“To be honest, it was a surprise,” said the new champion from German-speaking Saint-Vith: “I don’t know what to say at the moment, but I think we deserve it. We were often very close, we always give it our all, but this year we were rewarded for it.” The five-time World Cup runner-up went into the final with a 25-point advantage over his Hyundai colleague.
While in the lead, Tänak came off the track on Sunday morning (local time) during the 17th special stage; the 2019 world champion remained uninjured. The British driver Elfyn Evans won the Rally Japan in a Toyota, Neuville and his co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe crossed the finish line in sixth place and celebrated the first world title for Belgium and Hyundai.
In the drivers’ standings, Neuville finished comfortably ahead of Evans (210) and Tänak (200) with 242 points. The manufacturers’ title went to Toyota by a wafer-thin margin of three points ahead of Hyundai.
