The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship title chase will go down to the wire in Japan next week (November 21-24) with two manufacturers – Hyundai and Toyota – and two crews – Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe and Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja – battling for overall glory.
After 12 action-packed rounds, Neuville is 25 points ahead of Tänak and can become Belgium’s first world champion rally driver by banking six points on the FORUM8 Rally Japan decider regardless of Tänak’s result.
Whatever the outcome in event base Toyota City next Sunday afternoon, the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team will celebrate a maiden Drivers’ title having never previously succeeded in its pursuit of this coveted crown.
But while the Drivers’ championship is balanced in Neuville’s favour ahead of the sealed-surface finale, the race to win the prestigious FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers is far from settled.
Hyundai leads the way with 526 points, but Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, the defending champion, is just 15 points behind, a deficit that can be cancelled out if the Japanese outfit scores strongly on home soil and Hyundai falters.
Title chase also in the supporting categories
The FIA WRC2 and FIA WRC2 Challenger titles are also up for grabs in Japan, further raising the prospects of a hugely exciting final event of the season.
Oliver Solberg tops the WRC2 standings but with the event not part of his 2024 schedule, Sami Pajari can be champion by finishing in second place, a result that would also be enough for Pajari to win the WRC2 Challenger title, even if Nikolay Gryazin banks a fourth category win of the season. However, with a typically strong competition expected, Pajari will have his work cut out to claim the points he needs.
To be successful on Rally Japan, crews must overcome the challenge of twisty and narrow mountain roads, speed variations, changeable weather and cold temperatures early in the day.
Tyre compound choice and strategy will be notable factors, especially with dense tree cover over large sections of the route making for the prospect of slippery conditions. By running first on the road on leg one, Neuville is set to benefit from a cleaner road surface.
Pirelli, which completes its tenure as the official FIA World Rally Championship tyre supplier on Rally Japan, will provide its P Zero RA tyres in hard and soft compounds, plus its Cinturato RWB tyre in case of heavy rain. The hard compound is the first choice and is designed for warm and dry weather, while the soft version is for cool and damp conditions. A maximum of 28 tyres are available for each Rally1 entry with four set aside for the Kuragaike Park shakedown on Thursday.
Although rain is forecast early next week, dry and sunny weather is expected for the rally with the action set to take place in ambient temperatures of between six and 18 degrees centigrade.
RALLY JAPAN ROUTE IN SHORT
The third Rally Japan to take place on the main island of Honshu, the 2024 edition is once again based at the Toyota Stadium in Toyota City, 40 kilometres from Nagoya, with the Tarmac event’s 21 stages covering a competitive distance of 302.59 kilometres in the prefectures of Aichi and Gifu.
Action begins with the first of three runs through the Toyota Stadium SSS on Thursday November 21 ahead of Friday’s route northeast and east of the host city. In store are two loops of three stages before a double run through the Okazaki superspecial. At 23.67 kilometres, Isegami’s Tunnel is the longest of the 128.15-kilometre opening leg and the entire rally.
Saturday’s second leg north of Toyota City includes three stages run twice prior to a second visit to the Toyota Stadium SSS for a total of 103.87 timed kilometres.
Sunday’s deciding route east of Toyota City features 70.57 kilometres against the clock and is made up of two double-use stages and a third attempt at the Toyota Stadium SSS with the season-deciding 13.98-kilometre Lake Mikawako Power Stage due to begin at 14:15 hours local time.
New for 2024 are the Shinshiro and Mt. Kasagi stages, while the Okazaki and Toyota Stadium superspecial layouts have been tweaked with Okazaki running after dark for the first time. Lake Mikawako was previously run on leg two but its switch to leg three as the Power Stage coincides with it running in an opposite direction compared to 2023.
Part of the leg one route, the 17.41-kilometre Shinshiro stage uses narrow roads and includes high-speed opening and closing sections and a twisty middle part. Following the start on a gymkhana course, the 16.47-kilometre Mt. Kasagi stage takes to the fast but winding roads of Mount Kasagi.
RALLY JAPAN DATA
Stage distance: 302.59 km
Total distance: 1020.03 km
Number of stages: 21
RALLY1 CONTENDERS
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
Needing six points to win the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Thierry Neuville won the first edition of Rally Japan to take place on the main island of Honshu in 2022. Estonian Ott Tänak is the only driver who can prevent Belgian Neuville from becoming world champion. He finished runner-up to his team-mate in Japan two years ago and starts the event on the back of winning last month’s Central European Rally. Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen, who won WRC2 in Japan 12 months ago, continues in the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid.
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
The Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid squad will once again count on Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster. Frenchman Fourmaux made his Rally Japan debut in 2023 but crashed out on the second stage. Munster, meanwhile, won WRC2 on his first Rally Japan start in 2022 but was unable to finish last year. It will be the Luxembourg driver’s first Rally Japan driving a Rally1 car.
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
Sébastien Ogier, from France, and Briton Elfyn Evans, last year’s Rally Japan winner, head the Toyota challenge on an event it must win again to maintain its bid for the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers. Home hero Takamoto Katsuta competes in a third Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid.
SUPPORTING CATEGORIES
Eighteen crews are eligible for the Rally2-based FIA WRC2 Championship on Rally Japan. They include title-chasing Toyota driver Sami Pajari (Printsport Toyota GR Yaris), Citroën-powered Nikolay Gryazin (Citroën C3) and three-time FIA European champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the leading Škoda Fabia RS contender.
Jan Solans (Toyota GR Yaris) and Gus Greensmith (Toksport WRT 2 Škoda Fabia RS) have won in WRC2 in 2024, while Chris Ingram returns to the championship in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 having become British champion last month.
Toyota development drivers Yuki Yamamoto and Hikaru Kogure are also in contention for WRC2 honours as is ex-Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen (Toyota Yaris GR) and Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy-backed Josh McErlean (Škoda Fabia RS).
Double Production world champion Toshi Arai (Subaru WRX S4) and 1994 overall world title winner Didier Auriol are among the non-priority drivers on the Rally Japan entry with 66-year-old Auriol preparing to start his first WRC event since 2005 in a Toyota Yaris GR, with codriver Denis Giraudet at his side.
Arai’s son Hiroki is entered for WRC2 points, as is Takamoto Katsuta’s father Norihiko.
Allan Harryman will go from co-driving Nikos Pavlidis on the final round of the 2024 FIA European Historic Rally Championship in Greece earlier this month to partnering George Vasilakis in the FIA WRC Masters’ Cup.
Diego Domińguez will further celebrate winning the FIA WRC3 title earlier this season by making his Rally Japan debut in a Ford Fiesta Rally3. Ghjuvanni Rossi completes the WRC3 line-up.
MEDIA INFORMATION
Media accreditation
Media accreditation for FORUM8 Rally Japan must be collected in person by accredited pass holders from the Accreditation Desk located as follows:
Media Center – B1 floor – room 201 – Toyota Stadium, Rally Japan Service Park, 7-2 Sengoku-cho, Toyota City, Aichi 471-0016.
Media accreditation opening hours:
Tuesday 19 November: 14:00 – 18:00 hrs
Wednesday 20 November: 08:00 – 18:00 hrs
Thursday 21 November: 08:00 – 18:00 hrs
Friday 22 November: upon request only to media-rj@rally-japan.jp
Media Centre opening hours:
Tuesday 19 November: 14:00 – 18:00 hrs
Wednesday 20 November: 08:00 – 20:00 hrs
Thursday 21 November: 08:00 hrs – until last media representative leaves
Friday 22 November: 06:30 hrs – until last media representative leaves
Saturday 23 November: 06:00 hrs – until last media representative leaves
Sunday 24 November: 06:30 hrs – until last media representative leaves
Media activities and opportunities
| Wednesday 20 November | |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Mandatory Tabard Media Safety Briefing, Media Centre |
| 17:00 – 18:00 | Toyota City Centre promo activity with all P1 drivers, plus N. Gryazin and D. Auriol, Toyotashi City Center (GPS: 35°05’12.5″N 137°09’31.0”E) |
| Thursday 21 November | |
| 09:01 – 10:30 | Shakedown for P1 drivers and nominated P2 drivers, Kuragaike Park |
| 10:31 – 12:30 | Shakedown for all priority drivers, Kuragaike Park |
| 12:31 – 14:00 | Shakedown for all drivers except P1, Kuragaike Park |
| 12:00 – 13:30 | FIA WRC Media Pen for P1/P2 drivers and P1 team principals, Fan Zone West, Toyota Stadium (in the event of rain, at Meeting Room B2) |
| 15:00 – 15:40 | Autograph Session with all P1 crews as well as as crews of cars #20 (Pajari/Mälkönen), #31 (H. Arai/S. Matsuo), #32 (Kovalainen/Kitagawa), #34 (N. Katsuta/Y. Kimura), #43 (Auriol/Giraudet), Fan Zone East, Toyota Stadium |
| 17:00 – 18:20 | Opening Ceremony, including grid walk-style interviews with crews, Toyota Stadium |
| 18:52 | Start of the Rally – TC0, Toyota Stadium |
| Friday November 22 | |
| 06:14 | Start of Section 2, Toyota Stadium |
| 17:30 | Autograph Session, Okazaki regroup |
| 18:00 | FIA WRC Meet the Crews with P1 team principals and top 3 drivers plus Takamoto Katsuta if not in top three, Okazaki Central Park |
| Saturday November 23 | |
| 06:14 | Start of Section 5, Toyota Stadium |
| 18:45 | FIA WRC Meet the Crews with P1 team principals and top 3 drivers plus Takamoto Katsuta if not in top three, Toyota Stadium Service Park |
| Sunday November 24 | |
| 06:21 | Start of Section 8, Toyota Stadium |
| 15:15 | Power Stage Podium Ceremony, Shimoyama Health Centre |
| 16:30 | Podium Ceremony and Prize-Giving, Toyota Stadium |
(All times local, approximate and subject to change)
Media zones
Media Zones attended by all drivers and selected team representatives will operate as follows:
TC4A, TC9A, TC12A, TC15A, TC19A and TC21A.
FIA Post-event Press Conference, Toyota Stadium (podium ramp), Sunday 24 November, 16:30
• Drivers, codrivers and team representatives awarded with an FIA title for 2024
• Top 3 drivers in overall event classification, winning co-driver and rep. of winning manufacturer
• Event winning FIA WRC2, WRC2 Challenger, WRC3, WRC Masters Cup drivers
The FIA WRC Meet the Crews live interviews and FIA Post-event Press Conference will be broadcast on FIA and WRC social media channels.
RALLY JAPAN MANUFACTURER ENTRIES
| Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Scott Martin (GBR) – #33 |
| Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Vincent Landais (FRA) – #17 | |
| Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)/Aaron Johnston (IRL) – #18 | |
| Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL) – #11 |
| Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) – #8 | |
| Andreas Mikkelsen (NOR)/Torstein Eriksen (NOR) – #9 | |
| M-Sport Ford WRT | Adrien Fourmaux (FRA)/Alexandre Coria (FRA) – #16 |
| Grégoire Munster (LUX)/Louis Louka (BEL) – #13 |
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2024 CLASSIFICATION
The provisional classifications following round 12 of the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship are available here.
RALLY JAPAN 2023 RESULTS
| 1. E. Evans (GBR)/S. Martin (GBR) | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | 3h32m08.8s |
| 2. S. Ogier (FRA)/V. Landais (FRA) | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +1m17.7s |
| 3. K. Rovanperä (FIN)/J. Halttunen (FIN) | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +1m46.5s |
RALLY JAPAN WINNERS
| 2023 | Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Scott Martin (GBR) | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid |
| 2022 | Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL) | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid |
| 2010 | Sébastien Ogier (FRAU)/Julien Ingrassia (FRAU) | Citroën C4 WRC |
| 2008 | Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) | Ford Focus RS WRC ‘08 |
| 2007 | Mikko Hirvonen (FIN)/Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) | Ford Focus RS WRC ‘07 |
