Has the new points system finally proved itself?

World Rally Championship drivers don’t usually get excited about a battle they’re not part of, but on this occasion Adrien Fourmaux couldn’t help it.

Recalling what he had just witnessed, his eyes lit up.

“It’s been an interesting day, I think. It was really nice to follow the fight for the championship ahead,” he said.

“That was amazing. Imagine: they were playing the championship in the last stage of the last rally, just with the powerstage. Incredible. I think it’s historic.”

What unfolded was the closest finish to a manufacturers’ championship in over four decades, as Toyota beat Hyundai by just three points – a margin claimed purely on the final stage of the season.

The drama created by Ott Tänak’s exit earlier on that Japanese morning threw it all open. His points for topping Saturday had been lost and handed to Toyota, but Hyundai’s 1-2 on Super Sunday kept it all even.

Literally.

Heading onto the powerstage, the two manufacturers genuinely could not be separated. And that’s all thanks to the new-for-2024 points system.

“I think nobody could have written a better script, at least for this season,” Sébastien Ogier admitted.

“Everybody, I think, complained the whole year about the points system because it’s true that there is something wrong in there with the reward that some drivers, like the winner of rallies, get, but at least it offered us this crazy scenario, and I think yeah the intensity of this powerstage was something pretty special.”

Those are big words from Ogier, who’s been one of the most vocal opponents to the off-season changes to the point system.

Nobody, however, is about to argue that it’s perfect – as Ogier himself hinted, the issue with reward for rally-winning drivers still remains. Although it is understood tweaks made to the system for 2025 will address that.

But after months of the debate rearing its ugly head throughout the opening phase of the season – before we ultimately just got used to the new way of registering championship points – it’s interesting now to reflect on the impact the change made.

Did it change the outcome of the season? No. Thierry Neuville and Toyota would have been world champions under the old system too.

But did it improve the narrative and the spectacle? I think you’d be hard pushed to say it didn’t. Obviously there was the epic Japan powerstage showdown – a scenario created solely because of the new points system – but Sundays have also been far more intriguing this year with something extra to fight for.

As controversial as it has proved, the FIA was onto something. We now have the building blocks of something entertaining, the challenge now is refining that for next season.

How should the points system change?

Like Ogier, Elfyn Evans has been fairly outspoken at times about the new points system – but he did admit in Japan it was “nice to be on the right end” of the drama.

However, the Toyota driver is clear about where he thinks things need to change.

“I still think it’s too heavily biased on the non-finishers, let’s say, or the opportunity to rescore on Sunday, I think,” he told DirtFish.

“I think regardless of how you dish out the points, as long as there are points on offer on Sunday, people will still go for it regardless. Especially up until the last round or two, unless things are starting to shape up.

“You need the points anyway so I think the priority should still be given to the guy who wins the rally and I think the points should be given on Sunday when you finish and win the rally and none of the Saturday night stuff. And then just lessen a little bit the points that are dished out for the pure Sunday classification because another issue, as you see today, Thierry and Andreas have had bad weekends but they run first on the road.

“When it’s a bit dirty you have no chance then starting at the back, so it’s one of those that it really favors people who have had a bad weekend.”

Several examples of that can be found throughout the course of the year. Neuville for example comprehensively outscored Grégoire Munster in Sardinia despiting finishing 41st with the M-Sport man in fifth.

And Esapekka Lappi (Sweden), Sébastien Ogier (Portugal), Kalle Rovanperä (Latvia), Ott Tänak (Central Europe) and Elfyn Evans (Japan) all experienced the strange scenario of winning a rally but not scoring more points than everyone else.

“Yes, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Evans continued, “is that a rally win really has to mean something in terms of outright points.

“Obviously there were too many moments during the year where the podium finishes felt a little bit short-changed, let’s say, for something that had gone on on Sunday and obviously it doesn’t help the overall outlook when you’ve got three grumpy drivers on the podium on Sunday.”

No crew maximized the potential on Super Sunday more than Tänak and Martin Järveoja who racked up 63 points on them – four ahead of world champions Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe.

Wydaeghe is a fan of the change for 2024, but agrees that some small tweaks would improve it.

“I like changes because I think this sport needs changes,” Wydaeghe told DirtFish.

“I always said since the beginning of the year that the winner of the rally should have a little bit more rewards. So in terms of points, I think this is deserved. But for me, the Sunday standings and the Sunday points are also really attractive. It gives opportunity to people that have some difficulties to keep fighting.

“But even if you are in a close fight, you really have no choice, you need to go all in, all weekend long. So this is a really positive point. So yeah, let’s see what they will decide.

“I saw some proposals which are quite interesting, but for me as long [as] there is still something to do on Sunday to keep everything, yeah, pedal to the metal, then it’s good for the sport and for the image, so that’s the most important to me.”

Additional reporting by David Evans.