Frenchman beats Evans as Toyota sweeps home podium – championship battle will go to the wire.
Sébastien Ogier stormed to victory on FORUM8 Rally Japan on Sunday to ignite a three-way fight for the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship title heading into the Saudi Arabian finale.
The eight-time world champion fended off Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate and points leader Elfyn Evans through a rain-soaked final leg, winning by 11.6sec to close the gap to three points. Kalle Rovanperä’s sixth-place finish leaves him 24 points off the lead, ensuring all three Toyota drivers remain in contention while Ott Tänak’s faint hopes are now over.
Persistent rain lashed the final six stages around Aichi and Gifu, turning the asphalt roads into rivers of standing water. Evans began the day 6.5sec adrift and initially looked poised to strike back, edging the Frenchman by 0.8sec through the opening Nukata test before Ogier reasserted control on the following stage at Lake Mikawako.
Behind them, the drama continued. Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux, running third overnight, slid off the road and into trees, ripping a door from his i20 N Rally1 and retiring soon afterwards. His demise promoted Sami Pajari into a career-first podium position – a result that capped a breakout year for the 23-year-old Finn and sealed a dream 1-2-3 for Toyota at home.
Evans remained on Ogier’s tail but a wild moment on the first of two Okazaki super specials – sliding down a grass bank before rejoining – dented his rhythm. Ogier stayed clean to stretch his margin to 8.3sec before extending it further on the final two stages to ensure a decisive victory.
“It’s obviously a perfect result,” Ogier said. “It’s been a challenging weekend because after this rain today, nothing was certain. It was like the start of a new rally this morning, but big set-up change this morning in the car very quickly felt good, so well done, team – it’s amazing to count on that.
“Now, let’s go to the next one. This was a perfect weekend for us to come back so close [to Evans], and let’s hope the last one is not a lottery.”
Pajari’s measured drive secured third ahead of Tänak, who endured a puncture in the morning rain but managed to win SS15 in his Hyundai. M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster took a career best-equalling fifth overall, with Rovanperä climbing to sixth after losing several minutes to suspension damage on Friday.
Oliver Solberg placed seventh in his Rally2-specification Toyota GR Yaris, while Alejandro Cachón took the WRC2 category spoils from Nikolay Gryazin. Jan Solans completed the top ten, dropping behind Gryazin after a spin on the penultimate stage.
There were also celebrations for Italian youngster Matteo Fontana in his Ford Fiesta Rally3 who finished second in the WRC3 category, which was good enough to earn him the overall 2025 WRC3 title.
The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship concludes later this month with the inaugural edition of WRC Rally Saudi Arabia. Based in Jeddah, the gravel event takes place from 26 – 29 November.
1. E Evans 272pts
2. S Ogier 269pts
3. K Rovanperä 248pts