How Evans completed Toyota’s dream WRC campaign

Japan threw the proverbial kitchen sink at World Rally Championship crews as extreme changeable weather added to the already demanding rally of 10,000 corners. However, the ‘four seasons in one day’ conditions failed to derail Elfyn Evans from delivering Toyota the home win it so craved.

With Kalle Rovanpera and Toyota having wrapped up the respective drivers’ and constructors’ titles in October, you could be forgiven for thinking the WRC season finale in the land of the rising sun would be a relaxed dead rubber affair. It was anything but. After Toyota suffered a defeat to rivals Hyundai on home soil last year, the pressure for a Toyota win at a rally held in its own back yard, Toyota City, was palpable.

But the rally gods seemingly didn’t want to give in to Toyota’s wishes easily, as rain, sunshine and even snow showers tested crews to their very limits. It was perhaps fitting that Evans and Scott Martin, who were denied a shot at victory in Japan last year by a final-day puncture, produced one of the drives of the season to clinch victory. Toyota got what it wished for and more as Sebastien Ogier and Rovanpera completed a dream 1-2-3 to underline the manufacturer’s domination of 2023.

“Of course, under the circumstances it is special to win with your team-mates side by side, it has been mega,” said Evans.

However, there were few smiles in the Toyota camp after a humbling by Hyundai on the opening stage – the first of three passes through the all-new Toyota Stadium side-by-side superspecial –packed with fans inside the rally’s bustling service park.

First blood went to Thierry Neuville after pipping team-mate Esapekka Lappi by 0.7 seconds just hours after it was confirmed the Finn will scale back to a part-time programme with the Korean manufacturer next year. Toyota’s struggles were outlined by the fact all four of its GR Yaris entries were outside of the top four, with home hero Takamoto Katsuta fifth ahead of Rovanpera, while Ogier and Evans were eighth and ninth respectively.

Toyota’s fortunes would soon turn, much like the weather, come Friday morning. Concerns over the conditions were raised on the previous day given the carpet of leaves and pine needles that blanketed the technical asphalt roads. This, coupled with rain, had the drivers worried to the point calls were made for the roads to be cleaned.

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Pressure was on Toyota to deliver on home soil after missing out last year

“Being first on the road is not going to be easy,” said Rovanpera, who has never been a fan of Japan’s stages. “On the recce when we had a section with the pine needles it was like ice and in some places, you don’t even see the Tarmac. And if it is wet, I don’t want to know how it will be. It will be a big challenge, for sure.”

Rovanpera was correct as torrential rain caused havoc, creating what the Finn described as “the most difficult conditions I've seen”. To add to the slippery surface and treacherous patches of standing water, misted-up windscreens left Rally1 crews desperately struggling for visibility.

M-Sport’s Ott Tanak suffered the worst and was forced to crouch in his seat to try and peer through the fog. "I'm quite seasick, to be honest – there is no reason to drive like this,” said Tanak, who dropped almost four minutes.

Neuville summed up just how severe things were: “The conditions are really, really dangerous. We shouldn’t be driving in them. I have done a lot of rallies, but I’ve never been as scared as this morning.”

"We started aquaplaning and we went straight on. I touched the brakes and one side locked up. We also had some mist on our screen, which was a little distracting" Dani Sordo

It wasn’t long until drama struck. First, Katsuta was caught out by a patch of standing water on stage two (Isegami’s Tunnel) and collided with trees, damaging the radiator on his GR Yaris. The incident arrived after setting a blistering time at the first split. The fan favourite lost 2m29s, effectively ending his victory hopes on the spot, but at least he was able to continue, unlike two of his rivals.

At the same spot, Hyundai’s Dani Sordo and then M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux hit the same standing water and careered off the road and down an embankment. Fourmaux, making his Rally1 return in place of Pierre-Louis Loubet, stopped within metres of Sordo’s stricken i20N, prompting the red flags. All crews were OK but neither was able to rejoin the rally.

“We had a lot of fog on the windscreen so I didn’t see Dani trying to slow us down,” said Fourmaux. “As soon as I touched the brakes it was like ice.”

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Sordo and Fourmaux saw their Rally Japan hopes ended at the same spot, while Katsuta narrowly avoided joining the same fate

Sordo, whose rally ended on the same stage in a ball of flames last year, added: “We just missed the braking 11 kilometres into the stage. We started aquaplaning and we went straight on. I touched the brakes and one side locked up. We also had some mist on our screen, which was a little distracting.”

Evans not only avoided the trouble but did so in impressive style to shoot from ninth into a 26s rally lead over Neuville after stage three.

The Welshman, starting second on the road, was unable to explain his speed: “I have no idea. I thought I was going to be a minute down coming to end of the first one it was impossible to judge.”

Organisers cancelled stage four due to the adverse weather preventing the medical helicopter from flying. Ogier, who found himself in third, felt the entire loop should have been cancelled.

“There was a couple of centimetres left in the windscreen where I could still see something but at every left corner, I couldn’t see anything, and you just hope these couple of centimetres will stay otherwise you have to stop,” said Ogier. “It is a shame that we have to go through that.”

While the Rally1 cars struggled for visibility, the Rally2 field benefited from much clearer windscreens, as WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen starred to end the loop fourth overall ahead of fellow WRC2 rivals Gregoire Munster and Nikolay Gryazin.

The rain relented for the afternoon loop but it didn’t halt the drama. Evans’s rally lead was reduced to 10.5s after stage five by a charging Neuville, but the threat from the Belgian quickly evaporated. A compression 100 metres into stage six (Inabu Dam) caught out the Hyundai driver as his i20N understeered into trees, ending any hopes of a second consecutive Japan victory.

“I was a bit too optimistic in that compression and I hit the sump guard, and it threw me out of the line,” said Neuville. “So it was very unfortunate, but that is it.” 

Photo by: Fabien Dufour / Hyundai Motorsport

Last year's Rally Japan winner Neuville crashed out 100m into stage six

Neuville’s team principal Cyril Abiteboul felt his driver was impatient to catch rally leader Evans: “We were all very impressed with his first stage of the afternoon, which cut the gap by 15s to Elfyn. He was probably a bit too much in a rush to recover the gap to Elfyn, which led to a mistake and a misjudgement of the speed to tackle that compression. It is what it is. But it is tough losing two cars, and Esapekka is clearly struggling with confidence after a bad stint of events.

“We have to reflect to see if there is something we can do to limit [errors] in the future because it is very clear that he [Thierry] has the ambition of winning the world championship title.”

Neuville’s demise not only eased the growing pressure on Evans, but handed Toyota a 1-2-3 at the end of Friday, as Rovanpera managed to haul himself into the final podium spot. The odds on Evans claiming a third 2023 win were further shortened when nearest rival Ogier was handed a one-minute penalty for being six minutes late from the final service. The Frenchman hailed the effort from his crew to replace a damaged section of rollcage caused from a driver’s side impact with a barrier on stage five. But it left Ogier 1m49.9s adrift of Evans.

“They [the mechanics] did an amazing job again so I think now the most important thing for us is to bring all three cars home,” said Ogier.

"After yesterday my mind has changed and I have been just focusing on doing my best, but if I’m honest in the back my head there is disappointment, but I just have to forget it" Takamoto Katsuta

The leaderboard continued to have an odd look, with Mikkelsen ending the day fourth ahead of Munster and Gryazin. An out-of-sorts Lappi was seventh ahead of Tanak and the recovering Katsuta, who proved his early pace was real by winning three of the four afternoon/evening stages.
Crews welcomed the arrival of dry weather on Saturday, but this was short-lived and replaced by a freak snow shower in the afternoon, as Japan’s asphalt stages took on a distinct Monte Carlo feel. But prior to this latest weather curveball, there was another unexpected situation that unfolded, triggering the red flags.

The returning Neuville, driving a repaired i20N, alarmingly came across the zero car stranded in stage nine. The Belgian managed to pull his car up before navigating by the vehicle. Katsuta also encountered the car, which had stopped in the stage to remove spectators from standing in a dangerous location. A stewards investigation revealed that a miscommunication between the zero car crew, stage commander and the clerk of the course, coupled with a lack of radio signal, resulted in the stage incorrectly going ahead.

The clerk of the course Haruo Takakuwa accepted full responsibility for causing an unsafe situation and was reprimanded by the stewards. Neuville, Katsuta, Lappi and Tanak were all handed notional times. The matter will be referred to the FIA WRC Commission for possible further action.

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Snow, course cars and red flags kept up the frantic action on the penultimate day

At the front, Evans remained in control as he perfectly managed his pace given his sizeable advantage. The only scare arrived courtesy of the aforementioned freak snow shower that affected the later runners in stage 14, warranting a cry of “I don’t believe it” from the usually calm and reserved Evans. What must have felt like dropping a minute on the incredibly slippery asphalt actually turned out to be only 11.4s to nearest rival Ogier.

The irony of this latest bout of freak weather was not lost on third-placed Rovanpera, who coined Rally Japan as the ‘rally that keeps on giving’. “It has been quite annoying as just when you think there will be a dry loop and you enjoy it a bit, it starts to snow,” he said.

With the battle at the front a stalemate, it was Katsuta who provided the entertainment, winning five of the day’s eight stages to climb to sixth, with his sights set on overhauling Lappi and Tanak in fourth and fifth. The Japanese driver has struggled for confidence at times this season but declared Saturday as the best he’d felt in the car this year.

“After yesterday my mind has changed and I have been just focusing on doing my best, but if I’m honest in the back my head there is disappointment, but I just have to forget it,” said Katsuta, who ultimately won 10 of the 22 stages.

Following the series of weather curveballs, Evans refused to start thinking of victory despite heading into Sunday’s final six stages with a 1m15.0s lead. Overnight snow again threatened to spoil the Toyota homecoming party but the three Toyotas held firm to complete a dream 1-2-3.

Evans, desperate not to lose the victory, even managed to extend his lead a 1m17.7s come the finish to record a third win of the season, matching the season tally of his team-mates Ogier and Rovanpera. Toyota’s final 2023 objective was achieved and the pressure valve was finally released. Cue a chorus of “we are the champions” led by Evans’ co-driver Martin in the post-event press conference.

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Evans helped cap the perfect WRC season for Toyota with Rally Japan victory

“It has been a difficult rally and I felt a bit of unfinished business after last year, so it is nice to score a result this way.” said Evans. “Yeah definitely [there was pressure]. I guess it was from a finishing point of view you look like a fool if you chuck it off and honestly it would be something so easy to do. A minor misjudgement somewhere was all it would have taken in the conditions we had.”

Lappi found pace at the right time to deny Toyota a second 1-2-3-4 this season by holding off an inspired Katsuta, who leapfrogged Tanak, competing in his final event for M-Sport, to claim fifth. WRC2 champion Mikkelsen was rewarded with seventh after his Friday heroics.

As the final chapter of the WRC season closes thoughts already turn to the start of the next in Monte Carlo in January. This year Evans has delivered Toyota ‘home’ wins in Finland and now Japan. Surely a world title is the next target that is looming large now his championship rival Rovanpera won’t contest a full season in 2024…

Photo by: Toyota Racing

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