Elfyn Evans triumphed at Rally Japan 2024, clinching his second World Rally Championship victory of the season by outpacing defending champion Sébastien Ogier by 12.8 seconds.
Evans’ flawless performance on demanding asphalt
From the opening test, Oliver Solberg claimed the lead, yet Evans leveraged his road‑order advantage to surge past on the Isegami Tunnel stage, generating a 15.7‑second gap by Friday’s finish. Despite rising temperatures and increasing tyre wear, the Welshman maintained the lead through the final six stages, never relinquishing control even as Solberg narrowed the margin to 10.6 seconds on Saturday.
Solberg’s campaign ended abruptly on stage 10 when a loss of rear‑right suspension forced his retirement, marking his third asphalt crash this season and prompting Ogier to criticize the Swede’s risk level. Consequently, Ogier inherited second place but struggled with a sub‑optimal road position and an ill‑suited hard Hankook compound, which prevented him from mounting a serious challenge.
Toyota dominates the podium
The Toyota Gazoo Racing squad locked the top four positions, with Sami Pajari securing third place 51.4 seconds behind Evans and Japanese favourite Takamoto Katsuta rounding out the quartet, 1 minute 3.5 seconds adrift.
Katsuta’s effort was hampered early when a damp patch caused a puncture and a subsequent off‑track excursion in stage 3, issues he blamed on insufficient note‑crew communication. Meanwhile, Solberg re‑entered on Sunday, salvaging the maximum ten bonus points by winning both the Super Sunday and Power Stage.
Hyundai and other competitors face setbacks
Adrien Fourmaux’s aggressive dry‑setup backfired after unexpected rain, yet the drying roads later rewarded his choice, propelling him to a fifth‑place finish as Hyundai’s leading driver. Thierry Neuville, briefly fourth on Friday, slipped to sixth after a handbrake failure and a hard‑tyre compromise left the i20 N “underivable” on low‑grip asphalt.
Hayden Paddon completed his debut Rally Japan run in seventh, while Jon Armstrong emerged as the highest‑placed M‑Sport‑Ford in eighth despite a barrier scrape and an intercom malfunction caused by sweat. Josh McErlean settled for ninth after a wheel‑change penalty cost him over two minutes.
In the WRC2 category, Lancia’s Nikolay Gryazin clinched victory as Alejandro Cachón spun while attempting to erase a 2.8‑second deficit.
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