Hyundai and Toyota’s showdown for the World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title is set to be decided on the Rally Japan powerstage with the two provisionally level on points.
Hyundai led Toyota – which has won each of the last three manufacturers’ championships – by 15 points heading into the season finale.
After Saturday’s results, Toyota had provisionally slimmed that gap to 11 points, but Hyundai’s Ott Tänak accident on Sunday’s first stage blew the contest wide open – handing Thierry Neuville the 2024 drivers’ title and giving Toyota renewed hope in the manufacturers’ title race.
Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier inherited maximum points for Toyota from Saturday, but crucially new world champion Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen are first and second in the Super Sunday standings after three of five stages.
Ogier and Evans are behind the Hyundai pair in third and fourth, meaning as it stands Hyundai and Toyota are dead level in the championship with 553 points.
The contest is therefore set to be decided on the powerstage – the final stage of the entire season.
Toyota will however have an advantage on that test, as it has three cars in the race (Takamoto Katsuta too) while Hyundai has just two after Tänak’s exit.
A relaxed Neuville is relishing being able to finally push rather than defend: “The last couple of races have been challenging with everything to lose and nothing to gain, but now I’m enjoying it,” he smiled.
