Ott Tänak extended his FORUM8 Rally Japan lead on Saturday, but all eyes were on team-mate Thierry Neuville as he charged up the leaderboard to put himself within touching distance of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship crown.
Neuville, often referred to as the WRC’s “nearly-man,” is finally within reach of shaking off that label and claiming his first-ever WRC drivers’ title - a triumph that would also be the first for a Belgian driver in WRC. After a remarkable recovery from 15th to seventh overall in just seven stages on this penultimate day, Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe provisionally banked four crucial points.
Following a turbocharger issue that heavily disrupted his Friday, Neuville’s stunning comeback has left him needing just two more points from Super Sunday to seal the deal. With up to 12 points available, the 36-year-old is within striking distance of breaking his five-time runner-up streak and cementing his place as world champion.
"We need to be satisfied with our performance today and being able to get back to P7, which didn't seem very realistic this morning," Neuville said. "Obviously tomorrow could be a big day, so we'll cross our fingers and try to have a good sleep.
"I have had enough setbacks during my career," he continued, "so I have learned to stay calm and just deal with it. The best thing you can do in that situation is fight back, and I think we have done that in the proper way today."
While Tänak’s aspirations for a second drivers’ title now look slim, he is carrying Hyundai’s hopes for the manufacturers’ championship. The Estonian began Saturday with a 20.9sec lead over Toyota’s Elfyn Evans, but that margin had decreased to 15.3sec after the morning’s loop. However, a strong afternoon performance on Aichi’s asphalt roads allowed Tänak to re-extend his lead to 38.0sec with five stages remaining.
As things stand, Hyundai heads Toyota by 11 points in the manufacturers’ standings, with everything still to play for as the season nears its conclusion.
"It's been tough but, especially in the second loop, we have been stronger than Elfyn," Tänak said. "We've been on it so far and we will continue to be on it. [The manufacturers' championship] is our big target and we want to achieve it."
Like Neuville, eight-time champion Sébastien Ogier was also making moves. A two-minute wheel change on Friday had put the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 HYBRID driver on the back foot, but he bounced back with a brace of stage wins and three second-fastest times today, climbing from fifth to third.
Ogier passed Toyota GAZOO Racing team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, who spun on SS12, as well as Adrien Fourmaux, to trail team-mate Evans by 1min 32.9sec overnight.
After overtaking Katsuta following the Japanese driver’s mistake, Fourmaux was under constant pressure from the local hero and brought his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID to the overnight halt just 6.1sec ahead.
Also showing impressive pace was Puma youngster Grégoire Munster, who described the day as his “best-ever” on Tarmac after clocking a third-fastest time on SS10. Neuville, meanwhile, was more than four minutes behind.
Nikolay Gryazin held eighth overall and extended his WRC2 lead to 1min 25.3sec over Sami Pajari. Pajari, driving a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, is poised to clinch both the WRC2 and WRC2 Challenger titles on Sunday, while Hiroki Arai completed the top 10.
Saturday Classification:
1. O Tänak / M Järveoja EST Hyundai i20 N 2h 39m 48.0s
2. E Evans / S Martin GBR Toyota GR Yaris +38.0s
3. S Ogier / V Landais FRA Toyota GR Yaris +2m 10.0s
4. A Fourmaux / A Coria FRA Ford Puma +2m 19.1s
5. T Katsuta / A Johnston JPN Toyota GR Yaris 2m 25.2s
6. G Munster / L Louka LUX Ford Puma +3m 07.1s
Category Leaders:
WRC: O Tänak / M Järveoja
WRC2: N Gryazin / K Aleksandrov
WRC3: D Dominguez / R Peñate
