TOYOTA GAZOO Racing takes WRC title with home win in thrilling finale
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing takes WRC title with home win in thrilling finale
Posted on November 26, 2024
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team claimed its fourth consecutive FIA World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title* in a thrilling end to the season as it scored a one-two finish on home ground at Rally Japan.
Despite closing its deficit to the leader Hyundai from 15 to 11 points based on the positions at the end of Saturday, TGR-WRT went into the final day still facing a tough task to retain its title. However, with all drivers on both teams pushing hard on the challenging asphalt roads near Toyota City, it was presented with an opportunity when the rally leader Ott Tänak went off on Sunday’s opening stage.
With Elfyn Evans and Sébastien Ogier promoted into first and second overall, and with the separate Super Sunday classification also factored in, the two teams were level on points going into the rally-ending Power Stage, where up to five further points were available for the fastest drivers.
As Takamoto Katsuta had followed the team’s strategy by also cleanly making it through the rally, TGR-WRT could count on three contenders in this final-stage decider. Ogier set the fastest time in the Power Stage for the full five bonus points, and with Evans third-quickest and Katsuta fourth, the team clinched the title by three points after 13 rallies.
It is the eighth manufacturers’ title won by Toyota in the WRC, drawing it level with Citroën for second place in the all-time list.
Evans and co-driver Scott Martin proved to be the masters of the demanding Japanese stages once more as they celebrated their first victory since the same event one year ago. The result ensures they finish the year as runners-up in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais ended the year with their seventh podium from 10 starts, including three wins. Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen also contributed four victories from a partial campaign. Katsuta and navigator Aaron Johnston rounded out the season strongly with a second straight top-four finish.
The GR Yaris Rally2 car’s debut season has been crowned with the ultimate accolade as Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen claimed the WRC2 championship at the final round.
The Finnish crew have driven an excellent campaign – including three Rally1 appearances with TGR-WRT – that they capped with a smart drive in Japan to second place in WRC2 in their Printsport-run car, enough to seal the title by three points.
Quotes:
Akio Toyoda (TGR-WRT Chairman)
“’We hate to lose’. With this slogan, we kept fighting until the very end without giving up. I would like to celebrate sincerely with all the TGR-WRT members today. Jari-Matti, Kaj, Tom, Elfyn, Scott, Seb, Vincent, Taka, Aaron, Kalle, Jonne, and everybody in the team, thank you so much!
Congratulations also to Sami and Enni!
Thierry, Martijn, and everyone at Hyundai, congratulations on winning the drivers’ and co-drivers’ championship titles.
WRC 2024 became really exciting as we were able to fight against each other until the final round, the final day and the final stage. I believe it is significant for us as Asian car manufacturers to show fans the sound and smell of the rally cars on the roads of East Asia. Let's continue to boost motorsports in Asia together, and let's have a good fight again next year!”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“We have had such a rollercoaster season and we knew coming here to Rally Japan that we still had a chance to take the title, but the odds were not in our favour. However, we said that we would fight until the last metre of the rally and see what happens, and actually we kept that fight on to the end and that’s how we managed to win the title. We have had three devastating Sundays in the second part of the year where we’ve lost points right at the end of the rallies, and at some point it looked like there might be no hope, but we just kept bouncing back and this is a momentous Sunday for us. It shows you should keep fighting until the end and never lose faith.”
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“It’s been a very exciting last day of Rally Japan and we’re delighted with the final result. It’s a very special event as a home rally for the team and I’m naturally very happy to win it again. With it I’m also really happy to contribute towards the manufacturers’ title: it means a lot for every member of the team and I’m proud to be a part of it. We maybe didn’t always have the performance we wanted during the whole weekend, but we kept trying until the end. I felt for Ott this morning as he had to push, and that opened up the opportunity for us but it still wasn’t easy to bring it home and get the points we needed.”
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 17)
“I think you could not have written a better finish to the season for us, with everything to play for on the final stage here in Japan. There was a lot of pressure, it was all or nothing in the Power Stage, and of course we are very delighted that we managed to produce this performance in this moment and clinch the title together with the team. Seeing the happy faces of everyone in the team, and of our chairman Morizo-san, is the best feeling and also good reward for all the effort that every team member has made during the season. It’s proof again of why we should never give up.”
Takamoto Katsuta (Driver car 18)
“It’s been a very tough season but at the end we were able to take back the manufacturers’ championship, and it’s such a great feeling. I had to be patient this weekend which has not been easy but I managed to stay on the road and push in the Power Stage. The whole team did a fantastic job, and without their support I would not have been able to do it, so a huge thanks to them and to my team-mates. There were a lot of fans cheering for me this weekend. I’m sorry for them that it was not possible to take a podium myself this time, but thanks to them for their support as well.”
PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY JAPAN
- Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) 3h23m41.0s
- Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1m27.3s
- Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +1m55.5s
- Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +2m02.6s
- Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka (Ford Puma Rally1 HYBRID) +3m11.5s
- Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +6m54.1s
- Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (Citroën C3 Rally2) +10m04.3s
- Sami Pajari/Enni Mälkönen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) +11m50.8s
- Hiroki Arai/Shunsuke Matsuo (Škoda Fabia R5) +13m24.3s
- Gus Greensmith/Jonas Andersson (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +14m15.8s
(Results as of 17:30 on Sunday, for the latest results please visit www.wrc.com)
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round 13:
- Thierry Neuville 242 points
- Elfyn Evans 210
- Ott Tänak 200
- Sébastien Ogier 191
- Adrien Fourmaux 162
- Takamoto Katsuta 116
- Kalle Rovanperä 114
- Gregoire Munster 46
- Dani Sordo 44
- Sami Pajari 44
2024 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round 13:
- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team 561 points
- Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 558 points
- M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 295
*subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA