NEUVILLE ENDS WRC TITLE WAIT
Perennial WRC Hyundai contender Thierry Neuville has finally ended his title drought at Rally Japan, as Toyota kept up its Rally1 domination.
At the FIA World Rally Championship finale in Japan, five-time runner-up Thierry Neuville finally ended his painful wait for a world championship alongside co-driver and Belgian compatriot Martijn Wydaeghe.
The win gave Hyundai its first ever drivers title via its 2024 i20N Rally1 machine, as Neuville scrambled back through the field following early issues, capturing the crown with a fighting sixth place finish.
The only realistic contender for the title was teammate Ott Tanak, who was on track for the overall win on the final day whilst also carrying the teams title hopes on his back.
But a dramatic crash in Sunday’s opening stage saw him hand the championship to Neuville whilst also elevating Toyota’s Elfyn Evans into the lead with teammate Sebastien Ogier in second.
That gave the hometown maker its fourth straight title by just three points, whilst it will end the WRC’s hybrid era as its only winner.
Ford M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux was third as a result of the crash; the Frenchman’s fifth podium of the season.
For Neuville, the 36-year old who joined Hyundai in 2014 became the first Belgian driver to win the title.
Elfyn Evans Photo by McKlein / LAT Images
He only needed two points on the last day to ensure it after fighting back from 15th place following a turbocharger failure, but Tanak’s crash made the long standing dream become realisation.
“Honestly it has come as a surprise. I don’t know what to say at the moment but I think we deserve it,” Neuville said on hearing the news at the end of the stage.
“It has been a very challenging year, very tough. Obviously we had much more pressure than we needed, especially for this last event.”
Leading the championship from Round 1 in Monte-Carlo, his reaction at the finish line in Japan carried an enormous sense of jubilation.
“I am feeling great to be honest, we worked so long for this. I don’t have the words, but I want to thank everybody who was part of it, who fought for us and all of the team as well.
“We were many times very close; we always give it our all, but this year we have been rewarded for it.”
He ended the year with wins at Rallye Monte-Carlo and the Acropolis Rally Greece with podiums in Croatia, Portugal, Finland and Central Europe, whilst he finished in the top-five for ten of the 13 rounds; topping the title chase by 32 points from Evans, with Tanak 42 points in arrears in third.
Heading into “Toyota City”, the Belgian carried a 25 point advantage over Tanak, whilst the rally that is notorious for its challenging levels of grip offered up 21 stages over 300km in the Aichi and Gifu mountain ranges on the central island.
Toyota would also enter the asphalt rally 15 points behind Hyundai, with the Japanese giants having won seven of the 12 rally’s heading into its home event.
To kick things off, Fourmaux took out Thursday’s 2.15km two-at-a-time stadium super special, marking the first time leading a WRC rally in 58 attempts.
The dramatic retirements of Heikki Kovalainen and Ott Tanak
Friday saw 126km of action with no midday service, and a twist in the tale as Tanak ended the day with +20.9 lead over Evans following Neuville’s SS4 drop out, whilst fellow i20N driver Andreas Mikkelsen also crashed, leaving Tanak as Hyundai’s only hope.
Saturday’s six repeated stages saw Tanak repeat his dominance, adding another two stage wins whilst Evans slipped a further 18 seconds back, with Ogier moving into third.
The story of the dayhowever was Neuville’s fightback into seventh place, with the WRC’s “nearly man” putting one hand on the crown as a result.
As it stood, those four earned points left him needing two more points, whilst Hyundai still had a live 11 point lead over Toyota.
The final five stages of the season delivered plenty of last day drama – a real and consistent trait of the ’24 season.
Tanak’s early crash (which also saw former F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen end up on top of his i20N in his GR Yaris Rally 2) saw him lose his front and become airborne into a ditch, with the Estonian simply describing it as a “complete f*** up”.
That ended the Korean marquee’s hope for a first manufacturers crown since 2020, with Evans taking his first win of the year by +1:27.3 over Ogier, with Fourmaux a further +28.2 seconds behind him.
With Takamoto Katsuta, Gregoire Munster, and Neuville filling fourth to sixth, Citroen WRC2 winner Nikolay Gryazin took seventh. But it was the GR Yaris Rally2 of Finnish driver Sami Pajari with the ultimate spoils, capturing the second tier title after finishing second in class.
His title came by three points over Swedish Skoda driver Oliver Solberg.
The 2025 WRC season, which will be hybrid free at the top level, commences on January 23-26 with the traditional Monte-Carlo opener, with an expanded fourteen round calendar, Hankook as the new tyre supplier, and more tweaks to the new and somewhat controversial points system.
FINAL WRC POINTS AFTER 13 ROUNDS
Neuville/Wydaeghe 242 (champions)
Evans/Martin 210
Tanak/Jarveoja 200
Ogier/Landais 191
Fourmaux/Coria 162
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