the power stage on tarmac at 26.52km’s. The reports suggest the day will have cooler conditions in the morning. What will this mean for the crews and who will best master these conditions to take the higher number of points for the final day?

The first full day of action then would see the crews tackle six stages. However there had already been two stages run on Thursday afternoon and this gave a leaderboard and Seb was holding the lead from Kalle and Adrien. Now Elfyn was given a five second penalty after colliding with a hay bale in a chicane. The Welshman was holding eighth place and 11 seconds from the leader. With 99km’s to run who would hold the lead at the end of the first full day?

 

First up was SS3 Granit und Wald 1 – 10.86 km and Thierry was fastest from Ott and Adrien. The Belgian’s pace took them up three positions to fourth overall. The top three overall was Seb, Kalle 2.7 seconds and second overall whilst Adrien was third.

 

Into the middle morning stage then, SS4 Böhmerwald 1 – 15.27 km and Kalle set the pace from Sami and Takamoto. Thierry could only manage the sixth best time and fell behind his Estonia teammates to fifth overall. This was an interesting stage as the first and second cars into the stage, that’s Seb and Elfyn could only manage the seventh and eighth fastest times. Kalle was finding some speed though and feeling comfortable and was now just six tenths of a second from Seb.

 

The stages were getting longer and next up was SS5 Col de Jan 1 – 23.37 km and this was a stage which Seb felt confident in as he flew through beating Kalle by 3.3 seconds and Elfyn by 12.9 seconds. Normally this would be quite bad but there was more drama for Thierry, and he had a small off giving him damage to the front right-hand side, then a puncture and damage to his steering after hitting a bank. There was even more drama for Greg as he landed heavily after a jump on a section of bank next to the road breaking suspension on the right-hand side and suffering punctures as well.

 

After the service break came SS6 Col de Jan 2 – 23.37 km and with the stages run in the opposite way from the morning this certainly changed things. Kalle was fastest from Seb and Elfyn. The Finnish driver closed the gap on Seb now just 2.4 seconds behind whilst Elfyn was falling away from them both, the gap sadly growing to his teammates. The top three overall positions were held by Seb, Kalle and Ott although Elfyn was now just half a second behind the Hyundai driver.

 

Next up was SS7 Böhmerwald 2 – 15.27 km and Kalle set the pace from Adrien and Takamoto. Elfyn was fifth fastest, whilst Ott was only eighth and was passed by Elfyn who moved into third overall. Kalle’s pace took him really close to his teammate, now just three tenths behind Seb. Further back Josh held ninth overall and was just out there learning the stages and getting experience for the future.

Onto the final stage of the day then, SS8 Granit und Wald 2 – 10.86 km and Elfyn found some pace albeit not a huge amount, going fastest by 1.1 seconds from Seb and Kalle. Still, it was a confidence boosting stage win. The gap between the top two was six tenths of a second.

 

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

 

Classification after Friday

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1:03:29.8 2 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +0.6 3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +29.5 4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +32.8 5 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +35.7 6 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +46.1 7 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +56.0 8 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +1:55.8 9 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +2:50.2 10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +3:37.6

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I’ve enjoyed today and this exciting fight with Kalle. We fought the whole day to try and stay in the lead and even though it’s a very small gap, it’s very positive to still be in the lead. Today I don’t think we always had the usual advantage being first on the road on asphalt because it’s been dry and quite dusty, so I think conditions have been more or less fair for everyone which is what we like to see. Tomorrow will not be any easier, and if it rains it can be even more challenging, but we will keep fighting.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It has been an enjoyable day driving some really nice stages and being in a big fight through the whole day. Starting third on the road I think we have managed the situation well so far, to be this close to Seb, so I’m pretty happy with the day. We had some good stages and some good times and it’s a tight battle. Tomorrow we have the challenge of being further back in the starting order and seeing how conditions evolve, but I’m sure it will stay really close, and we will keep fighting.”

 

Elfyn Evans

“I think we had some strong moments during the day but overall, it didn’t go as well as we would have hoped – especially on Col de Jan, where we lost a bit of time to Seb and Kalle. On the first pass I was a bit tentative at the start and then had a little overshoot and didn’t get as close as I would have liked on the second pass either. I seemed to be losing more today in the dirtier sections, so we need to look at that tonight and see why that was. It’s good to get up to third but it’s still very tight and we need to keep pushing.”

 

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a very challenging day as we expected, especially stages five and six which had a lot more dirt on the road. But we managed to get through with some quite OK stage times. I think we probably lost some time because of our road position, which was not ideal, but we are only six seconds away from the podium, so we will keep pushing. It’s not been a bad day, and we will try to be even better tomorrow.”

 

Sami Pajari

“It has been a mixed day in terms of the stages and also for our performance. We had some really good stage times but also some stages where I feel we were a bit too far away from the pace. Of course, I would like to do better but we still need to go step by step and we will try to find something to be more consistent tomorrow. The road position should improve which can help us, but let’s see how the conditions are.”

 

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Ott Tänak

“Today definitely had some very demanding stages, and we didn’t have enough speed. It’s not so much to do with the setup, but more performance we are missing. We all want to be competitive, so it can be frustrating to just survive, but we did everything we could and tried our best.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“When we’re flowing on the flat roads, we are on the pace, but as soon as we get to a bumpy, dirty stage we really struggle. We need to analyse why this is happening and why we are slower in these conditions – that’s our target for now. We are missing really good testing in these conditions, so I’m not really surprised, but that’s a part of motorsport.”

 

Thierry Neuville

“Today was challenging. We made a small mistake this morning when we went over the jump with the wrong line and got some damage and a puncture. We started working on the car, but there still isn’t much improvement, despite the hard work from everybody. We tried a couple of things and we’re going to continue trying, it’s the only thing we can do at the moment, and we know we have some work left.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“It’s been a good day today – it’s really nice to be getting back into driving on asphalt again. The stages in Germany and Austria were quite clean and giving pretty good grip, but the road in Czech Republic was really different. We knew from the recce this would be a tricky one with the grip level changing a lot – and it was exactly like this: a real test. But it was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it.

“I was learning more all of the time with the car. We made some changes to the set-up, but, really, every stage today was different. We’re going to talk to the team tonight and think about what we want to do with the car for tomorrow – but a lot of the set-up is depending on what the weather does. We’ll see if we get some rain, that could make tomorrow even more interesting.”

Saturday

The second full day of action will see the crews tackle 103km’s over six stages which are in Germany and Czech Republic. Can the reversed top ten help Elfyn and Scott to close the gap to their teammates?