Toyota’s Sebastien Ogier edged World Rally Championship leader Elfyn Evans to victory after an intense Rally Japan battle that ensured the title will be decided in the Saudi Arabia season finale.
Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais claimed their sixth win from a partial 2025 campaign by a margin of 11.6s from Evans after a thrilling battle across 20 challenging asphalt stages.
Toyota locked out the podium as Sami Pajari secured a maiden WRC rostrum finish after inheriting third when Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux retired following a wild moment in treacherous wet conditions on Sunday.
Ogier’s 67th career win has reduced Evans’ 13-point championship lead to three points ahead of the season finale in Saudi Arabia later this month. Toyota’s Kalle Rovanpera remains in the hunt, albeit 24 points adrift after finishing sixth.
Rovanpera had led the rally after Thursday night’s super special stage but his title hopes suffered a blow in Friday’s stage three, held in dry conditions. The Finn clipped an armco barrier that damaged the left rear suspension which resulted in a loss of more than four minutes, dropping the title contender to 23rd.
Ogier had already emerged in the rally lead after winning stage two before losing the advantage to team-mate and home hero Takamoto Katsuta by 0.5s. Ogier reclaimed the lead on stage four before ending Friday with a 7.9s margin over an impressive Katsuta, with Evans 10.2s in arrears.
Evans launched an attack on Saturday morning, jumping ahead of Katsuta in stage eight before setting his sights on Ogier. The Welshman was faster than Ogier in the opening four stages of the day, including two stage wins, as he reduced the gap down to 1.4s.
Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
Photo by: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
But in the afternoon, Ogier issued a response, winning the final three stages of the loop to end Saturday with his lead restored to 6.5s over Evans.
Third was held by Fourmaux after Katsuta’s head-turning display came to an unfortunate end in stage 11. The Japanese driver misjudged an entry into a chicane and clattered into several water-filled barriers that damaged his Toyota’s power steering. Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston were able to make repairs on a road section but a strong result was lost.
Before Katsuta’s moment, Fourmaux had been on a charge offering some light at the end of the tunnel for Hyundai that continued to struggle for pace with its i20 N on asphalt roads. Fourmaux set fastest times on stages eight and nine, before ending Saturday only 23.6s behind leader Ogier.
Fourmaux’s hopes of a morale-boosting podium for the beleaguered Hyundai squad were dashed when heavy rain hit Sunday’s stages. The Frenchman, battling a foggy windscreen, found a patch of mud that fired his car off the road and into the trees before rejoining the road.
The excursion proved costly as the impact with the trees ripped the passenger door from the car and it was deemed unsafe to continue. That promoted Pajari into the final podium position.
The wet weather rendered Sunday’s stages incredibly slippery and tricky to judge given crews have limited experience of Hankook’s wet weather tyres on asphalt.
Evans took the fight to Ogier by taking 0.8s out of the Frenchman in the stage where Fourmaux went off. It could have been more had Evans not been distracted by bodywork left in the road from Fourmaux’s Hyundai.
However, Ogier once again responded by beating Evans in the following five stages, including a Power Stage win by less than a tenth from Evans. It meant Ogier took the full 10 bonus Super Sunday points.
Ott Tanak emerged as the top Hyundai finisher in fourth after a weekend where the frustrated Estonian was well adrift of the lead group, having struggled to coax speed from an older generation i20 N.
M-Sport-Ford’s Gregoire Munster matched his career-best WRC result in fifth, while team-mate Josh McErlean retired following a heavy crash in stage three.
Hyundai’s miserable weekend was headlined by reigning world champion Thierry Neuville, who suffered a myriad of mechanical issues. Neuville, who won the title in Japan last year, suffered a transmission issue on Thursday followed by a broken rear differential on Friday. He had to retire before the first stages on Saturday and Sunday due to a broken driveshaft and windscreen wiper failure, respectively.
Oliver Solberg was the top Rally2 runner in seventh but it was Alejandro Cachon that claimed a first WRC2 victory from Nikolay Gryazin.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
– The Motorsport.com Team
