Sebastien Ogier will be looking to help Toyota win the Manufacturers’ Championship at Rally Japan with his own title hopes being all but over.
The eight-time WRC champion has been competing part-time in the championship this season, with Ogier stressing he will never do a full-season again as he prioritises his personal life.
Despite this, the Frenchman had had a solid start to the 2024 campaign, Competing in six of the first nine rallies of the year, Ogier finished in the top two in all of them, winning at Croatia, Portugal and Finland.
This put the 40-year-old in contention for the title as he was second in the standings behind Thierry Neuville heading into Acropolis Rally Greece. Subsequently, Ogier announced that he would be competing in the final four rallies of the season to try and secure both titles for Toyota.
However, heading into the final rally of 2024, Ogier is now out of the running for the championship after three disappointing events in Greece, Chile and Central Europe.
Sebastien Ogier has made ‘highly unusual’ mistakes in the last three rallies
Toyota suffered a disastrous event in Greece as Ogier suffered a turbo problem, before rolling his GR Yaris at the final stage. The Frenchman crashed again in Chile after colliding with a rock at Stage eight.
At the Central European Rally, Ogier had been battling Ott Tanak for the win, but he again crashed out and retired from the event, handing the Hyundai driver his second win of the season.
The eight-time champion has fallen behind his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans to fourth in the standings as he now sits 59 points behind Neuville heading into Japan.
Commentator Becs Williams highlighted the ‘highly unusual’ mistakes Ogier made in the last three events when previewing Toyota for their home event, as Takamoto Katsuta and Evans are looking to continue their good form in Japan.
Speaking on the official WRC YouTube channel, Williams said: “Taka Katsuta put in a rapid performance in Central Europe, bouncing back from the disappointed of being benched for Rally Chile, to make his case for a Rally1 seat in 2025.
“A stage winner on Friday and finishing fourth overall, his maximum super Sunday points were the perfect preparation for his home event, where he showed huge speed in 2023, before a crash on day two.
“He restarted and won nine stages afterwards to show what might have been and has real pedigree on home soil, having also finished on the podium in 2022.
“2023 Japan winner Elfyn Evans and Sebastien Ogier return for the final round, the Welshman having leapfrogged his teammate into third place in the drivers’ standings, with Ogier making mistakes in the last three events, which is highly unusual for our eight-time champion.”
Toyota are fighting Hyundai for the Manufacturers’ title at Rally Japan
Hyundai are guaranteed to win their first WRC drivers’ title, with Neuville and Tanak separated by 25 points heading into Rally Japan.
Neuville is in a good position to win his maiden title after finishing runner-up five times in his career, but Tanak will be eager to put pressure on his teammate and secure his second WRC crown.
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Hyundai will want to avoid any drama on the track as they are only 15 points ahead of Toyota in the Manufacturers’ Championship, with the Japanese outfit cutting down their lead in the last two events.
With their strong form on home soil, Toyota will be looking to carry that momentum and prevent Hyundai from taking a clean sweep in 2024. But Ogier’s poor run of performances will certainly be a concern for the team.