After years of narrowly missing out on the championship and enduring more than his fair share of disappointment, Thierry Neuville finally won his first FIA World Rally Championship title at the FORUM8 Rally Japan 2024. And on the final day, after a gripping and dramatic battle, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing won the manufacturers’ title.
Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe’s championship title was confirmed in dramatic fashion early on Sunday. Despite leading the championship throughout, his teammate and championship rival Ott Tänak suffered a costly course-out on the opening stage of the final day and was eliminated. Having built up a 25-point lead going into the final round of the season, Neuville’s title was confirmed with four stages remaining.
‘To be honest, I feel fantastic. I’ve been working hard for this victory for a long time,’ said Neuville, who has led the championship since winning the first round in the Rally Monte-Carlo. ’I can’t describe how I feel, but I want to thank everyone involved in this victory, everyone who has fought for us, and the whole team. We’ve been very close on many occasions and we’ve always given it our all, but this year it finally paid off.’
This final drama was the perfect ending to a rollercoaster week for Neuville, who started from 15th place after a turbo problem on Friday’s Day 2 and finished in sixth place overall. His historic victory was the first for him and Wydaeghe, as well as for their home country of Belgium and the Hyundai Motorsport team, after 10 years of WRC activity.
While Neuville celebrated his long-awaited victory, Tänak’s crash dealt a cruel blow to Hyundai’s ambitions of winning the manufacturers’ title. Hyundai had the upper hand going into the final day, but after a tense showdown on the Wolf Power Stage, the pendulum swung back in favour of the Toyota GR Team. Sébastien Ogier, Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta delivered decisive performances at the most crucial moments, and the Toyota brand won the eighth WRC Manufacturers’ title by just three points. This was the closest victory since Lancia won the title by two points in 1983.
WRC
| 1 | Thierry Neuville | 242 |
| 2 | Elfyn Evans | 210 |
| 3 | Ott Tänak | 200 |
| 4 | Sébastien Ogier | 191 |
| 5 | Adrien Fourmaux | 162 |
| 6 | Takamoto Katsuta | 116 |
| 7 | Kalle Rovanperä | 114 |
| 8 | Grégoire Munster | 46 |
| 9 | Dani Sordo | 44 |
| 10 | Sami Pajari | 44 |
WRC2
| 1 | Sami Pajari | 126 |
| 2 | Oliver Solberg | 123 |
| 3 | Nikolay Gryazin | 116 |
Manufacturer
| 1 | Toyota GAZOO Racing World Rally Team | 561 |
| 2 | Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Teams | 558 |
| 3 | M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 295 |
