WRC
Latvala after Toyota's Constructors' title: "After Greece, I thought it was over"
© Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT
If the Pilots title was already played before the Power Stage, with the coronation of Thierry Neuville after the abandonment ofOtt Tänak, the Constructors' Championship was decided in the final moments of the last special stage of the season! At the start of the Power Stage of Rally from Japan, Toyota et Hyundai were neck and neck and even mathematically tied, with virtually 553 points each (taking into account the Super Sunday standings). The outcome was then simple: the manufacturer that managed to win the Power Stage and score the most points would clinch the title.
In this game, it was the Toyota drivers who were the strongest, especially Sébastien Ogier who set a great time and won the Power Stage ahead of Thierry Neuville. The three drivers from the Japanese team finished in the Top 5 of the Power Stage, with Ogier 1st, Evans 3rd and Katsuta 5th, enough to steal the Constructors' title from Hyundai despite a 15-point deficit at the start of this Rally Japan! A fourth consecutive title (an eighth in WRC) landed on the gong and on Toyota lands: it didn't take much more to make Jari-Matti Latvala crazy with joy!
Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota Team Principal : “I said this championship would be decided in this last stage! I’m still nervous because it was horrible to watch, I was always afraid that one of my drivers would crash, it’s terrible… It’s the most stressful situation I’ve experienced in my career as Team Principal. It’s a huge relief. We’ve had a rollercoaster season and even coming here we knew we didn’t have much chance of winning the title. However, with the guys we said to ourselves that we would fight until the last meter of this rally. That battle happened and we managed to get the Constructors’ title.”
"It's monumental. We had three dark Sundays with crashes on the last day of the rally, where we lost points. After Greece, I thought it was over, that we had no more chances. But we got back into the game in Chile and despite new disappointments in Central Europe, but once again, we managed to bounce back in this relentless fight. It shows that you should never, ever lose hope."
ALSO READ > Neuville and Toyota crowned world champions, Rally Japan for Evans
Dorian Grangier
A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.
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Bad
24/11/2024 at 08:47 a.m.
Happy for Latvala and his team. We can't say the same for Abitboul, a character unfit for his position as team leader, full of himself, a very bad strategist and totally responsible for the loss of the title for his Hyundai team....to be fired without further ado
Yves-Henri RANDIER
24/11/2024 at 01:02 a.m.
The Hyundai Motor Board must be really pissed off after this last-minute defeat against one of its biggest global rivals! Will Cyril ABITEBOUL pay for this failure?