The deal’s very much done. The dust very much settled. But what now? What does Kalle Rovanperä’s decision mean for the rest?
Five in 2021 became four in 2022 and now it’s three for 2024. What am I talking about? Genuine World Rally Championship title protagonists. The Finn joins Toyota team-mate Sébastien Ogier and Hyundai’s Esapekka Lappi (and, quite probably, Dani Sordo) on the stage and the bench.
The only confirmed Rally1 full-timers are i20 drivers, 2019 world champion Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville, and Toyota men Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta.
Despite his scintillating and dominant Rally Japan pace, it’s unrealistic to expect the Japanese to engage in a fight for the crown.
Hence, the three.
Who’s the favorite?
Doesn’t it have to be Tänak on account of the fact that he’s the only one who genuinely knows what it takes to win a world championship? And I think the Estonian will be on an absolute mission next season.
On and off event, he’s been through the ringer in recent years, but he’s demonstrated an ability to channel that energy into his driving. Fundamental to Tänak’s chances next year are his ability to get his feet back under the table in Alzenau and himself comfortable in the i20.
If he can do that, he has the speed, the consistency and the confidence to take title number two.
Neuville knows all of that. He knows it better than anybody. He and Tänak know each other as well as anybody. They shared the Hyundai team for three years. By the end it’s fair to say the relationship was as fractious as it was fractured. Both are mature enough to put that behind them. And they will.
There will be plenty of talk of Hyundai’s focus on the manufacturers’ title and, no doubt, both drivers will toe that line. Then conveniently forget it when they flick the switch marked ‘stage mode’.
Neuville has to see this as his best chance yet to be champion. He must hit the ground running and make the most of Tänak relearning a car which has evolved enormously from the i20 he knew 12 months ago.
Nobody doubts Neuville’s speed, but next year he’s got to avoid the pitfalls – be they mechanical or more driver-based – which have cost him dearly this year. Right now, the Belgian has the team behind him. He and Cyril Abiteboul remain on the same page, despite the Frenchman referencing Tänak as rallying’s Max Verstappen…
Team familiarity can be Neuville’s friend next year.
Now, Evans. A couple of years ago, I’d have feared for the Welshman leading the world’s biggest carmaker into a WRC campaign. Not anymore. Firstly, don’t forget, Toyota is a democracy: everybody’s equal and there’s no such thing as a team leader. And no such thing as team orders.
Undoubtedly, there will be times next year when Rovanperä and/or Ogier are ahead of Evans and the Welshman will be keen to get his hands on some extra points. That’s unlikely to happen. As Toyota technical director Tom Fowler told DirtFish: “That’s not how we roll.”
If Evans wants the title, he’s going to have to take it and do it on his own. That’s just the way he would want it.
After four years in a Yaris, he’s utterly at home with the Finnish-based team and now more than ever, he’s comfortable with the GR Yaris Rally1. Granted, it’s still not the glove on his hand the Yaris WRC was, but it’s getting there.
While he knows he’s one of four Toyota drivers, he also knows he has a vast resource behind his title bid in a car which has dominated the hybrid era.
There will be an element of Evans feeling its him versus the combined force of Hyundai’s Neuville and Tänak, but he has to also see the potential for the Korean superteam to self-destruct. Ultimately, he’ll focus on neither thought. Instead, he’ll do what he does best: his best.
