Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) won Rally Japan, the 13th and final round of the 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC), beating his Estonian teammate Ott Tänak and Japanese Takamoto Katsuta, who was third and saved the honor of Toyota.
Neuville perfectly managed the last morning of the race that started with just six tenths of an advantage over the Briton Elfyn Evans (Toyota) after SS15, the first stage of the last day.
On SS16, Evans blew a tire and lost all hope of threatening the Belgian driver again, who took 17th WRC victory and finished third in the championship.
The Rally of Japan was run with the championship title already defined in favor of the Finn Kalle Rovanpera Toyota, which this year won six races. As vice-champion the Estonian was consecrated Ott Tanak, which won three competitions. Tanak has already announced that he will not continue with Hyundai next year. On his side, Neuville won two races and finished third.
Likewise, Toyota became world champion for teams, ahead of Hyundai and M-Sport/ Ford, second and third, respectively.
The World Cup 2023
Surprisingly, the schedule for next year will not be made official. It is supposed to have 14 races, eight in Europe and six outside the Old Continent, but the International Automobile Federation has not finished fine-tuning the logistics so that all the proposed events can be carried out.
It is said that both Mexico and Chile will be in the World Cup, the first in March and the second in September, again in the Biobío region. The only thing clear is that the 2023 WRC season will start in January with the Monte Carlo Rally and will continue on the snow of the Swedish Rally.