Before the third-to-last round of the season, the Central European Rally, the situation remains thrillingly open.
Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier leads the championship by just two points ahead of his team-mate Elfyn Evans. Kalle Rovanperä sits third, 21 points behind Ogier.
Hyundai’s Ott Tänak has fallen 43 points off the lead, but the Estonian still has at least a theoretical chance of claiming the title.
“Everything is still completely open,” Rovanperä’s co-driver Jonne Halttunen told Rallyjournal.com.
“Last time, Kalle was absolutely dominant on asphalt, but the conditions were quite different then,” Halttunen said, referring to the Canary Islands Rally held earlier in the spring.
“In the Canaries, it was pure circuit-style driving, but now I can’t really say how it’s going to go,” Halttunen admitted.
Both the Central European and Japanese rounds will be run on asphalt, but the season-ending Saudi Arabia Rally will take place on gravel.
“That’s a complete mystery. Will it be better to be first on the road or last, and how much will starting position even matter there? What will the rally itself be like, and how tough will it be on tyres? I think Saudi Arabia is a real joker card, and absolutely anything could happen there,” Halttunen said.
However, Halttunen predicts that no final decisions will be made in the championship before the season’s concluding rally.
“If Saudi Arabia is really harsh on tyres, this entire title fight could be decided by a puncture,” Halttunen reflected.
