WRC 2025 result after Round 13: Rally Japan

Toyota Gazoo Racing claimed a resounding one-two-three finish at home in Rally Japan, with Ogier edging out Evans in a wet finale to take victory and set up an exciting all-Toyota showdown for the FIA World Rally Championship drivers’ title in the final round. How did this WRC 2025 result in the beautiful mountains around Toyota City play out? Read on as we review each day’s activities.

WRC 2025 result: Rally Japan

Toyota celebrated its manufacturers’ title success in style on the home roads of Japan, while also setting up an exciting showdown for the driver/co-driver titles that were still to play for.

Elfyn Evans came into the event with a 13-point lead over two of his team-mates – eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier and two-time winner Kalle Rovanperä – who were joint second following the Finn’s win on the asphalt roads of Central Europe. Evans has also won the previous two editions of Rally Japan, so was confident of making it three in a row.

Since returning to the WRC calendar in 2022, Rally Japan has been held on the narrow and twisting mountain roads in the outskirts of Nagoya. The service park is hosted at the nearby Toyota Stadium.

Day 1

After a warm welcome for the hometown heroes, the passionate local fans were treated to a pre-event shakedown where Toyota drivers Evans, Katsuta and Rovanperä scored a decisive – but unawarded in terms of points – one-two-three finish.

That good feeling on the shakedown was important because the rally’s opening competitive stage took place on the same route that afternoon. This time it was Rovanperä who seized the early rally lead, although all five GR Yaris Rally1 drivers were placed within the top seven and separated by just 0.8 seconds.

Day 2

After day one’s short opening stage, crews faced a trio of demanding stages in the forest-covered mountains to the east of Toyota City. Each was run twice either side of the mid-day service.

Ogier was fastest in the morning’s first stage and took the rally lead, only for Katsuta to be quickest in the second and leapfrog into first place. Evans then took the win in the third stage through the famous Isegami Tunnel (below), though Ogier ended the morning with a lead of just one second over the Welshman.

Rovanperä, on the other hand, went from leading the rally overnight to having his championship hopes damaged. The flying Finn ran wide on a second stage corner and broke his offside rear suspension. A creative fix allowed him to limp back to base for the team to effect a proper repair but more than five minutes had been lost.

The afternoon loop saw Ogier win the first two stages and extend his lead. He ended the day with a 7.9 second advantage over Katsuta, while Evans won the third stage and completed Toyota’s one-two-three lockout.

WRC 2025 result: Day 3

The longest day of the rally took crews north-east from Toyota City for a trio of asphalt stages, each run twice and separated by just a tyre-fitting zone. Evans was quickest across the morning loop and closed the gap between himself and Ogier to just two seconds. Katsuta also drove a strong morning and positioned himself a few seconds further back in third.

Unfortunately, however, Katsuta’s part in the lead battle came to an end in the afternoon’s first stage when he ran wide and hit a barrier. The impact sustained damage to the steering system and he lost around four minutes liming the car to the end of the stage. Although a makeshift repair was later carried out on the roadside, Katsuta and co-driver Aaron Johnston exceeded the time limit of the remaining stages and were forced to retire for the day.

Evans and Ogier continued their friendly duelling throughout the afternoon, each securing fastest times across the three mountain tests. But Ogier edged ahead in the new Toyota City super special that rounded out the day, which opened his lead to 6.5 seconds over Evans.

Meanwhile, Rovanperä continued to recover ground from the damage suffered the day before. During the course of the day he climbed from 17th to seventh and was in with a chance of gaining bonus points towards his title hopes on the final day.

Day 4

Ogier took a lead of 6.5 seconds into the final day, which was held in challenging wet conditions. However, Evans made the faster start to the morning’s first stage and looked set to take the lead, until Ogier recovered through a particularly tricky final section. The Frenchman then won the following stage and set another fastest time in the penultimate test, which meant he entered the final stage with an 11.5 second lead.

In a thrilling finish, Ogier and Evans were separated by less than one-tenth of a second in the rally-ending Power Stage. By also topping the Super Sunday classification, Ogier secured the maximum 35 points and closed the gap to championship leader Evans to just three points with one rally remaining.

Meanwhile, Pajari finished third overall to complete the team’s podium lockout and secure his maiden WRC podium finish in his first full season in the top-tier Rally1 category. This result represented Toyota’s third successive victory in Rally Japan and the second one-two-three finish. Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen also remain in contention, 24 points from the lead, in what is now an all-Toyota fight for the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles in the season’s final round.

WRC 2025 result in Round 13: Rally Japan

WRC 2025 championship standings: drivers and co-drivers

WRC 2025 championship standings: manufacturers

WRC 2025: Where next?

The final round of the WRC 2025 season is a brand new gravel event – Rally Saudi Arabia. It is based in the lively metropolis of Jeddah and takes place on 26-29 November. The rally is set to take in a mix of mountain, volcano and desert terrain.

Learn more: How did last year’s WRC end for Toyota?