It's easy to forget there was a rally on after the big driver market news, but Rally Japan delivered plenty to digest
Photography by Hyundai, Toyota & Red Bull
Words by Luke Barry
Is it just me that forgot there was a rally on at the weekend?
With Ott Tänak’s bombshell news and Oliver Solberg’s confirmation as a full-time Rally1 driver with Toyota, the post-event talking points from Rally Japan haven’t been about Japan at all!
Care to join me in changing that for the next few minutes?
The 13th chapter of what feels like a bestseller of a World Rally Championship season has been written, with Sébastien Ogier sweeping to a sixth victory of the year that officially eliminated Tänak from title equation – likely meaning he’ll end his career as just a single-time world champion.
But most importantly, that result draws Ogier just three points behind Elfyn Evans while Kalle Rovanperä shot himself in the foot with a small mistake that came poisoned with big consequences.
Here’s what we learned from 2025’s penultimate round, Rally Japan:
There was little doubting Ogier was going to bounce back handsomely following his unfortunate incident at Central European Rally. But it’s hard to think how this weekend could have gone any better for the man hunting number nine as he swept to a maximum points score.
Evans mitigated the damage as best he could with the second-highest possible return, but a three-point lead running first on the road in three weeks is far from a secure advantage.
Ogier will always tell you he’d rather the points in hand and would back himself to make a success of running first on the road, but he’s put his team-mate in a really challenging position in Saudi Arabia.
None of us can ever predict what’s going to happen in rallying – particularly at a brand-new event. But after his blip last month, the momentum is firmly with Ogier again after Japan.
Somehow already feeling like the outsider – even with as many points as Ogier prior to Japan – there’s no question Rovanperä is the outside bet now.
The dream of tying a ribbon on his professional rallying career (for now at least) with a third world title required him to eliminate the inconsistent form that has beset his campaign.
Unfortunately, a sixth place finish (thanks to losing five minutes with damaged suspension) off the back of victory last time out was just too typical of Rovanperä’s 2025.
The Finn isn’t out of the picture in Saudi Arabia, but with 24 points to recover he’s relying on mistakes or misfortune for his team-mates to get the job done from here.
Thierry Neuville hadn’t even arrived in Toyota City, and he was being quoted as saying Rally Japan was more about 2026 than it was the rally ahead. So maybe his dismal event doesn’t matter one iota?
But Martijn Wydaeghe’s quip to DirtFish, when we pointed out it had been a difficult morning, was telling: “Difficult year,” he replied.
Let’s list it all out: there was a transmission problem on Thursday’s shakedown, a rear differntial issue on Friday morning, a driveshaft failure on Saturday that prompted an oil leak, and then electrical gremlins that stopped his wipers working (when the rain was coming down hard) on Sunday.
That’s all just in Japan.
As Andrew Wheatley pointed out: “I think Thierry’s had one of those weekends where you just say, ‘OK, it’s not happening. It’s just not happening this weekend’.”
It’s hard to see how Neuville doesn’t become the first world champion since Richard Burns to fail to win a rally during their title defnse. A fresh start in 2026 really can’t come soon enough.
Hyundai’s form was perplexing at times last weekend. While Neuville and Tänak were flustered, Adrien Fourmaux flourished to put the dominant Toyotas under threat.
It was quite astonishing to watch a driver, who justifiably had been questioned for his temperament in the past, maintain such a positive mental attitude and work his way through the car’s difficulties while his more illustrious team-mates looked resigned to their fate.
Fourmaux was unfortunate not to secure the result his drive deserved after Alex Coria’s door decided to part company with the car, but he chose to be pleased with the point he was sure he proved instead.
“The only question mark was the Tarmac, but I think we showed this weekend that on Tarmac we made steps,” he told DirtFish.
“It’s competitive, so that’s why I’m not disappointed.”
Rallies aren’t won on shoulda, coulda, wouldas. But Alejandro Cachón could have, and really should have, won last time out in CER, and would have had he not run marginally wide and ruined his Toyota’s suspension.
He put all that right in Japan.
Up against a more competitive field than in Central Europe – with the likes of Gus Greensmith and Jan Solans joining the battle – the Spaniard was the clear class of the field and converted his promise into the result.
It’s been clear from some time he’s hot to handle on ashpalt; the next task will be demonstrating the same level of authoriy on gravel.
After all, the only Rally2 driver Cachón couldn’t match in Japan was the one who’s now got a big, shiny contract to drive a Rally1 Yaris instead next year – and deservedly so. Solberg has made his rivals look silly at times in 2025, which was no good for anybody.
We know the Toyota is the car to have just now. We knew that Ogier, Evans, Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta were all going to be fast in it. We didn’t know Sami Pajari would be blasting through the opening splits quicker than them all.
That was a slightly peculiar trend of Friday especially in Japan – Pajari would blitz the opening two thirds of stages before dropping a few seconds by the flying finish. And he was the only Toyota driver to be beaten by a Hyundai (Fourmaux) on pace alone.
But he’s still inexperienced, he’s still learning, and he can now call himself a WRC podium finisher.
As his team-mate Katsuta proved with his strong speed but mishap into a water-filled barrier, performance is nothing without the composure to convert. Pajari converted in Japan to continue his strong end to the season.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Rally Japan, Rally Japan 2025, What we learned, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date November 10, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/11/2025JAPAN_VT_308-780x1170.jpg November 10, 2025
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