Rally Japan – Syndication Server

Evans heads Toyota 1-2-3 with dominant WRC Rally Japan win

Elfyn Evans secured a lights-to-flag victory on Sunday at WRC Rally Japan as his Toyota Gazoo Racing team locked out the top three positions on home asphalt. The Welshman (above) clinched his eighth career win, and third of the season, by finishing …

Elfyn Evans secured a lights-to-flag victory on Sunday at WRC Rally Japan as his Toyota Gazoo Racing team locked out the top three positions on home asphalt.

The Welshman (above) clinched his eighth career win, and third of the season, by finishing a dominant 1m17.7s ahead of teammate Sebastien Ogier at the final round of the 2023 FIA World Rally Championship. The result confirmed Evans as the runner-up in WRC points for the third time in four seasons.

Evans laid the foundations for victory early in the all-asphalt fixture when he charged to a near-two-minute advantage in Friday’s rain-soaked opening leg in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. From then on, he was able to control the rally by adapting his risk level to suit the ever-changing conditions.

Kalle Rovanpera took the final podium spot, capping off a near-perfect season for Toyota which includes repeat WRC titles for Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen, plus a third successive manufacturers’ championship victory for the Japanese marque.

Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin headed a 1-2-3 for Toyota on its home asphalt. Toyota Gazoo Racing photo

“It was not easy with the conditions we had this week, even though we had a massive gap already after Friday night,” said Evans. “A massive thanks to the team — the car’s been great and a 1-2-3 for Toyota is a fantastic result.”

Eight-time WRC champ Ogier, who’s taken in a part-time program in 2023, damaged his GR Yaris’s chassis when he slid into a barrier on Saturday. The required repairs meant he exceeded his allocated service time, collecting a one-minute time penalty which ultimately prevented him from threatening Evans’ advantage.

Ogier finished 28.8s ahead of Rovanpera, while Esapekka Lappi, driving a Hyundai i20 Rally1, held off Toyota’s fourth entry, home hero Takamoto Katsuta, to claim fourth by 20.0s.

Katsuta was fastest through nine of the rally’s 21 stages, but ended just over three minutes adrift of winner Evans due to a car-damaging and time-losing incident on Friday morning. Without that misdemeanor, the 30-year-old could well have celebrated his first WRC victory.

Ott Tanak was unable to find a decent balance with his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1, and sixth place was all the Estonian could manage on his final outing for the British-based team. The 2019 WRC champ returns to Hyundai Motorsport’s lineup next season.

Ott Tanak ended his single-season detour to M-Sport Ford with an out-of-sorts sixth-place finish. M-Sport photo

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Andreas Mikkelsen was in a league of his own and took victory by more than a minute. Mikkelsen wrapped up the class title a fortnight ago at Central European Rally, and the win here in Japan was his fourth of the season.

“This one was really nice,” Mikkelsen said. “It’s been a really challenging weekend and I think our experience was key here. We made the difference on the first two stages and then from then on we tried to control it.”

Newly-crowned WRC2 champ Andreas Mikkelsen took his fourth class win of the season. McKlein/Motorsport Images

The Norwegian headed home Nikolay Gryazin and Kajetan Kajetanowicz for an all-Skoda Fabia RS WRC2 podium.

Pole Kajetanowicz’s podium secured the WRC2 Challenger crown, an accolade introduced this season for WRC2-registered crews who have not previously won a title with Rally2 machinery at WRC level.

The WRC returns in a little over two months from now, with the asphalt Alpine stages — and possible ice and snow — of the Monte Carlo Rally opening the 2024 season, Jan 25-28.

WRC Rally Japan, final positions after Leg Three, SS21
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 3h32m08.8s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m17.7s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m46.5s
4 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m50.3s
5 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m10.3s
6 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m28.3s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +7m33.7s
8 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Sloda Fabia RS – WRC2) +8m49.6s
9 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +19m25.9s
10 Hiroki Arai/Hiroki Tachikui (Peugeot 208 Rally 4 – RC4) +22m22.7s

Final WRC Drivers’ Championship after 13 rounds
1 Rovanpera 250 points
2 Evans 216
3 Thierry Neuville 189
4 Tanak 174
5 Sebastien Ogier 133

Final WRC Manufacturers’ Championship after 13 rounds
1 Toyota Gazoo Racing 548 points
2 Hyundai Motorsport 432
3 M-Sport Ford 287

Check out WRC.com, the official home of the FIA World Rally Championship. And for the ultimate WRC experience, sign up for a Rally.TV subscription to watch all stages of every rally live and on demand, whenever and wherever.

Evans puts Toyota on brink of first WRC Rally Japan victory

Elfyn Evans (above) is poised to deliver Toyota Gazoo Racing its first home WRC after maintaining a commanding lead over teammate Sebastien Ogier on Rally Japan’s penultimate leg. The early lead built by Evans when he dominated Friday’s soaking-wet …

Elfyn Evans (above) is poised to deliver Toyota Gazoo Racing its first home WRC after maintaining a commanding lead over teammate Sebastien Ogier on Rally Japan’s penultimate leg.

The early lead built by Evans when he dominated Friday’s soaking-wet leg of the FIA World Rally Championship’s all-asphalt finale meant he could avoid taking unnecessary risks on the drier, but still treacherously slippery, roads faced on Saturday. It even began to snow at one point late in the day but, to the competitors’ relief, the shower was short lived.

Evans’ vigilant approach in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 allowed Ogier to slash his lead by almost 40 seconds over the course of the day, but the Welshman still has 1m15.0s in hand over the eight-time WRC champ heading into Sunday’s six-stage final leg.

Taking a victory here would be sweet revenge for the 34-year-old Evans after wheel damage in 2022 gifted Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville the victory. Neuville crashed on Friday, restarted the Saturday leg in his repaired i20 N Rally1, but is no longer in contention.

“It’s been pretty OK,” said Evans. “Getting caught in some rain in the penultimate stage was not so nice, and we were maybe too careful in some places, but it was always going to be a bit tricky to judge our speed today with such a big gap.”

Newly-crowned WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera completed a GR Yaris-dominated overnight top three, trailing Ogier by 25.6s at the end of Saturday’s leg. The 23-year-old Finn should have nothing to worry about on Sunday as his closest challenger, Esapekka Lappi, languishes more than one minute behind him in his Hyundai.

Having been hindered by technical gremlins on Friday, Ott Tanak clawed himself and his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 up the leaderboard to reach the overnight halt in fifth overall. But the Estonian, driving his last rally for M-Sport before returning to Hyundai, will be keeping a keen eye on his rear-view mirrors, with Takamoto Katsuta only 14.9s behind.

Ott Tanak has clawed his way to fifth in his final rally in an M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1. M Sport photo

Local hero Katsuta lost a large chunk of time when he crashed his GR Yaris early in the rally, but the Japanese ace has been on an upward trajectory ever since, racking up seven fastest stage times so far.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, newly-crowned champ Andreas Mikkelsen expanded his class lead, but fell down the rally’s overall leaderboard from fourth to seventh as drier conditions allowed the more powerful Rally1 cars to assert themselves.

The Skoda Fabia RS driver is 8.3s ahead of Gregoire Munster’s M-Sport Ford Fiesta MkII. But with Munster not registered for WRC2 points in Japan, Mikkelsen’s nearest competitor for the official class win is fellow Skoda driver Nikolay Gryazin, who sits 43.3s behind.

Newly-crowned WRC2 champ Andreas Mikkelsen extended his class lead on the Japanese asphalt. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Mikkelsen secured the overall WRC2 title at the Central European Rally two weeks ago, and while a victory at this final round of the season would be an additional feather in the Norwegian driver’s cap, he faces no pressure to perform.

“We’ve put on a new setup for tomorrow,” revealed Mikkelsen, “so let’s see how it works and what the day will bring — probably a new big challenge!”

Sunday’s final leg consists of six special stages – a loop of three tests repeated twice — and culminates with the second run through the 4.67-mile Asahi Kougen test as the rally-closing, bonus points-paying Wolf Power Stage.

WRC Rally Japan, positions after Leg Two, SS16
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h28m20.8s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m15.0s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m40.6s
4 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m09.3s
5 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +3m35.3s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +3m50.3s
7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +5m11.3s
8 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Fiesta Mk II – WRC2, non-points) +5m19.6s
9 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Sloda Fabia RS – WRC2) +5m54.6s
10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2) +12m51.6s

Faultless Evans leads after soaking, dramatic WRC Rally Japan Friday

Elfyn Evans led Rally Japan by 1m49.9s overnight after streaming-wet conditions in Friday’s opening leg caught out several of his FIA World Rally Championship rivals. Torrential rainfall, thick fog and roads covered with damp leaves were just some …

Elfyn Evans led Rally Japan by 1m49.9s overnight after streaming-wet conditions in Friday’s opening leg caught out several of his FIA World Rally Championship rivals.

Torrential rainfall, thick fog and roads covered with damp leaves were just some of the challenges faced by crews on the first full day of action at the WRC’s 2023 season finale. Survival was the aim of the game and, while several of his rivals faltered, Toyota GR Yaris Rally 1 driver Evans (above) barely put a wheel wrong.

A minor overshoot in the second stage of the day did not prevent the Welshman from reaching the lunchtime service halt with a 26s lead over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, his main rival for the runner-up spot in this year’s drivers’ championship.

Neuville, winner of last year’s Rally Japan, responded in the afternoon’s repeated stages by cutting Evans’ advantage by more than half with a blistering run through Isegami’s Tunnel 2. But his comeback was cut short when he crashed his i20 N Rally1 into a tree on the first corner of the following stage, Inabu Dam 2.

The Belgian wasn’t the only driver to be caught out by the conditions and joined Hyundai teammate Dani Sordo as well as M-Sport Ford Puma Rally 1driver Adrien Fourmaux on the retirements list after both drivers left the road at the same location in the morning’s treacherous opening stage.

Adrien Fourmaux’s M-Sport Ford Puma and Dani Sordo’s Hyundai i20 N found the same picturesque resting place… Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

With Neuville out, Evans had breathing space at the top of the leader board, and with two of his Hyundai rivals sidelined, he heads a GR Yaris podium lockout for Toyota Gazoo Racing.

“It’s been tough, obviously,” confirmed the leader. “This morning, especially, was quite bad — but the afternoon was also not easy to adapt to after going from the zero-grip situation of the morning to having something you can actually drive a bit with.”

After Neuville’s exit, Sebastien Ogier became Evans’ nearest challenger — although the eight-time world champion conceded that catching up with his Toyota teammate would be a tall order.

Ogier, who’s running a part-time WRC program in 2023, slid sideways into a barrier on the afternoon’s opening stage, but was able to continue with minimal time loss. The impact did, however, damage the chassis of his GR Yaris. With the required repairs causing him to check out late from the final service of the day, he collected a one-minute time penalty.

“You are always happy when you survive this kind of day because so many things can happen — and so many things did happen,” Ogier said. “The moment this afternoon cost us a bit of time, but we are happy to still be here because it could have cost us a lot more.”

Running first on the road, newly-crowned WRC champion Kalle Rovanpera was hindered by lingering leaves, so he took a cautious approach in his GR Yaris as he carved a cleaner line for those behind. The 23-year-old Finn’s consistency paid off as he finished the day error free in third overall, just 16.7s back from teammate Ogier.

Two-time and newly-crowned WRC champ Kalle Rovanpera took a cautious approach to hold third overall. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Toyota could have enjoyed a clean sweep of the top-four positions were it not for an error by Takamoto Katsuta on the same corner which caught out Sordo and Fourmaux. His Yaris brushed a tree and sustained radiator damage, but the local star was able to make it back to service after completing the stage in EV mode and carrying out repairs on the liaison section.

That incident, combined with the time penalties for lateness after his roadside fix, cost Katsuta more than four minutes. He languished in ninth overall as a result, although the three fastest stage times he posted throughout the day were clear signs of what could have been.

Just ahead of Katsuta, Ott Tanak was eighth on a day which saw his Puma Rally1 plagued by gremlins. Making his last start for M-Sport Ford before returning to Hyundai for 2024, the Estonian dropped almost three minutes when the car’s windows misted up on the day’s second stage and he leaked more time in the afternoon with a performance-sapping electrical issue.

Such was the rate of attrition among the Rally1 entries that several crews from the WRC2 field, the second tier of international rallying, got their chance to shine on the soaking Japanese aspahalt.

Newly-crowned WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen, driving a Rally2-spec Skoda Fabia RS, sat fourth overall at the overnight halt. Behind him was M-Sport Ford’s Gregoire Munster, also competing in Rally2 machinery again after getting behind the wheel of a Rally1 Puma for the previous two WRC rounds.

Mikkelsen and co-driver Torstein Eriksen arrived in Japan under no pressure to perform, having sealed the coveted WRC2 crown two weeks ago at Central European Rally. Nevertheless, the duo led the category by 29.4s at the end of the leg and — even more impressive — sat just 53.6s behind the overall WRC champ, third-placed Rovanpera.

“It’s been a very good day,” said Mikkelsen. “Before lunch we had a good push and after that I tried to drive clever in the afternoon. Tricky conditions, but so far, so good.”

With the pressure off, new WRC2 champ Andreas Mikkelsen mixed it with the Rally1 crews in the torrid conditions. Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

Munster, who isn’t registered for WRC2 points in Japan, finished the day a mere 4.8s behind Mikkelsen, with Nikolay Gryazin a further 24.6s further back and holding sixth overall in his Skoda.

Making it four Rally2-spec cars in the top 10, former Formula 1 race winner Heikki Kovalainen proved he’s no slouch behind the wheel of a rally car, bringing his ex-Esapekka Lappi Fabia R5 10th overall at the overnight halt.

Saturday is shorter, but certainly no less challenging. Eight stages lie in store with a combined total of 52.62 miles.

WRC Rally Japan, positions after Leg One, SS8
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h25m22.7s
2 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m49.9s
3 Kalle Rovanpera/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +2m06.6s
4 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Skoda Fabia RS – WRC2 leader) +3m00.2s
5 Gregoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Fiesta Mk II – WRC2, non-points) +3m05.0s
6 Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Sloda Fabia RS – WRC2) +3m29.6s
7 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +3m44.3s
8 Ott Tanak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Puma Rally1) +4m42.8s
9 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +5m07.9s
10 Heikki Kovalainen/Sae Kitagawa (Skoda Fabia – WRC2) +5m56.0s