That Toyota is going to win the manufacturers’ championship this year is basically a given.
Even Hyundai has essentially accepted that fact, with its tactical decision to strip Ott Tänak of manufacturer status in order to improve his drivers’ title chances on the final three rounds.
The question is: will Toyota record its fifth manufacturers’ title in succession – and ninth in total – at this week’s Central European Rally?
In all likelihood, yes it will.
With 572 points to Hyundai’s 447, Toyota leads the way by 125 points prior to CER. With 60 standing as the maximum possible score for a manufacturer on any given round, that means 180 points are still up for grabs this season.
After CER only 120 points will be left to claim, so if Toyota’s lead is any larger than 120 points after the Central European powerstage it will seal the manufacturers’ title for 2025.
In simple terms, if Toyota outscores Hyundai by any amount this week it’ll win. And Hyundai needs to score at least six more points than Toyota in Passau to keep the contest alive.
So far this season Toyota has won all but one of the events, and Hyundai has only outscored it twice.
The first time was in Kenya when Elfyn Evans won but Hyundais filled out the rest of the podium and dominated both Super Sunday and the powerstage.
The second was Estonia, where Toyota again won the event but Oliver Solberg was not registered to score manufacturer points.
Three of Toyota’s drivers are also fighting for the drivers’ championship, which team principal Jari-Matti Latvala said can remain their focus this week.
“After our good results in South America, we’re in a very good position going into the Central European Rally,” Latvala explained. “We will need a good result if we want to clinch the manufacturers’ championship at the first opportunity, but at the same time, our drivers don’t need to feel pressure from that side and can focus on their fight for the drivers’ title, which is very tight.”
Latvala doesn't want his drivers worrying about the manufacturers' when the drivers' title is on the line
Asked by DirtFish if Hyundai was giving up on the manufacturers’ title – particularly with Tänak not scoring points – technical director François-Xavier Demaison said: “I mean, we never give up on it. We just reduce a bit our chance to score good points. But, you know, the rules are saying that the best two cars score points for the manufacturers’ championship, so we still have two cars at least entering the rally.
“And we’re sure that Thierry [Neuville] and Adrien [Fourmaux] can do good there, because they are both let’s say good drivers on Tarmac, so we are still competitive for the manufacturers’ championship.
“As you said, our chances are very, very, very little, but we’ll still start with two cars which are competitive.”
