The race could not have gone any better for Matthew Hauser; during WTCS Yokohama, his dream scenario came true. Alex Yee was dropped as early as the swim, meaning Hauser had nothing left to fear from his major rival for the rest of the race. Hauser himself remained composed and ultimately decided the race in his favor after a superb finale.
An ideal scenario for Hauser emerged during the swim leg when a lead group formed including the Australian, alongside Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, Luke Willian, Max Stapley, Blake Bullard, Miguel Hidalgo, and Brayden Mercer – a group that exited the water together. Glancing back, this group saw the next pack following half a minute behind, with Yee among them.
On the bike, the lead group – which only lost Bullard – continued to work well together. They cooperated so effectively that over the ten technical four-kilometer laps, their lead grew steadily. It was logical that this group did everything possible to distance the chasing peloton, specifically to knock out the ever-strong runner Yee early on. That effort seemed successful, as the chase group entered T2 nearly two minutes behind.
In the opening kilometers of the run, Hidalgo boldly took the initiative, with Hauser and Willian following close behind, while Thorn, Mercer, and Stapley were forced to concede a gap of over ten seconds. That gap would continue to grow, while the three leaders stayed together for several kilometers, passing the halfway mark with a lead of nearly a minute. It was certainly impressive to see Yee make up nearly half of his deficit during this phase; though he was in seventh place at the time, he trailed by only a minute and would soon gain several more positions.
Ultimately, it was too late for the win or even a podium spot. In the final kilometers, it was Hauser who began a serious acceleration, first breaking Willian and shortly after, Hidalgo. The 2025 WTCS overall winner thus cruised to a magnificent victory; his first WTCS appearance of the year was immediately rewarded with gold.
Hauser won the race in 1:38:48, Hidalgo finished second in 1:39:08, and Willian took third in 1:39:16. Behind Willian, Thorn (+0:33) and Yee (+0:44) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
