Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team concluded its 2024 FIA World Rally Championship campaign with a resounding one-two finish in a thrilling final round at home in Japan. In so doing, the team claimed its fourth consecutive manufacturers’ title and its eighth title in the WRC. What was the story behind this epic WRC 2024 result? Read on to find out.
WRC 2024 result: Rally Japan
With seven victories so far this season, Toyota Gazoo Racing entered the final round in Japan with the aim of winning this home event and claiming its fourth consecutive manufacturers’ championship title. It was no small ask, though, with the team needing to overhaul a difference of 15 points and a finish similar to that achieved in Chile two years ago.
The teams spent much of the preceding week on reconnaisance of the demanding route. But the action began in earnest on Thursday (21 November) with a final shakedown, followed by the evening super special inside the Toyota Stadium. Thanks to the strong turnout and enthusiasm of the crowd, the Toyota crews felt like they had an extra player on their team. And their roars of delight were especially strong when home driver Takamoto Katsuta made an encouraging start on this first competitive stage, beating the championship leader in their head-to-head and setting the third-fastest time overall.
Friday was the longest day and proved to be challenging from the get-go, with the opening stage through the iconic Isegami’s Tunnel (below) providing considerable drama. Two Toyota drivers encountered trouble in this stage, with Sébastien Ogier losing around two minutes changing a tyre and Katsuta around a minute due to a tyre coming off its rim. However, both GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid drivers recovered well with good later stages that placed them in fourth and fifth by the end of the day.
Thankfully, Elfyn Evans made a clean start to the second day and by the end of the morning’s final test had secured the overall lead. While some time was lost in the first two stages of the afternoon, Evans replied with another fastest time in fading light in the second pass through the all-new Shinshiro stage. After setting the equal best time on the second run through the Okazaki super special, Evans ended the day in second overall.
Into day three and Evans immediately threw down the gauntlet with a stage win in the brand-new Mount Kasagi test and arrived at the mid-day service with a reduced deficit of 15.3 seconds to the lead driver. Although the leader replied defensively in the afternoon and extended the gap again, Evans nonetheless ended the day in second place to provisionally secure 13 points from the first part of the rally.
Ogier was the quickest driver across day three as he continued his fightback from a puncture early on day two. He started the day in fifth and had climbed up into third by the start of the afternoon, before then winning the next two stages. He still finished the day in third but with an increased gap over the fourth-placed driver. Meanwhile, Katsuta completed the day in fifth.
At this point in the event, Toyota had two cars in the top three. This reduced the gap in the manufacturers’ championship to eleven points ahead of day four, where up to seven points were available for the fastest drivers, plus another five for the quickest in the rally-ending Power Stage. Although it would still be a tough task, the championship was still ours for the taking!
All drivers entered day four intent on pushing hard on the challenging asphalt roads near Toyota City. But then much to their surprise, Evans and Ogier were suddenly promoted into first and second after the rally leader crashed out on the opening stage. This meant that when the Super Sunday classification was factored in, Toyota was now level on points with the championship leader. And there was a further five points available in the Power Stage.
All three crews had followed the team’s strategy by making it cleanly through the rally, so Toyota could count on three contenders in this final-stage decider. Nevertheless, at this crucial point in what has been a rollercoaster championship, every team member was on tenter hooks. Despite all that was at stake, Ogier set the fastest time in the Power Stage for the full five bonus points, and with Evans third-quickest and Katsuta fourth, the team clinched the title by just three points after 13 rallies.
This incredible result in Rally Japan represents Toyota’s eighth manufacturers’ title in the WRC, which places us equal second in the all-time list alongside Citroën. Evans and co-driver Scott Martin (above) proved to be masters of the demanding Japanese stages – a result that ensured they finished the year as runners-up in the drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings.
WRC 2024 result in Round 13: Rally Japan
| POSITION | TEAM | DRIVERS | VARIATION |
| 1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin | |
| 2 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais | + 1m 27.3s |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford | Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria | + 1m 55.5s |
| 4 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston | + 2m 02.6s |
| 5 | M-Sport Ford | Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka | + 3m 11.5s |
| 6 | Hyundai Motorsport | Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe | + 6m 54.1s |
WRC 2024 championship standings: drivers and co-drivers
| POSITION | TEAM | DRIVERS | POINTS |
| 1 | Hyundai Motorsport | Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe | 242 |
| 2 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin | 210 |
| 3 | Hyundai Motorsport | Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja | 200 |
| 4 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais | 191 |
| 5 | M-Sport Ford | Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria | 162 |
| 6 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston | 116 |
| 7 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen | 114 |
| 8 | M-Sport Ford | Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka | 46 |
| 9 | Hyundai Motorsport | Dani Sordo / Cándido Carrera | 44 |
| 10 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | Sami Pajari / Enni Mälkönen | 44 |
WRC 2024 result for manufacturers
| POSITION | TEAM | POINTS |
| 1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing | 561 |
| 2 | Hyundai Motorsport | 558 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford | 295 |