Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville drove the World Rally Championship in Japan to victory. Emil Lindholm secured his WRC2 class championship.
Belgian Thierry Neuville drove to victory in the final race of the World Rally Championship in Japan. The double win for the Hyundai team was secured by the Estonian Ott Tänak, which placed second. Toyota’s Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta rose to third place on the final day.
Toyota driver Elfyn Evans entered the closing day in second place, just four seconds behind Neuville. Welshman Evans suffered a flat tire on Sunday’s second special stage and dropped to fifth in the final results.
– I drove wide in the right turn. My notes were correct, but I couldn’t slow down in time and then there was nothing left to do, said Evans, who had to stop for a tire change in the middle of the special test.
Check out Evans’ situation in the video below
Toyota, which has already secured its world championship Kalle Rovanperä was ranked 12th in Japan. Rovanperä was still at a good pace on Friday, but fell far from the top fight on Saturday.
On the final day, Rovanperä mainly focused on testing his car, while the tire choices left a lot to be desired. Rovanperä drove on hard tires and got into trouble when the last special tests were run in the rain.
Emil Lindholm won the WRC2 championship
The WRC2 class World Series ended with a Finnish celebration, when Emil Lindholm won the championship. Lindholm sealed his championship when he finished third in his class in Japan. Luxembourgish Gregoire Munster took a surprise win and Teemu Suninen drove second.
Lindholm was driving to win the class, until he spun in the penultimate special stage run in heavy rain. Third place flew past Lindholm from Norway About Andreas Mikkelsen In the final points of WRC2.
Heikki Kovalainen competed in Japan for the first time in the World Rally Championship and finished fourth in the WRC2 class. Sami Pajari was fifth.