Evans cruises to victory at season-ending Rally Japan

Britain's Elfyn Evans won the season-ending Rally Japan on Sunday after leading for almost the entire race, while newly crowned world champion Kalle Rovanpera finished third.

Evans took control after the second stage and stayed in front for the rest of a rally held in wild weather conditions in central Aichi Prefecture.

The course dried out slightly for the final day as Evans crossed the line 1min 17.7sec ahead of France's Sebastien Ogier and 1:46.5 in front of Rovanpera to give Toyota a 1-2-3 finish.

It was Evans's third win of the season and consolidated his runner-up finish behind Rovanpera in the overall standings.

"It was not easy with the conditions we had this week, even though we had a massive gap already after Friday night," said the Welshman.

"A massive thanks to the team, the car's been great and a 1-2-3 for Toyota is a fantastic result."

Rovanpera had already wrapped up his second straight title at last month's Central European rally.

He was never really in contention after coming unstuck in heavy rain and fog early in the race.

But he played his part in a triumphant homecoming for Toyota, who had already clinched their third straight manufacturers' title.

"It should be a really great result in our home rally," the Finn said after the final stage.

Belgium's Thierry Neuville, who finished third in the overall championship standings, retired after crashing on stage 6 before rejoining the action a day later.

Estonian Ott Tanak finished sixth in his final race for Ford before joining Hyundai next season.

"I get frustrated very easily when I am not on the pace and this year, more or less, we haven't been anywhere near on the pace," said Tanak, the 2019 world champion.

"It's been a tough year but at least we gave it a go. Let's see what the future brings next."

Race results

Elfyn Evans-Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota) 3hr 32min 8.8sec,
Sebastien Ogier-Vincent Landais (FRA/Toyota) at 1min 17.7sec,
Kalle Rovanpera-Jonne Halttunen (FIN/Toyota) 1:46.5,
Esapekka Lappi-Janne Ferm (FIN/Hyundai) 2:50.3,
Takamoto Katsuta-Aaron Johnston (JPN-IRE/Toyota) 3:10.3,
Ott Tanak-Martin Jarveoja (EST/Ford) 3:28.3

Leading retirements:

Dani Sordo-Candido Carrera (ESP/Hyundai), Adrien Fourmaux-Alexandre Coria (FRA/Ford)

Stage winners:

Katsuta (SS5, SS6, SS7, SS9, SS10, SS13, SS14, SS15, SS19, SS21), Neuville (SS1, SS17, SS18, SS20, SS22), Evans (SS2, SS3, SS11, SS12), Lappi (SS8, SS16)

Final drivers championship standings: