Championship fight on a knife-edge after captivating opening day at WRC's final round.
The battle for this year’s FIA World Rally Championship title is set for a nail-biting climax as Hyundai Motorsport’s Ott Tänak leads FORUM8 Rally Japan overnight, with team-mate Thierry Neuville enduring a disastrous Friday that leaves his championship hopes on a knife-edge.
The day began with Hyundai on top as Tänak and championship leader Neuville claimed a commanding 1-2 through the opening pair of stages. However, while Tänak’s speed kept Hyundai's spirits high, Neuville’s fortunes took a dramatic turn on the third stage when his i20 N Rally1 HYBRID suffered turbo pressure issue, severely reducing its power.
With no midday service and limited spare parts available, Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe faced the gruelling task of nursing their car through five more asphalt stages, haemorrhaging over seven minutes and plunging to 15th overall. Now, with a mountain to climb to return to a point-scoring position, their hopes of securing the six points needed to guarantee themselves a maiden world title rest firmly on Super Sunday.
"It has definitely been tough," Neuville admitted. “I can't really find any positives from the day. When the car was working the feeling was good, that's the only positive.”
Tänak, meanwhile, delivered a masterclass of speed and precision. With nothing to lose, the Estonian adopted a flat-out approach that not only kept his championship chances alive but also bolstered Hyundai’s bid to fend off Toyota GAZOO Racing in the fight for the manufacturers’ crown. His performance became even more critical after Andreas Mikkelsen crashed his i20 N into a tree on SS5.
The 2019 champion initially faced pressure from Welsh pilot Elfyn Evans, who claimed a slender 0.7sec lead at the halfway point. But after a commanding afternoon from Tänak, including a time 14.4sec faster than Evans’ on Isegami’s Tunnel 2, the Estonian reclaimed the lead and stretched his overnight margin to 20.9sec.
"The stages were quite okay,” said Tänak. “There are two stages [tomorrow] that we know, but one is new. I am looking forward to the challenge ahead.”
Mikkelsen’s off caused a delay and forced the Shinshiro (SS7) test to run under fading light. This played into the hands of Adrien Fourmaux, whose foresight to fit auxiliary lights on his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID paid dividends.
Fourmaux capitalised on Takamoto Katsuta’s visibility struggles to snatch third overall, finishing the day a single tenth ahead of the Japanese driver but trailing Evans by over 1min 30sec.
Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier ended a challenging day in fifth after losing nearly two minutes to a wheel change on SS2. Grégoire Munster followed in sixth with his M-Sport Puma, while WRC2 leader Nikolay Gryazin occupied seventh.
Sami Pajari’s standing of eighth overall and second in WRC2 puts the young Finn on course to seal the WRC2 title, while Josh McErlean and Hiroki Arai completed the top 10 after almost 130km of intense competition.
Saturday’s penultimate leg features three stages, each run twice, before concluding with another run through the Toyota Stadium super special.
Friday Classification:
1. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Hyundai i20 N 1h 26m 17.6s
2. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris +20.9s
3. A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Ford Puma +1m 53.9s
4. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris +1m 54.0s
5. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +2m 15.6s
6. G Munster / L Louka LUX Ford Puma +2m 37.4s
Category Leaders:
WRC: S Ogier / V Landais
WRC2: N Gryazin / K Aleksandrov
WRC3: D Dominguez / R Peñate
