'Sport will have the last word' as WRC title goes down to the wire in Japan / Photo: © AFP/File
'Sport will have the last word' as WRC title goes down to the wire in Japan
The only certainty about this year's World Rally Championship, which reaches its conclusion in Japan this weekend, is that a Hyundai driver will take the title but whether that is Thierry Neuville or Ott Tanak remains to be seen.
The bespectacled Belgian Neuville is the favourite as he holds a 25-point lead going into this final leg. He won the opening race of the season in Monte Carlo and the Acropolis Rally in Greece and has picked up four other podium finishes along the way.
"It is one of my preferred rallies and one we won two years ago," Neuville said at last week's official welcome.
"It is a different circumstance this year. We have been leading the championship since Monte Carlo up until now so there is a lot of excitement around and I can't wait to bring it home.
"But we know in rally it is not over until we pass the finish line."
Neuville is right to be cautious.
With 30 points up for grabs, Tanak, the Estonian who won the title in 2019, remains firmly in contention, having also won twice: Sardinia in early June and the last outing at the Central European Rally.
"We don't have a driver who has established himself as 'number one'," Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul told AFP.
"However, in Thierry we have a driver who has led the championship from the outset, and from the first round in Monte Carlo, where he got off to an admirable start and drove an exceptional race.
"It would only be fair for him to finish the championship in this position. But sport will have the last word."
- 'Complicated' -
Abiteboul faces an awkward discussion with Neuville and Tanak because while they have their eyes set on the drivers' championship, Hyundai need both to score well if they are to protect their 15-point lead over Toyota in the manufacturers' championship.
"We're in a slightly complicated situation," said Abiteboul.
"Thierry is bound to play it safe to avoid retiring but, as a manufacturer, we can't afford to do that.
"So we need to come up with a team strategy to counter the attack from Toyota.
"What's more, Japan is always a very tricky rally. In the last edition there was some pretty monstrous bad weather, so we're going to have to remain alert in the way we manage our strategy."
Hyundai can certainly expect a reaction from Toyota, who will be competing in their own back yard, with Elfyn Evans and local hero Takamoto Katsuta at the wheel.
"Our big fight is to win back the manufacturers' title," said team principal Jari-Matti Latvala. "It is never easy but we are really determined to get back this title."
The rally starts with a special stage at the Toyota Stadium near Nagoya on Thursday, before getting to the serious business on Friday and over the weekend.
T.F.Russell--TNT
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