Japan is the final stop of the WRC season. Can Thierry Neuville still get a 2nd win of the year? We follow it closely here.
| position after Saturday | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) | in 1u51’28″3 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans (Wall/Toyota) | op 4″ |
| 3. | Ot Tänak (Est/Hyundai) | 39″9 |
| 4. | Takamoto Katsuta (Jap/Toyota) | 1’04″5 |
| 5. | Sébastien Ogier (From/Toyota) | 2’46″7 |
- 13 h 19.
- 11 hours . Neuville: “Changeable day”. “It was a difficult day for everyone,” said Thierry Neuville in the media zone, looking back on the turbulent and shortened day. “It was a shorter day than planned. The roads were very challenging and both me and my co-driver had a lot of work. It was a mixed day, but all in all we got through it well. The hardest thing was the character of the rides and the constantly changing circumstances.” Compared to the Japan Rally of the past, this is a completely new rally. Neuville is driving this rally for the first time. “It’s hard, but it’s for everyone.” “You start from zero and then you try to prepare yourself as best as possible. We knew it would be a twisty course, but we didn’t expect it to be so twisty. Moreover, the roads are very narrow and the grip is constantly changing You then have to look for a compromise and that’s what we’re struggling with at the moment.” .
Neuville: “Changeable day”
“It was a difficult day for everyone,” said Thierry Neuville in the media zone, looking back on the turbulent and shortened day.
“It was a shorter day than planned. The roads were very challenging and both me and my co-driver had a lot of work. It was a mixed day, but all in all we got through it well. The hardest thing was the character of the rides and the constantly changing circumstances.”
Compared to the Japan Rally of the past, this is a completely new rally. Neuville is driving this rally for the first time. “It’s hard, but it’s for everyone.”
“You start from zero and then you try to prepare yourself as best as possible. We knew it would be a twisty course, but we didn’t expect it to be so twisty. Moreover, the roads are very narrow and the grip is constantly changing You then have to look for a compromise and that’s what we’re struggling with at the moment.”
- 09h46. More and more leaves came up so you couldn’t see the road and you don’t know if there is grip. I didn’t want to make a mistake there. We are in a good position and will continue to compete at the front.” Thierry Neuville after the 5th stage of the day.
There were more and more leaves so you couldn’t see the road and you don’t know if there is grip. I didn’t want to make a mistake there. We are in a good position and will continue to compete at the front.”
Thierry Neuville after the 5th stage of the day
- 09h45.
- 09h38. Neuville is 2nd after first full day of competition. On Thursday there was only a 2.75 km ride on the menu. Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) was the best of a top 5 within a second. Neuville came in fourth with his Hyundai 3 tenths short of the Frenchman. Today/Friday there were 2 loops of 3 rides planned. After the first loop, Neuville was in the lead. In the second he fell back to second place. The lead is for the Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota), who is 3 seconds ahead of the Belgian. Finnish world champion Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) is third at 5.1 seconds. .
Neuville is 2nd after the first full day of competition
On Thursday there was only a 2.75 km ride on the menu. Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) was the best of a top 5 within a second. Neuville came in fourth with his Hyundai 3 tenths short of the Frenchman.
Today/Friday there were 2 loops of 3 rides planned. After the first loop, Neuville was in the lead. In the second he fell back to second place. The lead is for the Welshman Elfyn Evans (Toyota), who is 3 seconds ahead of the Belgian. Finnish world champion Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) is third at 5.1 seconds.
- 09h37. Turbulent race day. Friday was full of incidents. Rovanperä won stage 1 of the day and took the lead from Ogier, who had a puncture and had to change wheels. The Frenchman lost almost 3 minutes and is allowed to cross over rally win. It was worse for Dani Sordo, the Spaniard saw his Hyundai completely burn out. “In the beginning I immediately smelled petrol. When suddenly the car started to smoke and suddenly flames came between the seats, I stopped.” “When I got out, the fire quickly spread. We tried to put out the car, but there was nothing we could do. I feel sorry for the team,” said a distraught Sordo. The first classification stage was stopped. Because the incident caused a lot of delay, the next ride was not driven. The third stage of the opening round was won by Elfyn Evans, who shared the lead with Thierry Neuville halfway through race day. The first stage Friday afternoon was won by Evans, who was 1″1 faster than Neuville and took the lead alone. That became 3 in stage 2. The 3rd stage was no longer driven, because the crash barrier against which Craig Breen (Ford Puma) had been driven, was too badly damaged. .
Turbulent match day
Friday was full of incidents.
Rovanperä won stage 1 of the day and took the lead from Ogier, who had a puncture and had to change wheels. The Frenchman lost almost 3 minutes and is allowed to cross over rally win.
It was worse for Dani Sordo, the Spaniard saw his Hyundai completely burn out. “In the beginning I immediately smelled gasoline. When suddenly the car started to smoke and suddenly flames came between the seats, I stopped.”
“When I got out, the fire quickly spread. We tried to put out the car, but there was nothing we could do. I feel sorry for the team,” said a distraught Sordo.
The first classification stage was stopped. Because the incident caused a lot of delay, the next ride was not driven. The third stage of the opening round was won by Elfyn Evans, who shared the lead with Thierry Neuville halfway through race day.
The first stage Friday afternoon was won by Evans, who was 1″1 faster than Neuville and took the lead alone. That became 3 in stage 2. The 3rd stage was no longer driven, because the crash barrier against which Craig Breen (Ford Puma) had been driven, was too badly damaged.
