When intensity levels rise Sebastien Ogier thrives. It’s among the myriad of qualities that makes Ogier arguably the greatest driver the World Rally Championship has ever seen.
With the quest for a record-equalling ninth world title hanging in the balance, the mercurial Frenchman was pushed to the limit by championship leader and Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans in Japan, but emerged victorious by a mere 11.6s after 305 gruelling asphalt kilometres.
“I think great wins happen after great battles with great opponents and it was definitely the case this week,” said Ogier, who was co-driven by Vincent Landis. “Between Elfyn and myself it has always been super intense and close the whole week. I enjoy intensity in racing. These are the wins that you appreciate the most when they happen like this.”
The rally ending 13.94km Power Stage, held in desperately wet conditions, summed up this intense fight that was waged between two title contenders hellbent on glory. The timing splits ebbed and flowed between the pair, before Ogier ultimately snatched a Power Stage win from Evans by 0.096s and an extra bonus point. It is these fine margins that could ultimately decide the outcome of this year’s world title, with Ogier cutting Evans’ 13-point margin to three ahead of this month’s Saudi Arabia season finale.
Looking at Rally Japan on paper, Ogier claimed 10 stage wins to Evans’ four with the former leading the rally from stage four to the finish. The stats make it read like Ogier dominated but it couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Ogier was perhaps pushed the hardest he has been this year and it wasn’t just Evans doing the pushing. Toyota’s home hero Takamoto Katsuta, carrying the weight of the nation, was Ogier’s nearest rival sitting 7.9s adrift, having briefly led on Friday. Unfortunately for Katsuta and the hoards of passionate local fans, a loss of power steering triggered by contact with water-filled barriers in stage 11 ended his charge. The wait for a maiden WRC win continues, but it appears the Japanese driver is getting closer and closer.
Ogier claimed his sixth win of the year at last week’s Rally Japan
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Evans had taken up the pursuit of Ogier with gusto before Katsuta’s rally unravelled. Evans was faster than Ogier in the opening four Saturday stages, reducing his gap to 1.4s. But once again when the intensity levels rise, Ogier somehow finds an answer – this time, he won the final three stages of the day to open up a 6.5s lead before Sunday’s final stages.
Evans relished the hellish wet conditions on Sunday, issuing another response and threw everything at it. But again was denied as Ogier dug deep to take the full 10 Super Sunday points by fine margins. As a spectacle it was box office, knife-edge rallying. The victory increases Ogier’s tally that stands at 67, but this will rank among the sweetest given strength of the opposition.
“I would say he [Evans] hasn’t pushed me like this for a little while,” Ogier told Autosport. “Generally this season usually I have had a little edge, but this time it was much closer and especially with the demanding conditions we had, and the roads, it hasn’t been easy but that is the way we like it.”
“It has been like this the whole year. It has been difficult and we have inconsistent results. We have been in the fight but not properly. We could have been much better in it [the title race] after this weekend but we are not. We will see how Saudi goes” Kalle Rovanpera
Evans added: “Seb is a tough opponent and arguably one of the best there has ever been in the sport. It is clearly not easy and he is performing at a really high level. It is tough but we are still going to give it our best shot.”
Evans may have come up short, but the Welshman importantly still leads the title race and in Japan the gauntlet was most definitely thrown down. There will be some fight between two drivers at the top of their game to decide this year’s title in the unknown that is the inaugural Rally Saudi Arabia.
Rovanpera’s title hopes alive but fading
Kalle Rovanpera came into Japan with momentum having cut the gap to his title rival team-mates Evans and Ogier to 13 points after a fine victory in Central Europe. However, Japan’s technical stages have not been among the Finn’s favourites, but such pace on asphalt this year had many believing he would be firmly in the fight.
Rovanpera’s chances of a third title on his WRC swansong are slim
Photo by: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
Hungry for a third title before whisking his way to Super Formula next year, the 25-year-old made a perfect start by leading the rally after the Thursday night super special. But it wasn’t long before his rally unravelled in stage three, after damaging the left rear suspension from contact with an armco barrier. Perhaps a defining moment in this year’s championship, Rovanpera and co-driver Jonne Halttunen were able to carry out roadside repairs by strapping a spanner to the broken suspension arm, but critically more than four minutes were lost.
From there, it was a damage limitation mission, rising from 23rd to sixth, securing 14 championship points in the process. Now 24 points behind leader Evans, Rovanpera will require a huge turnaround in Saudi Arabia for a fairytale finish to his WRC career.
“It has been like this the whole year,” said Rovanpera. “It has been difficult and we have inconsistent results. We have been in the fight but not properly. We could have been much better in it [the title race] after this weekend but we are not. We will see how Saudi goes.
“I think there is a big chance that something will happen for many guys [in Saudi Arabia] and with how the roads look, there will be chances for many things. They will be tricky stages with a lot of stones around so you never know, but it [the title] is not so much in our hands.”
Fourmaux a beacon of hope in Hyundai disaster
Hyundai’s Rally Japan can be summed up bluntly by the fact it failed to score a single manufacturer point for the first time since 2014. It wasn’t for a lack of effort though. Adrien Fourmaux metaphorically, and literally, drove the doors off his i20 N only to be denied what would have been a deserved podium after superbly coaxing speed from what is a challenging beast on asphalt.
Asphalt has been the achilles heel of the heavily upgraded Evo version of the i20 N and the struggles witnessed in the Canary Islands and Central Europe were again on show in Japan. Extracting speed was not the only problem, however.
Fourmaux retired from third in Japan after an excursion which ripped off his passenger door
Photo by: Hyundai Motorsport
This time last year Thierry Neuville lifted the world title, but 12 months on his weekend couldn’t have been more contrasting. A transmission issue emerged on Thursday followed by a broken rear differential on Friday. The Belgian didn’t complete any stages on Saturday or Sunday after his Evo spec car suffered a broken driveshaft, before a windscreen wiper failure capped a miserable weekend for the reigning world champion.
“Thierry has not had any opportunity to get the mileage of the experience needed. We know this is not acceptable and these small problems are not how you make world champions and this is what we need to address,” Hyundai sporting director Andrew Wheatley told Autosport.
“This weekend was not about scoring points and not about podium finishes, it was about learning and making sure we leave this rally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We were not confident about the performance of the Evo car on tarmac. This is our third rally on tarmac with this car. The problem is this car looks exactly like the old car, but when you strip the parts off it is completely different underneath. We are learning stage by stage how to make it consistent and competitive.”
“The most important thing for us was to improve the car on tarmac – which we did. If we were fifth all weekend and the others made mistakes and we are on the podium, it is not what we are looking for here in Japan” Adrien Fourmaux
Likewise, Ott Tanak, driving the older generation car, was also blighted by a differential issue that had masked his pace for much of the weekend. But in truth, he was unable to take the fight to the Toyotas. Tanak did however finish fourth, before hours later dropping the bombshell that he will be taking a break from full-time rally at the end of the year.
Fourmaux on the other hand was able to challenge the Toyotas in his Evo spec car. It required the Frenchman to take risks and drive on the limit, while adapting his driving style around some of the balance issues with the car. Two stage wins on Saturday morning even brought him into the victory hunt, 14.4s adrift of Ogier. A third place finish seemed to be on the cards before a brief off in the wet in stage 15. Hampered by a misted windscreen, Fourmaux clattered into trees that ripped the passenger door, containing their time card, from his i20 N. The damage was too severe to continue.
“The most important thing for us was to improve the car on tarmac – which we did,” Fourmaux told Autosport. “If we were fifth all weekend and the others made mistakes and we are on the podium, it is not what we are looking for here in Japan. For sure, we wanted the result but it brings motivation that we are not far off. We just need to work with what we have got, and for me what is more important is the team stays committed.”
Pajari and Munster achieve career best WRC results
Munster had a much-needed solid weekend in Japan
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
In the second half of the season Sami Pajari’s performances have taken an upward trajectory. In Chile, Toyota’s newest recruit claimed his career best WRC points tally after finishing fifth, but in Japan the Finn reached a new milestone.
Exactly a year after he claimed the WRC2 title and then learned of his graduation to Toyota’s Rally1 squad, he notched up a maiden WRC podium. Pajari didn’t deliver the pace that has earned him stage wins in Finland, Chile and Central Europe, but the 23-year-old showed resolve in tricky conditions. There was one brief moment of panic when a half spin resulted in grazing a bank, but Pajari held firm while others hit trouble to climb the leaderboard to third.
“Last year Toyota saw something in my potential and this shows that they were right,” said Pajari. “I’m pleased that I can show this and achieve these results. Of course it is a big thing for me personally but also for the team.”
It has been a difficult season for M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster, who arrived in Japan with plenty of pressure on his shoulders knowing that he is driving for his future. Team principal Richard Millener had asked for more from his driver, who is about to finish his second full season in Rally1.
Munster cut a frustrated figure for much of the rally, having been left to fight with a confidence sapping Ford Puma Rally1 inclined to understeer through the hundreds of corners that make up Japan’s narrow and twisty stages that are just waiting to catch drivers out. A solution was found that helped the Luxembourger match a career best result of fifth. Munster was the only Ford to finish after Rally1 rookie Josh McErlean crashed heavily in stage three.
“I really wanted to secure a top five for the team because this season has been much more of a struggle with the change in regulations and tyres. It has not been easy on us,” said Munster. “I think the weekend started not as we wanted as we struggled a lot, but we managed from Friday to Saturday to bring the car into a better window. Sunday was super difficult in the wet conditions and we had to keep it on the road as Kalle was fighting back.”
Up next is Saudi Arabia on 26-29 November, where either Elfyn Evans or Sebastien Ogier will be crowned champion
Photo by: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
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