The Belgian driver gave new hope by win the 2024 WRC season title after having provisionally obtained more than half of the points necessary to be crowned champion, while his rival, Ott Tanakincreased his lead at the top of Rally Japan. With only 6 units, Thierry Neuville He will achieve his objective, but everything becomes complicated after a turbo problem on Friday, which caused him to lose numerous positions.
Hyundai complied and Thanks to impeccable driving, he was able to place seventh, more than seven minutes behind, but with 4 points provisionally on Saturday.. His teammate and opponent maintained his slim chances by adding 18 points to lead the standings, which increased his status as race leader over Elfyn Evanswhich was more than half a minute away, but that advantage was cut in half after the organization canceled a stage due to an unauthorized vehicle on stage.
Toyota has reduced the South Korean brand's lead in the fight for the manufacturers' championship to 11 points. Sébastien Ogier was second, ahead Adrien Fourmauxwhile Takamoto Katsuta finished in fifth place, and Grégoire Munster He was sixth, more than three minutes behind the leader. After rejoining the rally on Saturday morning due to his retirement on Friday, Andreas Mikkelsen He was absent for the afternoon loop because his team had chosen to reserve his car for Sunday.
After seeing how Elfyn Evans reduced her lead to fifteen seconds throughout the morningOtt Tanak responded early in the afternoon with a victory at Mount Kasagi. The Estonian struggled with balance on the hard tyres, but managed to take third place, six seconds less than the Welshman, who himself suffered from understeer on his GR Yaris.
“I tried to attack somehow, I don't have as good balance as yesterday with the hard tires, but I felt comfortable. We have to continue, I think “At Rally Japan, you're never comfortable,” said Ott Tanak.
The intense fight for third place was marked by a new change of position, since Sébastien Ogier helped his team score more points by beating Adrien Fourmauxwho said: “I was happy with the pace. Seb [Ogier] “He’s faster, what more can I say, he’s an eight-time world champion, he must be faster.”
THE Thierry Neuville's recovery continued despite a slight brake problembut the leader of the ranking was able to get closer to the eighth place of Sami Pajari. The Belgian continued with this setback, although it did not prevent him from taking the lead from Nenoue Kougen, and he shared time with the Frenchman from Toyota, who finished third, which helped him to surpass the Finn to get closer to the world. crown
“We are trying to reach the seventh position, because it is an extra point. I am not sure we can do it because of this problem, we lose bite and all the confidence in the car,” said Thierry Neuville, who finished the test for almost a minute. by Nikola Gryazin.
Ott Tanak also kept his hopes alive by extending his lead by a further two seconds over Elfyn Evans, who felt unable to perform as he should on the hard tires in drier conditions. After losing third place, Adrien Fourmaux did his best to hold on to fourth place, and achieved his goal, although Takamoto Katsuta closed by two tenths.
The Frenchman defended himself at Ena and then extended his lead over the Japanese to five and a half seconds, while Elfyn Evans continued to battle against Ott Tanak, with the difference being more than half a minute heading into the final stage at Toyota Stadium.. Surprisingly, Thierry Neuville managed to catch Nikola Gryazin and take seventh place.
The Estonian won the final stage by beating his Belgian teammate in a head-to-head match, and the Bulgarian finished eighth, almost a minute and a half ahead of Sami Pajari, who could seal his WRC2 title if he keeps this place on Sunday, where five special stages will be contested to complete the 2024 season.
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