DOLGELLAU driver Elfyn Evans is looking to thrive off the high expectations that come with racing for his Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally team at Rally Japan.
The team is targeting a successful finish to the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship season on home roads on 21-24 November.
With wins in seven of the 12 rallies held so far in a closely-fought season, TGR-WRT enters the final round with the chance to claim a fourth consecutive manufacturers’ championship title.
Aiming to overhaul a difference of 15 points, the team can target another maximum score across the event – similar to the one it achieved two rallies ago in Chile – knowing that such a result would be enough to take the crown.
It will try to repeat the 1-2-3 finish it achieved at last year’s Rally Japan, which was the second edition to be held on narrow and twisting asphalt roads in the forest-covered mountains of the Aichi and Gifu prefectures.
In demanding conditions including heavy rain, Evans claimed the victory ahead of team-mate Sébastien Ogier and both return this year together with local hero Takamoto Katsuta, who won nine stages in 2023 and heads home off the back of a strong showing at last month’s Central European Rally.
Evans said: “We always receive a very warm welcome driving for Toyota in Japan.
“Of course, with that comes a lot of expectation to do well but it’s also something we can thrive off.
“We still have something to fight for in the manufacturers’ championship, and even if it is a difficult task ahead of us, we want to give it our all and give ourselves the best chance.
“To repeat our result from last year will definitely be the aim: it was a pretty difficult event with a lot of rain and a lot of leaves on the road, and conditions could be similar again.
“Even if it’s dry, the roads are more technical and twisty than Corsica, which was famous for the number of corners, so it’s a very demanding and busy event both with the pacenotes and with the steering wheel.”
The Toyota Stadium near Nagoya once more hosts the service park as well as three super special stages during the weekend, including Thursday evening’s opening test.
Friday is the longest day of the rally with 126 competitive kilometres and starts with the longest stage of the rally, the already-iconic Isegami’s Tunnel (23.67 km).
It begins a loop of three stages to be run twice, separated by a tyre-fitting zone at Inabu, with two passes of a super special in Okazaki rounding out the day.
Saturday runs to a similar format with a trio of stages to the north-east, including the new Mount Kasagi test, run twice either side of a tyre-fitting zone at Nakatsugawa Park.
The Toyota Stadium super special completes the day after evening service. The final day’s action on Sunday takes place mostly to the south-east, with Nukata and Lake Mikawako both driven twice, but there’s a third and visit to Toyota Stadium between final service and the rally-ending Power Stage at Lake Mikawako.
Team principal Jari-Matti Latvala said: “As one of our home events, Rally Japan is very important for our team and I think it’s going to be a really exciting rally for everyone to follow.
“We still have a chance in the manufacturers’ championship, and we are very motivated and determined to try and win it in Japan.
“It may take almost a perfect weekend from our side, but we achieved that in Chile which gives us confidence that it’s possible.”