Toyota once again dominated, securing a home event 1–2–3 with Sébastien Ogier leading a triumphant weekend ahead of Elfyn Evans and Sami Pajari, who claimed his first-ever WRC podium in the premier category.
Hyundai’s weekend, on the other hand, was one to forget. Ott Tänak made it to the finish but had to settle for fourth place. Adrien Fourmaux was in contention for a podium until he crashed on the final day, while Thierry Neuville retired twice due to technical issues.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä damaged his car on Friday and dropped out of the fight for victory. The Finn eventually finished sixth, and with that result his title chances have all but disappeared.
RallyJournal.com journalists Toni Heinonen, Aki Hietavala and Ville Hirvonen rated each Rally1 driver’s performance using Finnish school grades, where 10 is the highest and 4 the lowest.
Toni Heinonen
Sebastien Ogier 10 (Position: 1st)
The crash in Central Europe is now history, and Ogier returned to the top. Exactly the kind of performance expected from a champion. Even Sunday’s dreadful conditions couldn’t stop the Frenchman, who showed he truly wants his ninth world title.
Elfyn Evans 9½ (Position: 2nd)
Almost a flawless drive from Evans, but it wasn’t quite enough to beat Ogier. He kept his lead in the championship, but only narrowly. I couldn’t help wondering whether Evans might have benefitted from a little tactical thinking on Sunday…? If he had slightly eased off on the Super Sunday, he could have scored a few points less and forced Ogier to start first on the road in Saudi Arabia. That would have been a bold move!
Sami Pajari 9 (Position: 3rd)
Well done, Sami! This was the Finn’s best drive so far. Some cynics have claimed his podium was only thanks to others’ misfortunes. I don’t fully agree. He only benefitted directly from Adrien Fourmaux’s Sunday retirement. Importantly, after two full days of driving, Pajari’s gap to the front was still respectable. Most of that gap came in Sunday’s wet conditions, when he had no reason to take risks.
Ott Tänak 7 (Position: 4th)
Another difficult weekend. It’s hard to deliver results when the car simply isn’t capable of fighting the Toyotas. The biggest story from the Estonian came after the rally, when he announced his decision to step away from the WRC after this season.
Gregoire Munster 7- (Position: 5th)
The pace wasn’t spectacular, but bringing the car home error-free in such a tricky rally – and finishing fifth – is a strong result by Munster’s standards. His best performance of the season.
Kalle Rovanperä 6- (Position: 6th)
Friday’s mistake probably shattered his title hopes. If there’s any positive, it’s that he climbed into the points and scored 14 valuable championship points, keeping him theoretically in contention. But his hopes now rely on major problems for Evans and Ogier in Saudi Arabia.
Takamoto Katsuta 5- (Position: 17th)
Aiming for his first career win on home soil, but things went badly wrong after a driving error. From there, he was just cruising to the finish.
Adrien Fourmaux 5 (retired)
I’d like to give him a better grade. Fourmaux delivered a solid performance in the Hyundai, especially compared to his teammates Tänak and Neuville. On Saturday, he was second fastest overall behind Evans. The Sunday crash cost him a podium, but that’s rallying.
Thierry Neuville 4½ (retired)
This score reflects Hyundai more than the driver himself, although the reigning champion’s pace was underwhelming before his technical troubles. The Belgian clearly has little confidence in Hyundai’s Rally1 car on asphalt, and those recurring reliability issues continue to cause headaches.
Josh McErlean 4 (retired)
The Irishman’s rally was over before it even began. Off the road, retirement, and a failing grade to take home.
Aki Hietavala
Sebastien Ogier 10
Absolutely the strongest driver of the season. Already six wins under his belt. Only in Central Europe did a blemish appear in his incredible run, when a puncture caused an off. Full points from Japan, so a perfect 10/10 performance.
Elfyn Evans 9+
A very good rally from Evans. Ogier just managed to claw back points in every area. Once again, Evans’s first championship is hanging by a thread. He’ll be sweeping the roads in Saudi Arabia, so I dare say that only Ogier’s misfortune might be Evans’s last hope.
Sami Pajari 9
First podium! He managed to improve after the slippery conditions of the Central European Rally. Even though the podium came after Adrien Fourmaux’s retirement, he was still clearly in the best form he’s shown all season, at least on asphalt.
Ott Tänak 7
The gloomy season continued in the same pattern. He just can’t find a common rhythm with Hyundai, no matter what. Drew his own conclusions about next year’s prospects and decided to take at least one sabbatical year for now.
Gregoire Munster 8
Let’s give him an eight just for finishing and with a good result. The pace still isn’t anywhere near the top, but at least he avoided his usual mistakes this time.
Kalle Rovanperä 6
A small driving error on Friday, a light touch on the guardrail — but with big consequences. The championship slipped away unless a miracle happens. Fought as best he could for the rest of the rally.
Takamoto Katsuta 5
You’d have wished for so much more for the likeable Japanese driver in his home rally. Yet again, a mistake while fighting for victory ruined his event. He has the speed, but he doesn’t seem able to drive at top pace without errors.
Adrien Fourmaux 6
In terms of speed, he would’ve deserved at least a nine. An annoying crash on Sunday ruined an excellent rally.
Hyundai 4-
This should be Thierry Neuville’s review, but I’ll give the entire Hyundai team a failing grade instead. Neuville’s Rally Japan was a perfect example of this failure – numerous odd and silly mistakes. Zero manufacturer points is a historically poor performance.
Josh McErlean 4
Retired already on Friday morning at the start of the rally. I honestly can’t think of any reason why this guy should continue in the top class of the World Rally Championship.
Ville Hirvonen
Sebastien Ogier 10
Ogier took maximum points from Japan – precisely what he needed to do to boost his chances of claiming a ninth world championship title. He won the rally and was also Sunday’s king. At the same time, Ogier closed the gap to just three points behind Elfyn Evans, who still leads the drivers’ championship. There’s nothing to criticise about the Frenchman’s performance. A perfect ten.
Elfyn Evans 9
Evans was deeply disappointed after the rally, but the Welshman also performed excellently in Japan. Under intense pressure, it would have been easy to make mistakes, yet Evans didn’t put a wheel wrong. He still leads the championship, and the chance for his first world title remains firmly in his own hands. So it wasn’t that bad after all.
Sami Pajari 9
Congratulations to Sami and Marko Salminen for their first podium in the top category. Of course, it probably wouldn’t have happened without Adrien Fourmaux’s retirement, but retirements are part of the sport. Pajari faced a new situation on Sunday, fighting for his first career podium. The pressure could easily have got to him, but he handled it well. He’s been criticised during the season for being too cautious, but in Japan Sami was genuinely racing. It’s great that he was rewarded for it.
Ott Tänak 6
Fourth place came due to various circumstances, but in terms of pace the Estonian couldn’t match the frontrunners at any stage – unlike his team-mate Fourmaux before his retirement. Admittedly, the fault seems to lie more with the car than the driver. After the rally, he announced his withdrawal from the WRC, which isn’t a big surprise considering recent years. The Estonian wants to fight for wins and titles only, but that hasn’t been possible with Hyundai lately.
Gregoire Munster 6
Benefited from others’ misfortunes to take a solid fifth place, but like Tänak, he finished “too high” in the results. He performed better than his team-mate but still couldn’t match the pace of the top drivers. Nevertheless, he gained another dose of invaluable experience.
Kalle Rovanperä 5
Made a driving error early in the rally and lost his chance for a top result. The mistake wasn’t big, but it was extremely costly. It practically ended the Finn’s hopes of a third world title. He probably paid the price for skipping Japan last year – and that price was high. He needed every possible point from Sunday, but those went to his team-mates. He’ll surely give his best in Saudi Arabia and hope his team-mates slip up. There’s nothing else left to do.
Takamoto Katsuta 4
Fought for a top result in his home rally but then made a major mistake on Saturday and wrecked his car. He still makes far too many errors, and that has prevented the Japanese driver from reaching the absolute top level.
Adrien Fourmaux 4
Drove brilliantly for a long time and completely outpaced his team-mate. But then came a huge mistake. He went off heavily into the forest on Sunday morning, leaving half the car in the woods. Still, he deserves credit for not complaining during the weekend but focusing on pure racing. The outcome, however, was brutal.
Thierry Neuville 4
Terrible performance even before the technical issues, and then the car let him down. He simply lacked pace, and on top of that, Neuville continues to suffer from incredibly bad luck. Same story as Tänak: the team hasn’t been able to produce a strong enough car, but at the same time, it’s worth noting that his team-mate Fourmaux managed to challenge the leaders with similar machinery. He’s making a certain kind of history – likely becoming the first reigning champion in years not to win a single rally in the following season. His focus is already on next year.
Josh McErlean 4
The Irishman’s rally was rather short-lived as he went off early and wrecked his car. The only positive is that there’s always something to learn from mistakes.
