Toyota does not only command events at home, but placing four cars in the first four positions is indeed remarkable. It was only Toyota and there were not even any pretensions of disturbing the home cars. Elfyn Evans soon gave every sign of wanting to win and even left his teammate Sébastien Ogier standing to attention, who finished in 2nd position just 12.8 seconds behind Evans. On the last step of the podium was Sami Pajari, followed by another Toyota, precisely that of the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta who, at home, could not perform miracles. Very far away, but really very far away, were three Hyundais: Adrien Fourmaux at 2m34, Thierry Neuville at 3m13 and Hayden Paddon at 4m44. Only after that came the first Ford, with Jon Armstrong in 8th position, 5m45 behind the winner. If there were doubts, everything was made clear.
Toyota does not only command events at home, but placing four cars in the first four positions is indeed remarkable. It was only Toyota and there were not even any pretensions of disturbing the home cars. Elfyn Evans soon gave every sign of wanting to win and even left his teammate Sébastien Ogier standing to attention, who finished in 2nd position just 12.8 seconds behind Evans. On the last step of the podium was Sami Pajari, followed by another Toyota, precisely that of the Japanese Takamoto Katsuta who, at home, could not perform miracles. Very far away, but really very far away, were three Hyundais: Adrien Fourmaux at 2m34, Thierry Neuville at 3m13 and Hayden Paddon at 4m44. Only after that came the first Ford, with Jon Armstrong in 8th position, 5m45 behind the winner. If there were doubts, everything was made clear.
Toyota’s efficiency, even on asphalt, the need for fine-tuning at Hyundai and a fragile growth from Ford, which only managed to reach 8th place with Armstrong and 10th with Josh McEarlean. Toyota solidifies, and greatly, its lead in the WRC among the manufacturers and Elfyn Evans increases his advantage among the drivers, now totaling 151, against Takamoto Katsuta’s 131, followed by three more Toyotas: Oliver Solberg 102, Sami Pajari 96 and Sébastien Ogier with 90 points. After five Toyotas in the first five places, come four Hyundais: Adrien Fourmaux (89), Thierry Neuville (73), Hayden Paddon and Esapekka Lappi, both with only 21 points. In Japan, even the Power Stage was painted in Toyota colours, with Solberg, Katsuta, Ogier, Pajari and Evans.
If everything seems decided in terms of dominance, although there is still a lot of championship left and urgent reactions are expected from Hyundai and some affirmation from M-Sport Ford, perhaps already in Greece from 25 to 28 June, the greatest emotion on Japanese soil was really in the two-way fight in the WRC2 category, where Nikolay Gryazin’s Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 imposed its rhythm by beating the Spaniard Alejandro Cachòn in a Toyota by only 18.3 seconds, also conquering 9th place in the overall classification. After Gryazin and Cachòn, the category podium was completed with 3rd place for local driver Yuki Yamamoto, also in a Toyota. In the WRC2 category championship, the lead continues to belong to Yohan Rossel in a Lancia.