2023-11-19 06:28:05
Elfyn Evans (Toyota) won the Rally Japan, the final round of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The Briton dominated the race head and shoulders and won with more than a minute ahead of his teammates Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä. The Toyota team achieves the treble at home.
Evans settled comfortably at the head of the Rally from the second special, taking advantage of the complicated weather conditions to directly open up significant gaps. Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) seemed to be the only driver able to worry Evans this weekend but the Belgian made a mistake at the start of the sixth special, causing him to lose all hope of victory.
Neuville still returned to the track on Saturday and scored several scratches on Sunday, notably on the Power Stage, to end this Rally and the championship on a positive note.
A WRC2, Gregory Munster (Ford) has long threatened the first place ofAndreas Mikkelsen (Skoda). But in the 18th special, the Belgian made a mistake, ruining all his chances. He was forced to retire on the 20th special and had to let the Norwegian slip away to victory.
Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) was already world champion since the Central European Rally. The major issue of this Rally concerned the last two places on the championship podium. But the ranking was unchanged following the abandonment of Neuville and the poor performance ofOtt Tänak (Ford).
Elfyn Evans is therefore the vice-world champion. Thierry Neuville finished the championship in third place.
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