Rally Japan – What must Thierry Neuville do on Sunday to be crowned world champion?

Thierry Neuville is only one day away from his greatest accomplishment in WRCThe Belgian is in an ideal position on the Rally Japan's top contender to clinch his first World Rally Championship title. While his quest got off to a bad start on Friday with an engine problem that cost him more than seven minutes, the driver Hyundai recovered very well by climbing back up to 7th place on Saturday evening, when a first ranking was established for the distribution of points.

With this 7th place, Thierry Neuville wins four additional points, and brings his total (virtual, because he must finish the rally first) to 229 points. His rival Ott Tänak, leading the Rally Japan, has secured 18 points before the final day and has a virtual 218 points. Mathematically, the Belgian is not yet completely assured of being crowned, since there will be 12 points distributed on Sunday with the Super Sunday (accumulation of times on Sunday's special stages) and the Power Stage.

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For Thierry Neuville to be crowned champion regardless of Ott Tänak's result, he will need to pick up at least two points on Sunday. In the event of a tie on points and with the expectation that Ott Tänak wins Rally Japan – his only option if he wants to be champion this weekend – then it would be the Estonian who would be crowned champion based on the number of victories (one for Neuville, three for Tänak including Japan).

If Thierry Neuville fails to score his two points, then he will have to hope that Ott Tänak does not make a clean sweep of the Super Sunday and the Power Stage. However, this scenario is highly unlikely with only 8 Rally1s entered in Japan and points awarded to the first 7 on the Super Sunday… Be careful though, because the slightest mistake could cause the scores to drop to zero in the event of a retirement on Sunday! The suspense will remain intact right up until the final metres of the Power Stage!

Thierry Neuville champion if…

- He scored at least two points on Sunday (6th place on Super Sunday OU 4th place in the Power Stage OU 7th place in Super Sunday and 5th place in Power Stage)
- Ott Tänak scores ten points or less on Sunday

Ott Tänak champion if…

- He scored 12 points on Sunday (1st place in Super Sunday and 1st place in Power Stage) ET Thierry Neuville scores one point or less
- He scored 11 points on Sunday (1st place in Super Sunday and 2nd place in Power Stage) OU 2nd in Super Sunday and 1st in Power Stage) ET Thierry Neuville scores no points

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