Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans are separated by only 6.5 seconds heading into the final day of Rally Japan.
As it stands heading into Sunday, Evans will be five points ahead of Ogier in the title race – but that could easily flip on its head if Evans were to usurp Ogier or should one driver fail to finish at all.
That sets up a tense final-day showdown for the Toyota teammates: there’s a chance to take a decisive step in the title race but, equally, throw your title chances out the window.
“I think we have to put it on the line,” Ogier told DirtFish. “But at the same time, Elfyn and me, we are in the same position. The one that makes a mistake tomorrow might lose the championship, so that will be a tricky condition with a lot to play for.”
But a storm is brewing. Literally. Heavy rain is forecast. On its own, that’s a game-changer. But add in the lack of competitive mileage on the Hankook wet tires this season and you’ve got the potential for a massive curveball.
“Let’s hope that it’s not too bad,” said Ogier of the forecasted rain. “Let’s hope we can still enjoy the driving. I think our rain tyres are not necessarily working very well, we all know that. So it will be about making the best of it.”
The forecasted heavy rain is also weighing on Evans’ mind.
“It looks like it’s very open, I would say, given what the weather is like,” said Evans.
It’s a classic risk versus reward scenario, but Evans expects to be hedging his bets from the outset.
Evans reduced the gap to as little as 1.4s on Saturday before Ogier pulled time back
“If the conditions are tricky tomorrow, like we expect them to be, you can’t go around safe-safe anyway because you’re going to get overtaken, so we’re going to have to drive on.
“We’ll just do the same as we have done. We’ll drive as well as we can and see what happens.”
Toyota technical director Tom Fowler, like his drivers, expects rain to be the deciding factor in the showdown for Rally Japan victory.
“The first thing we need to work out for tomorrow is whether we’re going to go with a car or a jet ski,” Fowler quipped.
“A lot of information is coming in that the weather’s turning overnight. Exactly what time and how that’s going to come is, in true fashion of weather, not presenting itself with strong evidence at the moment. I think that’s going to be the story of tomorrow.”
