Warren Nel

Time for the snow and ice roads of Northern Sweden then as the championship moves to round two. Thierry and Martijn lead the drivers and co-drivers’ championship for Hyundai and will therefore be opening the road throughout Friday’s stages. Second on the road will be the 2020 winners of this event, Elfyn and Scott. They finished third in the season opener, but with Seb and Vincent not taking part they will be next on the road behind the Belgians.

Kalle and Jonne will be competing instead and took part along with their teammates, Elfyn and Scott in last weekends Artic Rally, mainly in preparation for this event. The two Toyota drivers headed the field in their Rally1 GR Yaris’ with Elfyn and Scott winning following a technical for their Finnish teammates.

Also competing this weekend in their first outing of the year is Esapekka and Janne for Hyundai and will be hoping a better result than the seventh place they scored last year. A spin followed by another incident with a snowbank tempered the speed, but he did take the power stage win.

Of course, Craig should be remembered this weekend. The Irishman made his first start back at Hyundai with James Fulton in 2023 and fought over the lead with eventual winners Ott and Martin before taking a well deserved second place, beating Thierry into third place. It was a brilliant drive.

Looking to the stages facing the crews this weekend there are 300 km’s over 18 stages. The longest day is Saturday with 125.96 km’s to challenge the crews.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“We are expecting a lot of snow and very cold temperatures in Sweden. This was something that was manageable last year but has been a bit more difficult previously. Because of this, we will need a lot of precision and reactivity from the car to be able to throw it from one corner to the other and maximise effectiveness. Snowbanks are obviously a huge risk, especially when temperatures are higher than usual. When it’s freezing, they are a feature you can rely on to help you get a better position to go faster. Clean driving, tyre management and road positions are all factors that can make it very challenging, but from our experience last year, the first day was very equal. I have always enjoyed Rally Sweden, so we will target a strong result.”

Ott Tänak

“Sweden is a really nice rally that’s mostly about pure performance. The roads are easy and flat, so it’s no real stress to the cars and this makes it easier to maximise the pace. Previously it’s been great in Umeå, and I would like to see big snowbanks and icy roads once again. Snowbanks are more of a support than a risk in Sweden. Most of the time you can use them to your advantage to push the limit, so if the snowbank takes you, you are probably too far over the limit. The stages in complete darkness are always a bit of a challenge. You don’t see very much, sometimes just where the lights show. That, paired with driving on snow, means you can go sideways unexpectedly. On the other side, snow is quite a good reflector, so I would say it’s easier than driving in places like muddy Wales. The target is to do well. We won it last year and will try our best to be battling at the front again.”

Esapekka Lappi

“Rally Sweden is an event I definitely enjoy and a great place for me to start my season. I think if the conditions are as expected, then starting towards the back is a big advantage, as the fresh snow will be ploughed away by the first cars and the grip will be higher. However, if it’s really cold, more around minus 20, then you might have a lot of snow powder flying in the air, which makes visibility worse for those later in the running order. Another key feature of Rally Sweden is the difference between the first and second passes of the stages. On the first, the road is usually smooth, and you can approach it normally, but on the second there can be big ruts that demand you to adapt your driving style quite a lot. Our goal might change during the weekend, it depends where we are, but hopefully we are fighting for the podium.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s exciting to be starting our season with an event like Rally Sweden. I always enjoy driving on snow and it’s one of the best feelings you can have in a rally car. It’s been cool, to get back in the car over the last week at the Arctic Rally and in our pre-event test. Sweden has been a good event for us in the past but last year we were not so strong, so this year we want to fight back. As it’s the only round on snow, it’s not easy to find the perfect car setup with only a few days of testing in those conditions. But I think we’ve found some useful things in our tests, and we’ve been going in the right direction, so I’m looking forward to the rally.”

Elfyn Evans

“Driving on snow and ice is something unique and makes Rally Sweden a very specific event. In the past I’ve had some good performance there, and we’ve been working to try and improve my feeling with the car from last year’s event. Our pre-event running in Finland has been really useful to get some time on snow before Sweden: it’s given us the chance to try a few things and I think we have managed to make some good steps. The conditions can vary quite a lot during the rally, with gravel coming through on the second pass of stages, and that’s something key to get right. Starting second on the road with fast drivers behind will not be easy but we’ll do our best like always and try to get the most out of the weekend.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Rally Sweden is always an exciting rally and it’s one of my favourite events on the calendar. Driving on snow and ice is something I have really enjoyed since I started rallying in Europe with the TGR WRC Challenge Program. Last year, I had pretty good speed in Sweden so I hope we can perform well again and get a good result also. This event is always a big challenge and there will be some fast drivers including Kalle starting behind us on the road, so it will not be easy to fight for the top positions. But I will try to push hard and do the maximum that I can.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“The challenge in Sweden will be quite interesting for me, it’s been two years since I’ve driven on snow! We only do one rally per year on snow, which has a very different driving style and car set up. But I really like to drive the car on snow, it’s a really nice feeling that we get at these speeds and it’s quite unique. So, I’m really looking forward to it! The target will be to get our feeling back on snow, look at our pace compared to the more experienced crews, and see if we can get a good result like we did in Monte.

“We’ve done one day’s testing this week and the feeling was quite good. So, we’ll see, it’s always difficult to know on the test how the rally is going to go as the conditions can be so different.”

Grégoire Munster

“The big challenge for Sweden will be getting to know the car on this particular surface. We had the chance to drive once on snow last year with the Fiesta Rally3, but this time we will be carrying much more speed into the corners. So, there’s an additional challenge where we have to adapt the pace notes to the different speed with the Puma. We will also try not to get stuck in the snowbanks, which can happen so quickly! “We had a good pre-event test, where we tried many different things. But we want to try to keep it simple, to just get the feeling with the car, drive the kilometres and get better on this surface. We just hope to finish the rally and make progression throughout the event.”

Rally 2 class

There are a number of other crews competing this weekend in the second class of the championship. Let’s hear from a couple of these drivers.

M-Sport

William Creighton

“I’ve competed in Lima a couple of times, and I’ve always found it really beneficial to prepare before heading to Rally Sweden. I think it’s even more important this year as I step into the challenges the WRC2 category will bring with this new car, so I’m really happy to have this opportunity thanks to the MI Rally Academy. I’ve always enjoyed driving on the snow, and we had good pace in Sweden last year. The aim is to get comfortable with the car and Lima presents a great opportunity to do that.

“I’m really happy to have a full WRC2 programme planned with the support of the MI Rally Academy and to have the opportunity to work with everyone at M-Sport. Liam and I have spent a week with the team at Dovenby Hall, which has allowed us to work with the mechanics and engineers so that we are well prepared for Lima & Rally Sweden.

“Participating in Junior WRC gave me great experience to build my pace in Sweden, which makes this transition to the WRC2 category much more manageable. The competition is so strong in WRC2, so I have to focus on my own event and making the step up before I look at the others!”

Skoda Motorsport

Oliver Solberg

“The conditions are looking very, very good. OK, things can change a little bit, but it really looks like we could be in for some of the best winter rallying in a while. And, trust me, that makes me smile!

“There’s nothing quite like driving a rally car like the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 in these perfect winter conditions. The studs are biting into the ice to give you incredible grip, and you have the snowbanks on the outside to lean on and carry more speed – sometimes even going a gear higher through some corners.

“You come through these stages flat out and you can’t help but bring this big smile to your face. I love this event.

“Basically, we want more of what we did last year. We found a rhythm quite early in the event and we were able to drive to it. The important thing is to make a nice, clean race and not take too many risks with the snowbanks – it’s so easy to get tipped into one and then you spend so long trying to dig the car out.

“It’s important to get good points on the board for WRC2. We showed we have good pace in Monte Carlo last month and that’s a nice way to come into this event. To be honest, I just want to get out there and have some fun in the snow on one of my favourite rallies of the year.”

Summary

We are set for a good fight for this rally. Ott and Martin will hope that even though they have switched back to Hyundai, that they can do what they last year and take victory. It’s fair to say that they will have a battle on their hands with the world champions competing.

Meanwhile, Elfyn and Scott will certainly be fighting near the front, despite their starting position, whilst for Thierry and Martijn it will be a real struggle out there on Friday and it will be interesting how they will deal with that.

The Rally 2 class will see a big battle and perhaps as big as the one we saw on the roads near Monte-Carlo.

The final day then of this event and also the season. What an incredible rally we have been treated to and just six stages left to complete. Once again Thierry would open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS17 Asahi Kougen 1 – 7.52 km, the stage that would be the power stage later. Thierry would set the fastest time from Takamoto and Esapekka. Elfyn set an identical time to the Finn, the Welshman keeping his eye in. Ott was seventh meaning that Takamoto continued to close on the Puma driver, the gap now just 9.6 seconds. There was no change in WRC2 as well, with Andreas still leading Nikolay and Kajetan.

Into SS18 Ena City 1 – 22.92 km and with snow lining the road had Thierry made the right decision to take five dry tyres? Well, clearly no doubt as he took a second stage win of the day from Takamoto and Elfyn. The Japanese driver took the gap down to just four tenths of a second as he eyed up fifth placed Ott.

The final stage before the tyre fitting zone, SS19 Nenoue Kougen 1 – 11.60 km and Takamoto was fastest and passed Ott for fifth place. In addition, he had also reduced the gap to EP, now just 16.2 seconds separating the two drivers for fourth place overall. Thierry and Esapekka were second and third in the stage.

After the tyre changing zone, next up was SS20 Ena City 2 – 22.92 km and Thierry was again fastest from his teammate EP, whilst Ott was third. Esapekka had a great stage in fact as following the tyre fitting zone some changes made to his car allowed him to be more comfortable and to push a bit more. Takamoto meanwhile was now not so comfortable and the gap that he had closed had now widened out again. However, he still held a good lead over Ott. In WRC2 Gregoire, who was not nominated for points in the category slid off the road.

Into the penultimate stage then, SS21 Nenoue Kougen 2 – 11.60 km and Takamoto was back to stage winning pace with Thierry and Ott second and third fastest respectively. In WRC2, Nikolay was setting the pace in the category from Andreas, whilst Kajetan was third.

The final stage then, SS22 Asahi Kougen 2[Power Stage] – 7.52 km and the top five were, Thierry, Ott, Esapekka, Takamoto and Seb. They took the points for the top five positions in the stage. Elfyn and Scott crossed the line and took their third win of the year, a brilliant result for the pair in their Toyota. This result secured second in the championship standings.

Let’s take a look at final results and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Japan

1	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	3:32:08.8
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:17.7
3	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:46.5
4	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+2:50.3
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+3:10.3
6	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:28.3
7	A. Mikkelsen	T. Eriksen	Škoda Fabia RS	+7:33.7
8	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Škoda Fabia RS	+8:49.6
9	K. Kajetanowicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia RS	+19:25.9
10	H. Arai	H. Tachikui	Peugeot 208 Rally4	+22:22.7

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s really nice to be on the top step of the podium again and even more so when it’s a 1-2-3 for the team. It’s an amazing result and we could not have asked for a much better event at home for Toyota, so I’m really pleased. It’s been a long and difficult weekend. On Friday we had exceptionally tough conditions which we came out of with quite a margin. Since then, it’s been a challenge in a different way, trying to manage the gap rather than push flat-out, but I’m very happy to get there in the end. Massive congratulations to the team: it’s been an incredible season; the car has been great and I’m really proud and happy for everyone.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It feels great to be a part of this result. I really wanted to come here and help the team secure a dream result. I think the main target was to just take the victory, so to bring a full podium is fantastic and it’s maybe even more than a dream result. The conditions brought some big surprises during the whole weekend. We expected the difficult start on Friday and a lot of drivers made mistakes or lost time, including us. Then we realised we were in a strong position to deliver the 1-2-3 for the team and my focus was on bringing that result home, but it’s never easy in slippery and tricky conditions like this. I hope the whole team enjoys this moment: they really deserve it so thank you to them!”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s an amazing feeling right now. This is a dream result for the team, to have three cars on the podium in Japan. It’s quite amazing that we could do this in such difficult conditions this weekend. I think the team proved once again that we can be consistent and fast. I’m also really proud of Taka as he was driving so well, and I was very happy to see his times. The atmosphere this week was so good with so many fans: it was nice to see that people are enjoying the rally and cheering for us. It’s been a really cool way to end the season, especially to be on the podium with a team result like this.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“My pace was getting better and better day by day. This morning I was not really satisfied, I felt I was really driving on the limit of the grip, and I couldn’t match the times of Katsuta, especially on the wet tyres. At the tyre fitting, we made a change with the suspension set-up just to try something else, and it worked. In the end, I think we found something at the right time to stop him, which was important for that fight. It is good to finish the final rally without any damage to the car. I think my season has been 50/50; at the beginning I was learning a lot, the middle of the season was really good, but the end was not so strong. I’m looking forward to coming back even better in 2024.”

Thierry Neuville

“I’m quite happy this event is over now. It was still an enjoyable weekend, but we could have been in the fight for victory considering the speed we have. I’m really disappointed for that mistake but it is what it is, and I apologised to the team for it. We’re going to another good season next year; we took eight podiums, but we also had a couple of problems that cost us important points for the championship. We were really only targeting victories at the end of the season – sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“We had a clean day today, no trouble and brought the car home. From our side it was the best season we could have done; we gave our best shot, and we are here now. When you have high expectations it’s easy to have a high a fall and that is how it feels from my side and in some ways from the team side too. We need to be proud of the two wins from this year, there were some positives to take from those.”

Grégoire Munster

“I am sorry to the team for the mistake this afternoon, they have worked really hard to deliver so many updates to the car this year and I was trying to reflect that with my performance this weekend. We fought really, really hard and at one point it looked like the win was possible, the feeling, pace and car all felt good. It is a shame it ended the way it did, but I am very happy with the pace I was able to show this weekend.”

Summary

Well, what an amazing rally and a fantastic victory for Elfyn and Scott. They utterly deserved this win, setting amazing pace in the heavy rain on Friday morning, taking huge time from his teammate Kalle who was opening the road. Those further back as well, could not challenge the crew in the number 33 GR Yaris Rally1 and they continued to build their lead.

Takamoto and Aaron were the other crew that were really on the pace, and just their slight mistake on the first run of Isegami’s Tunnel kept them off the podium and perhaps their first ever victory. They went on to take nine stage wins, showing amazing pace and consistency.

For Seb and Vincent having taken part in their eighth rally this year, it was the typical consistent drive from the multi champion and co-driver. There were no stage wins though but the pace of the regular crews would always be just a little higher. They were happy for their part in taking second place as part of their teams 1-2-3 result.

The new world champions, Kalle and Jonne, would also not be on the ultimate pace and again would not add to their stage win tally. However, again the consistency that took them to many podiums this year was on display, keeping out of trouble, particularly during Friday morning when things were most tricky.

For Thierry and Martijn in their Hyundai again they showed good pace, winning five stages, but with their retirement just when they had closed the gap to Elfyn and Scott, there was the mistake which sent the car into the tree and that was their challenge done.

Their teammates Esapekka and Janne in their first visit to the stages in Japan did struggle in the stages out in the forests, but they found something on Sunday afternoon which allowed him to pull away from the closing Takamoto.

At M-Sport, Ott and Martin in their final drive in the Puma had their struggles with reliability and lack of pace out there. It was a shame to see this, as we know how good the Estonian crew are.

Well, that’s it for the year then, I hope that you have enjoyed my daily reports throughout the months.

Look out soon for my team-by-team season report.

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 13

1	K. Rovanperä	235
2	E. Evans	191
3	T. Neuville	184
4	O. Tänak	162
5	S. Ogier	114
6	E. Lappi	98
7	T. Katsuta	89
8	D. Sordo	63
9	T. Suninen	42

 

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 13

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	504
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	399
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	271

 

The second full day then and the crews had eight stages over 84.68km’s. Thierry returned, but the damage to Dani and Adrien’s cars was too big to deal with meaning that they did not return to the action. The Belgian would therefore be opening the roads throughout Saturday’s stages.

First up then was SS9 Nukata Forest 1 – 20.32 km and the stage was red flagged. The reason was that Thierry came through the stage and found one of the course cars stopped on the side of the road. He brought his car to a stop and the driver of the course car then waved him on. He completed the stage in road mode. Later the stage was allowed to run again and Takamoto and Seb shared the fastest time from Elfyn. In WRC2 Andreas continued to lead from Nikolay and Heikki.

Into SS10 Lake Mikawako 1 – 14.78 km and Takamoto was fastest from Thierry and Ott. The Japanese star was closing on Ott, the gap between them just under 20 seconds. Meanwhile EP passed Andreas for fourth overall, gaining two positions as well with Gregoire also dropping a place to sixth. Andreas continued to lead the WRC2 category from Nikolay and Heikki.

Next up were the two runs of SS11 and SS12 Okazaki City SSS 1 and SSS 2 – 2.84 km. Elfyn was fastest from Ott and Thierry in the first run. In the second run the top three was Elfyn, Ott and Seb.

Takamoto continued his great form winning SS13 Nukata Forest 2 – 20.32 km from Seb and Ott. The Japanese driver gained two positions on the main leader board moving ahead of Nikolay and Gregoire and into seventh overall. There was no change in WRC2 with Andreas, Nikolay and Heikki maintaining their control over the podium positions.

Getting closer to the end of the day’s action then and Takamoto won SS14 Lake Mikawako 2 – 14.78 km from Thierry and Ott. There was some real drama in this one, with snow starting to fall for some in the stage. Takamoto had the best conditions of all which helped him. In WRC2 we sadly lost third placed Heikki who retired after suffering transmission failure. What a shame for the former F1 driver. Kajetan benefitted from this and moved into third place behind Andreas and Nikolay.

The final proper stage of the day then SS15 Shinshiro City – 6.70 km and Takamoto was again fastest from Kalle and Elfyn. This stage was quite different in character with a much wider road In WRC2 there was no change.

The final stage then, SS16 Toyota Stadium SSS 3 – 2.10 km and Esapekka was fastest from Ott and Thierry.

Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the top positions.

Classification after Day Two

1	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	2:28:20.8
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:15.0
3	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:40.6
4	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:09.3
5	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:35.3
6	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+3:50.2
7	A. Mikkelsen	T. Eriksen	Škoda Fabia RS	+5:11.3
8	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+5:19.6
9	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Škoda Fabia RS	+5:54.6
10	K. Kajetanowicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia RS	+12:51.6

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been quite a mixed day again in terms of the conditions. It was much drier than yesterday but still not completely dry and certainly not easy. We’ve just been trying to manage the risk as best as we can, which is not easily done on these stages as the margins are so fine that it only takes a tiny little slip to pick up an issue. We’re trying to keep focused and manage the gap that we have. When it started sleeting in the second one this afternoon, I couldn’t quite believe it, but thankfully we got through it without issue. There’s a big day ahead tomorrow: it still doesn’t look so straightforward, and we know how demanding those stages are, so it’s far from done.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a positive day for us. We still faced some crazy conditions out there. This morning there was no rain but, in the forest, it was extremely slippery. Then this afternoon we expected to maybe have a few rain drops, but then I started to see little snowflakes falling. It was for sure costing us more time compared to those ahead of us on the road. Luckily it didn’t affect our position, but it was a moment where you needed to keep your calm. We are still on for the team’s target with a 1-2-3 and Taka is flying back up the order as well. There are a lot of kilometres left to cover to secure these positions but at the moment it’s looking good.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was still tricky today. This morning we were expecting it to be drier with more grip, but it was still quite greasy and damp after the rain. We didn’t have the best setup for that, but we got through it fine. The weather has actually been quite annoying, because just when you think you will have a dry loop of stages and you can enjoy it a bit more, it starts to snow! The last few kilometres in that middle stage of the afternoon were really tricky when we lost the temperature from the tyres. The plan is just to try and bring it home like this for the team. The weather doesn’t seem to be letting off for tomorrow, so we’ll just try to stay on the road and focus on reaching the finish.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“We managed to improve our pace yesterday afternoon, then we were able to continue that throughout today. Thankfully the conditions were a bit easier and at the tyre fitting zone we changed the car balance, which was a lot better and resulted in some promising splits. Unfortunately, rain in the stage destroyed my time but we are heading in a positive direction. In these conditions, we had a couple of big understeer moments in some corners, but we survived. I think the fight tomorrow is going to be tight – Katsuta has been impressive today. The gap should have been bigger, but my pace hasn’t been there this weekend, so hopefully I can be a bit better on Sunday.”

Thierry Neuville

“Thankfully there wasn’t much damage, and the team did a good job to fix the car yesterday. I felt comfortable today. It was a long one and we are here to ensure the team has at least two cars in the fight, but there isn’t much we can do in our position. We can maybe gamble with the tyres and gather some information, but I think the weather here is very particular to this year and we’re unlikely to see it again next season. There were still some slippery conditions out there, but I think we managed them well. The only thing we can take away from today is that we had good pace and look forward to another long day tomorrow.”

Summary

Well, what a great day of action. Takamoto showed that he wanted to display the pace which he had on Friday with lots of stage wins. Quite brilliant to see. Meanwhile out the front Elfyn continued to lead of course which was great to see for the Welshman, whilst Seb and Kalle were in second and third positions.

 

The final day sees the crews tackle 84.08km’s over six stages. Let’s see what happens on the final day of this year’s championship.

The first full day of this event dawned with heavy rain coming down on the seven stages that made up the first full day of action. After the first stage held late in the Toyota Stadium, Thierry held the lead from his teammate Esapekka, with Ott in third overall, only 1.4 seconds between them. Takamoto was the best of the Toyota’s holding fifth overall, whilst Kalle, Seb and Elfyn were in sixth, eighth and ninth overall.

First up then was SS2 Isegami’s Tunnel 1 – 23.67 km and the road was incredibly wet but also messy with leaves on the road from the trees in the forest. So messy in fact that the road was cleaning for the later cars. The conditions caught out Adrien, Dani and in particular Takamoto who was up on Elfyn’s split times until he went slightly off road and damaged his car. Elfyn though was fastest from Seb and Thierry with the Belgian driver dropping from the lead to third, now 15.9 seconds behind new rally leader Elfyn. In WRC2 Andreas was fastest from Nikolay and Heikki Kovalainen. These three were also the top three overall in the category.

Into SS3 Inabu Dam 1 – 19.38 km and it was a second fastest time for Elfyn who was a very large 10.1 faster than Thierry with Andreas in his Skoda third fastest. Really impressive stuff from the Norwegian. In fact, there were two other WRC2 cars ahead of Seb, with Gregoire fourth and Takamoto’s dad Norihika fifth in his Toyota Yaris Rally2 car. The top three was now Elfyn, ahead of Thierry by 26 seconds with Seb now dropping behind the Belgian to third.

SS4 Shitara Town 1 – 22.53 km was cancelled, so the crews headed back to service before the afternoon stages.

The second run of SS5 Isegami’s Tunnel 2 – 23.67 km saw Takamoto go fastest from Thierry and Seb. Rally leader Elfyn was only fourth fastest and lost 15 seconds to a charging Thierry, the gap now down to a little over 10 seconds. Seb slid wide and damaged his door on the end of some armco but still managed to complete the stage. Meanwhile in WRC2 Nikolay was fastest from Andreas and Heikki. They also remained the top three with Andreas 21 seconds ahead of Nikolay and Heikki.

Into SS6 Inabu Dam 2 – 19.38 km and Takamoto made it two in a row, going fastest from Elfyn and Seb. EP had a better stage having really been able to show improved pace, going fifth fastest. However, it was all over for Thierry. Having just started the stage and going into the first proper right-hand corner his car bottomed out in a dip that was in the braking area and the car slid off the road and hit a tree, breaking the front suspension. That was it, over and out. In WRC2 there was no change either in the top three in the stage, or the category.

The final proper stage of the day then, SS7 Shitara Town 2 – 22.53 km, the stage that was cancelled earlier. Takamoto made it three in a row winning this one by just 1.1 seconds from Elfyn and Seb. Elfyn now held a 50.9 seconds over Seb, with Kalle a further 1 minute and 7 seconds back in third. In WRC2 there were no changes at all and Andreas was almost 30 seconds ahead of Nikolay and Heikki a further 2 minutes 24 back.

The final stage then of the day, SS8 Toyota Stadium SSS 2 – 2.10 km and EP took the stage win from Seb and Takamoto who actually set an identical time. In WRC2 there was no real change with Andreas fastest from Nikolay and Kajetan with Heikki setting an identical time to the Pole.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

 

Classification after Day One

1	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	1:25:22.7
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+1:49.9
3	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+2:06.6
4	A. Mikkelsen	T. Eriksen	Škoda Fabia RS	+3:00.2
5	G. Munster	L. Louka	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:05.0
6	N. Gryazin	K. Aleksandrov	Škoda Fabia RS	+3:29.6
7	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:44.3
8	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+4:42.8
9	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+5:07.9

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“I’m happy to be here tonight and in the lead of the rally. We had very difficult conditions this morning especially with a lot of standing water and a lot of surprises. We just tried to pick our way through it, but it felt quite slow at times, particularly in the first stage this morning. It’s really difficult to judge the grip in those conditions, and on these stages, you have very little room to go anywhere if you misjudge it. This afternoon the grip was a lot better, and I didn’t make full use of that in the first stage after service, but it got a bit better after that. It’s been a good day but there’s still a long way to go.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m happy to make it to the end of this very challenging day. Like expected, it has been very tricky. This morning it was more about surviving and getting through those conditions. It was very difficult to enjoy the driving but I’m glad that we made it through. This afternoon, conditions were better, and we could have a bit more fun in the car, but it was still challenging, and we had quite a moment in SS5 when I hit the barrier. That gave a bit of an extra job to my mechanics tonight, and the most important thing is that they could fix it and we can continue in the rally. The gaps are quite big now but it’s a positive position for the team and we will try to maintain this.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“This morning was definitely very tricky. When the rain came down it was massive, and it was some of the most difficult conditions I have ever seen with so much standing water everywhere. It was also a big challenge for us starting first on the road, as we had to clear the road of leaves and pine needles, so we just tried to stay on the road. This afternoon the roads were a bit cleaner, and it was more enjoyable, as we could drive with our own pace and do better times. I hope it will dry up a bit more tomorrow and then it should be cleaner and hopefully a bit more straightforward.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“We stayed out of trouble, which is the most important thing after a day where we have seen so many surprises and people getting caught out by slippery corners. For sure, my pace was not even near where it should be. It was starting to get better in the end, but it wasn’t very impressive so let’s try to make it better tomorrow. Even though we are expecting drier conditions we may still need wet tyres, however I have been saving plenty of new ones, so I am ready for that.”

Thierry Neuville

“It was really tough out there to be honest, it was pouring with rain and the roads were undriveable. We are used to difficult conditions, but I think there is a limit, and there was no reason to take extra risk when we knew the weather would be better this afternoon. We got off the start line of SS5 and went through quite a big compression at the first corner; I hit the sump guard and lost the front of the car. With these narrow roads, there was no space to go wide and we stopped in the trees and damaged the suspension. This morning we were very slow due to the heavy rain, but I didn’t expect the dip to be so harsh or bounce me off the road.”

Dani Sordo

“I’m really disappointed for myself and the team, but it was really difficult conditions. We just missed the braking 11 kilometres into the stage. We started aquaplaning and we went straight on. I touched the brakes and one side locked up. We also had some mist on our screen which was a little distracting. Until then we were doing ok in the stage, we were taking no risks, but when you’re aquaplaning you can’t do anything. It looks like it was particularly slippery at that section with both Katsuta and Fourmaux also having problems at the same corner.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“Problems this afternoon and difficult to know to know exactly, seems to be something electrical and one by one everything started to fail and then we were in safe mode, but happy to be at the end of the day.

Saturday

Well, what does Saturday hold for the crews? There are 84.86km’s over the eight stages. The weather reports say that the sun will return to the stages which may mean the challenging conditions are in the past.