How Evans finally overcame Ogier in Rally Japan fight to assert title authority

Five starts, three wins, one second and a fifth.

Even Elfyn Evans struggles to find an answer as to why he has such an astonishing strike rate on the technical and twisty ribbons of asphalt at Rally Japan.

“It just seems to work, I don’t really have an answer, maybe the technical stages suit but there is no special reason,” said Evans on Sunday after becoming the most successful driver in the event’s history that stretches back to when Petter Solberg guided Subaru to win the inaugural rally, then held on gravel, in 2004.

This latest Japan triumph could prove, in six months time, to be a defining moment in the Welshman’s quest to lift a maiden World Rally Championship title. Japan provided another example that Evans is fast becoming unrivalled in the speed and consistency department. Once again he showcased his most valuable traits as he maximised his well earned road position advantage. And as Rally Japan proved for two of his rivals, speed means nothing without consistency.  

Six months ago Japan hosted the penultimate round of the 2025 campaign. Evans opened the road but narrowly lost out to Toyota team-mate Sebastien Ogier, who went on to beat Evans to the title. This year that defeat was avenged in a duel with Ogier, who for once couldn’t summon his usual magic to overcome hurdles, blow away the opposition, and leave jaws on the floor.

Rally Japan offered a new challenge given its date change from November to May. In theory the wet and slippery roads covered in autumnal leaves would be replaced by clean, dry, hot asphalt. However, on Friday morning that wasn’t the case as overnight rain left roads that were partially dry with treacherous damp patches.

But it was in these conditions where Evans built the platform for a 13th career win that drew him alongside 2003 world champion Petter Solberg. It was a Solberg of the Oliver variety that set the pace in the opening test to claim an early lead before Evans delivered a hammer blow to his rivals in the infamous Isegami’s Tunnel stage.

Evans won in Japan to establish a 20-point lead in the championship

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Evans was 7.5s faster than Solberg and 16.7s quicker than Ogier - the latter disadvantaged by starting sixth on the road. Evans of course had the best of the conditions, but the time was not all down to road position as he superbly navigated conditions where grip levels were changing corner to corner.

“Of course, there was part of the stage that was becoming more polluted,” said Evans. “I think when you have that tricky condition you either fall into a good rhythm or you end up in a rhythm where you are fighting everything.

“For us it was quite drama free. It didn’t feel like anything super special but I guess we were able to settle into a rhythm where we were carrying good speed and not really sliding. It was a decent time.”

“It’s not a surprise. This morning I’ve seen the risk he’s taking is too high. Unfortunately it’s not really a surprise, but it’s a shame" Sebastien Ogier

Certainly, Ogier felt it was the moment that went some way in deciding the rally as he trailed Evans by 12.8s at the finish. But the nine-time world champion had no qualms given his team-mate had earned the right to open the road, something Ogier has become accustomed to during his title-winning campaigns.

"Definitely that was the game changer of the weekend, of course,” said the Frenchman. “But I think the championship leader deserves also sometimes to have the advantage. If he's leading, it means he has done some good job before. I think.we can't complain that this time he had the advantage. That's the way it is. Still, he has done a great job this weekend. He has done what he had to do and well done to him.”

Evans' stage two heroics at the time felt like a significant moment and so it proved, as once in the lead Evans never looked back to produce a faultless drive. That’s not to say there weren't challenges. The heat, coupled with the Corsica-like "rally of 10,000 corners" stages, that put even more strain through the tyres, made this one of the toughest obstacles for supplier Hankook this season. Tyre management was crucial to performance as Ogier found out. In addition to managing the Hankook tyres, Evans had to deal with the pressure from Solberg and to some degree Ogier.

Solberg learns the hard way after costly crash

Solberg has just one podium since his win at the Monte Carlo opener

Photo by: Toyota Racing

When the stages dried and the 30C heat arrived, Solberg thrived. The Toyota driver showcased his devastating speed on Saturday morning to close the gap to 10.6s. The Swede’s speed continued after the midday tyre fitting zone and was on course to make further in roads on Evans lead until his victory hopes vanished in the blink of an eye.

While posting green splits over his rivals, Solberg slid wide at a dirty tight left hander and clouted the telegraph pole, causing terminal damage to his right rear suspension. A stricken #99 Toyota GR Yaris at the side of the tarmac stage is becoming a familiar sight in 2026 following costly crashes in Croatia and the Canary Islands.    

Ogier, somewhat of a mentor to Solberg, could sense that his protege would find trouble, and was not surprised to hear the news at the end of stage 10. His response said it all and it proved to be one of the hottest topics in the service park.  

“It’s not a surprise,” he said at the stage-end. “This morning I’ve seen the risk he’s taking is too high. Unfortunately it’s not really a surprise, but it’s a shame.”

Solberg denied suggestions he was taking too much risk before the accident, but put his hand up and admitted that he needs to learn from this. What is clear though is when he does iron out those small details to his game, he is going to be a real force within the WRC. The rally world received another glimpse of that as the 24-year-old bounced back in the best possible fashion by claiming the full 10 bonus points on Super Sunday.

"Of course, we are pushing for seconds in the top three, but it was nothing different to any other stage that I drove,” said Solberg. “I need to get a better understanding of what more I need to slow down in these tricky places together with the information that you get from your gravel crew.

“On this level you can’t [be more patient and accept to lose time]. If I want to be fourth or fifth no problem it is easier but every time you are in the fight and caught up in the fight and if you can’t trust the information you have then you have to drive slow everywhere.

“So it is very easy to say slow down but the feeling was so good. Friday was good, Sunday was good and half of Saturday was good. It is just the little details and the margins at this level are so small. I have definitely learned the hard way and it is a bit harder than I expected. There are definitely things to work on.”

Japanese fans forced to wait for Katsuta home win

Katsuta is currently the closest challenger to Evans in the standings

Photo by: Toyota Racing

Once again the weight of the nation was on Takamoto Katsuta’s shoulders with expectation levels increased courtesy of a breakthrough in 2026. The Japanese headed to his home round sitting second in the championship, having broken his WRC victory duck in Kenya, and then added to that triumph with a second win in Croatia.

Certainly the level of media and fan attention at the event scaled new heights as Katsuta enjoyed celebrity status with his every move tracked. After just one day in the service park, the majority of a special range of merchandise celebrating Katsuta’s first win was sold out.

The hype train had very much left the station.

So the scene was set for a dream homecoming with Katsuta in the form of his life and with an advantageous road position. Sadly for the fans, however, his victory hopes were derailed in the opening stage as the Toyota driver was caught out by a damp patch of road and clipped a bank, causing a puncture.

“We tried everything we could with the set-up, but it simply doesn't suit my driving style. I knew from the calculations early on that these tyres will never be great for me" Sebastien Ogier

While the tyre deflation only cost 6.7s, the fact he had to replace the punctured soft tyre with a hard tyre proved costly on the damp roads. Katsuta was then fortunate to survive an off in stage three which summed up his Friday morning. He couldn’t trust his pace notes and felt that he didn’t have the necessary information from his crew about the damp conditions.

Katsuta was able to reset though from "his worst day of the season" and bounce back to finish the event in fourth, but it was once again another opportunity that had slipped away.

“Obviously it is a good result for the team. Personally I’m not very satisfied with the result but at the end we got a lot of points,” said Katsuta.

“It was nice to come back stronger and next year I will come back stronger. Every year I feel a lot of energy from the fans and it is something very special, that’s why I wanted to do a good job. It started very badly with one of the worst days I have had this year. It was not so easy to come back and resetting was not easy. I’m very sorry for the fans.”

Ogier unable to take fight to Evans 

Ogier, fighting a partial campaign, looks unlikely to defend his crown with a 61-point deficit to Evans

Photo by: Toyota Racing

With two victory contenders out of the running, the battle came down to a fight between Evans and Ogier. A repeat of 2025, but this year it was different. While Ogier had found himself on the back foot due to his road position, he simply couldn't find a way to get the Hankook hard tyres to perform in the hot temperatures on the twisty roads.

The WRC has become accustomed to witnessing Ogier surpass and power through almost any hurdle he's faced, but this time he couldn’t find a solution. “The temperature and the fact that it's really corner to corner on the stages, so you put a lot of effort and energy in the tyres,” said Ogier.

“Again there is no excuse. Everybody had the same tyres so it's just that I didn't manage this parameter as much as I would like to, and couldn't push like I'm usually able to do on tarmac, so that's it. It’s been the last one [asphalt event] so now we have to focus on something different.

“We tried everything we could with the set-up, but it simply doesn't suit my driving style. I knew from the calculations early on that these tyres will never be great for me. So far, I was managing it okay, but now in extreme heat temperatures it was more difficult, and I didn't really manage it as good as I would have loved.”

For Evans, the ominous sight of a charging Ogier never really arrived. There was, however, one moment where Evans could have thrown it all away after coming perilously close to the barriers in the Fujioka super special of all places, but nevertheless his drive will be remerged as one of his finest. The only small regret from the Welshman was securing just three bonus points from Sunday.

Just how important the victory will be in the grand scheme of things, is unknown, but there is a sense it could prove to be critical. One thing that is for certain, Evans will forever be the last driver to taste victory driving an asphalt spec Rally1 car as Japan marked the final dance for these monsters before new regulations come in next year.

“It has never been completely in my favour all weekend,” said Evans. “It has been a tight battle all the way through. We have always had some pressure from the guys behind, and it is nice to have fights like that all the way through.

“We have to wait and see. It [this win] might mean nothing, but on that topic, I'm probably a bit disappointed with today not to take a few more points [from Super Sunday and the Power Stage].

“But at the same time the pace was pretty hot, and I guess I wasn't willing to risk enough to grab the last few points. But I feel like it was anyway an important position we were in, and it was important to secure this win.”

To add further gloss to the result for Toyota on home soil, the marque asserted its dominance by locking out the top four, with Sami Pajari claiming his fifth podium of the year in third, ahead of Katsuta.

Hyundai glad to see the back of asphalt 

It has been a tough season for Hyundai

Photo by: Hyundai

Still sore from the 1-2-3-4 Toyota enacted at the previous asphalt round in the Canary Islands, Hyundai was expecting a difficult weekend given the asphalt weaknesses of its i20 N Rally1 car.

The Korean brand had thought it could fight for a podium in Japan and that prediction looked on the money in the damp conditions on Friday morning. Thierry Neuville had feared the worst, but found himself ahead of Pajari and Katsuta, in fourth, when running the soft tyre. But as soon as the stages dried and he’d moved to the hard tyre, the chronic understeer returned, while the grip and pace vanished.

Neuville described the car as “underivable” as he dropped to sixth, while Adrien Fourmaux recovered from a slow start to take the ‘Hyundai Cup’ honour as the team’s top driver in fifth. “No it is not where I want to be,” said Fourmaux. “I want to be fighting with the Toyotas. It is quite frustrating and it is a relief that the tarmac rallies are finished.”

"Somehow I should be disappointed that this is the last tarmac rally with the Rally1 car, but somehow I'm not which says it all. I'm happy to look forward to gravel now" Thierry Neuville

Neuville, who won the previous round on gravel in Portugal, added: “I was on the limit of the front of the car all of the time. I’m disappointed that I could not find any improvement in terms of set up. We don’t even need to compare ourselves to Toyota, there is no comparison.

“I don't need to worry any more about it. Somehow I should be disappointed that this is the last tarmac rally with the Rally1 car, but somehow I'm not which says it all. I'm happy to look forward to gravel now.”  

Hyundai’s Hayden Paddon signed off the last of his scheduled rallies for the year in seventh after a fine drive in difficult circumstances. M-Sport, meanwhile, found itself in a similar boat as Hyundai with the Ford Puma struggling to cope on Japan’s twisty stages.  

Despite suffering intercom issues caused by sweat getting into the system, Jon Armstrong claimed eighth. The Northern Irishman had the pace advantage over team-mate Josh McErlean, who rounded out the top 10 after losing more than two minutes to a wheel change in stage five.

Next up for the WRC is Greece on 25-28 June

Photo by: M-Sport