Japan (WRC) - 10-13 Nov 22

PUMAS READY FOR WRC'S FINALE IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN

Posted: November 8, 2022 11:04 AM

The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team heads to the far-east for Rally Japan, the highly anticipated grand finale of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship.

The event has been years in the making, with the entire service park eagerly enthusiastic about WRC making its return to Japan. Rally Japan has previously been a part of WRC’s world tour, however last time out in 2010 the rally was held on gravel roads. This time, the WRC will see what Japan’s tantalising Tarmac has to offer, with all crews competing on brand-new stages that have never-before featured in the WRC.

2022 witnessed the debut of WRC’s new hybrid era, with M-Sport introducing the Puma Hybrid Rally1 with a stunning livery in January, shortly before kicking off the season with a fairy-tale victory on Rally Monte Carlo with Sebastien Loeb. In its debut season M-Sport has delivered a top tier rally car with competitive pace at its core, delivering a WRC victory, three WRC podiums, 27 WRC stage wins, and 10 WRC power stage top-five finishes. Rounding out M-Sport’s 2022 championship campaign in Japan will be Craig Breen and Gus Greensmith, who will both be vying to add to the Puma’s tally of statistics while continuing M-Sport’s unbeaten streak of consecutive manufacturers’ points finishes which currently stands at 280 WRC events.

For Breen, Japan sees him partner up with James Fulton in competitive action for the first time. Fulton is replacing Breen’s outgoing co-driver Paul Nagle, who retired on Rally Spain. Fulton is no stranger to the Puma Rally1 or Breen, having sat in the co driver’s seat on numerous test days and shadowed Nagle on WRC events to hit the ground running in Japan. To ensure Fulton is fully up to speed and supported, Nagle will also be in Japan to be on hand for both Breen and Fulton to ensure a smooth transition between the partnerships.

The challenge that awaits Breen and Greensmith in Japan will be demanding, with only the organiser’s onboard videos to go off for a reference point. From the limited knowledge available, the word is that Japan’s stages will be tough, challenging, and technical. If Tour de Corse is named the rally of 10,000 corners, some claim that this edition of Rally Japan should be referred to as the rally of 100,000 corners such is its terrifically technical nature.

Rich Millener, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Principal, said:
"It is great that we are finally getting to compete in Japan. This rally has been in the works for a while now and while we might be arriving two years late, our appetite for this event has only grown. I think it’s very important that the sport is heading to Japan, especially for our competitor Toyota which has been incredible in recent years, the team deserves to be able to have a fantastic home event.

“I would also like to extend a huge thank you to every single member of the M-Sport team. Through one way or another, this year has been incredibly tough for a lot of our team members. They have stuck with it, didn’t give up and always delivered for which we are very grateful.

“I am feeling optimistic about this rally, the aim is to do our absolute best to finish the season on a high, to give us some momentum into the off season as we prepare for the 2023 season.”

Craig Breen, said: “It is the last rally of the year and a new rally for everyone. From what we can see so far, the roads look challenging; incredibly twisty and technical. It looks like it will be up there as one of the most difficult rallies that we’ve seen on Tarmac so far. Still, it should be a nice challenge, Spain got better and better as the weekend went on, I felt like we made some good progress and changes with the car. Hopefully we can hit the ground running here in Japan and try to bring home a good result to end the season.”

Gus Greensmith, said: “Japan as a country itself is a place I’ve always dreamed about visiting, the fact I am able to go and compete on there and then enjoy the country after is a double bonus. We feel we will have a strong package coming into this weekend. It’s going to be a good weekend; we want to round out the season on a high.”

M-Sport and Adrien Fourmaux Team Statement

Posted: November 7, 2022 5:30 AM

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing to celebrate global success on home roads

Posted: November 7, 2022 5:26 AM

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team will have the chance to celebrate its hugely successful 2022 season on home roads when the FIA World Rally Championship returns to Rally Japan on November 10-13.

The championship’s first visit to Japan since 2010 will be the first time that a factory Toyota WRC team has contested a round of the series in the company’s home country. TGR WRT will arrive there fresh from securing a clean sweep of championship titles over the previous two rounds: Kalle Rovanperä was crowned the youngest ever drivers’ champion alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen in New Zealand last month, before the team then wrapped up the manufacturers’ title in Spain two weeks ago.

Rovanperä will be competing in Japan for the first time, as will his full-season team-mate Elfyn Evans. Completing the TGR WRT line-up is Sébastien Ogier, who won the most recent edition of Rally Japan in 2010 and claimed the last two of his eight world championship titles with Toyota before stepping back from full-time competition this season. After taking victory in Spain with Benjamin Veillas, Ogier will be joined in Japan by young, up-and-coming co-driver Vincent Landais.

TGR WRC Challenge Program driver Takamoto Katsuta will also have the chance to compete in his home round of the WRC for the first time at the end of a strong and consistent full-season campaign under the TGR WRT Next Generation banner.

While Rally Japan was previously run as a gravel event in the northern island of Hokkaid?, its return will be held on asphalt roads on the largest island, Honshu. The stages will take place mostly in the mountains of the Aichi and Gifu prefectures on highly demanding roads that are technical and narrow in character. Many sections will run through forests with constantly changing grip levels.

The service park will be located at Toyota Stadium in Aichi, near the city of Nagoya. Both shakedown and Thursday evening’s opening stage will be held in the nearby Kuragaike Park. Friday will be the longest day of the rally with 130.22 competitive kilometres to be tackled across two loops of three stages to the north-east of Toyota City. Saturday features a trio of repeated stages to the south-east, plus two passes of a super special stage in Okazaki City to round out the day. A total of five stages form the final day on Sunday, starting and finishing with the Asahi Kougen test that hosts the rally-ending Power Stage.

At its home rally, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will also demonstrate two concept cars. Both cars will be driven in Okazaki prior to SS13 on Saturday, with two legendary rally drivers at the wheel. The GR YARIS Rally2 Concept will be unveiled for the first time at Rally Japan. It is a concept car being developed according to the Rally2 regulations that form a popular and competitive category in which many teams compete, with the aim of becoming fully involved in customer motorsports in rallying as well as in racing. The GR YARIS H2, an experimental concept using hydrogen to fuel a combustion engine, will also showcase its performance following its debut run at Ypres Rally Belgium in August. Juha Kankkunen will drive the GR YARIS Rally2 Concept with another four-time world champion Tommi Mäkinen to drive the GR YARIS H2.

As part of Toyota’s initiatives to explore new options for achieving carbon neutrality and developing a sustainable motorsports industry, clean energy derived from hydrogen fuel cells will be used in the service park at Toyota Stadium and at the Okazaki stage, making the most of experience gained in the Super Taikyu racing series in Japan and at Ypres Rally Belgium.

Quotes:
Jari-Matti Latvala (Team Principal)
“The return of Rally Japan to the WRC is something that we have been looking forward to for a long time and it will be very exciting for us to go and compete at the home rally of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. After such an amazing season for our team it will be great to go there with a bit less pressure, to really enjoy it and put on a show for the fans with our GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID and try to get the best result possible. We need to be prepared for what looks like a very challenging rally on twisty mountain roads which are really narrow in places, and with autumn conditions and leaves on the road which will make it tricky for the drivers with a lot of grip changes.”

Sébastien Ogier / Vincent Landais
Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)
“I’m really excited for Rally Japan. It was quite a big disappointment the last two years that this rally had to be cancelled as we definitely see it as a highlight for us as TOYOTA GAZOO Racing drivers. I love the country itself and have some good memories from there: I only competed there once before but it was a win, so there is also some pressure to try and keep my 100 per cent record! This rally will be totally different to before though and probably quite a demanding one from what we have seen so far. But I always like the challenge of a completely new rally where everybody starts from scratch and has to adapt as quickly as possible. I’m sure the experience is going to be a special one and I’m looking forward to it.”

Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin
Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
“I think the whole team is looking forward to finally have the chance to compete at Rally Japan. Of course the target will be to try and get a good result on home ground for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. Personally the last round in Spain was not the best for me but hopefully we can use the rally in Japan to find some improvements and prepare for next year in a good way. I was there in 2019 to recce some of the stages around the area of the rally and from what I remember the roads were very demanding with sections that were extremely twisty and narrow and others which were more fast and flowing, so there will probably be a lot of changes in character to deal with during the rally.”

Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen Kalle Rovanperä (Driver car 69)
“It’s going to be very nice to finally be able to go to Rally Japan, and especially after a season like we have had with the team this year with such good results and the championships already in the bag. It means the team can go to Japan more relaxed and enjoy this home rally, and we will try to push hard and hopefully have a really good result at the end of it. Having seen some stages there three years ago, I think it’s going to be a really tricky event. There are some wider and smoother roads as well as some very narrow forest sections which can also be quite dirty. So it’s going to be a difficult recce before the rally with roads that we’re not used to and a lot of new pacenotes to write.”

Hyundai Motorsport Preview: Round 13 – Rally Japan

Posted: November 7, 2022 5:22 AM

Hyundai Motorsport journeys to Rally Japan, the final round of the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), with hopes of ending the inaugural season of the hybrid era on a positive note. In its debut year, the new Hyundai i20 N Rally1 has delivered the team four wins and 14 podiums so far.

Having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rally Japan finally returns to the WRC calendar this season following an 11-year hiatus from the series. This will be the Alzenau-based outfit’s first trip to the Asian event, as the last running of the rally predates Hyundai Motorsport’s arrival in WRC.

Another first at this year’s Rally Japan will be the surface, with the event shifting to smooth tarmac roads from the gravel tracks of previous editions. The rally headquarters have also found a new home for 2022 close to Nagoya, the nation’s fourth largest city. The fresh itinerary presents a daunting and uncertain challenge for the crews, who will have to get up to speed quickly in order to put themselves in contention for victory.

This will be the target for the squads in the Hyundai Motorsport line-up, as all three have visited the podium on multiple occasions this year in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1. At the previous round, Rally de España, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe powered their way onto the top-three, finishing in second position overall. Fourth and fifth-place finishes for Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja and Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera completed a solid weekend.
However, the crews will be looking to produce improved results next weekend on the Japanese roads to positively conclude what has been an up-and-down season for the team.

The new-look Rally Japan kicks off on Thursday evening with SS1 in Kuragaike Park. Friday’s schedule is far more extensive, consisting of two loops with a total distance of over 130km, making it the longest day of the event. The crews will take on a further sevens stages on Saturday before the rally comes to a close on Sunday with five final tests.

Deputy Team Director Julien Moncet said:
“We always expected this season to be difficult, as this is often the case when new regulations are introduced. Of course we wanted to win the title, but I think we must still be pleased with our performance this year with our new Hyundai i20 N Rally1. It has brought us four victories, our joint-most in a single season, and has demonstrated pace on every surface. Our target that our crews can get the best out of the car again in Japan and end the year in a strong and positive fashion. A fifth win would be an excellent way to conclude 2022 and could be the spark for a better season in 2023.”

Crew notes: Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (#8 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Crew aiming to secure second place in standings in their last event with the team Estonians have won three events in 2022

Tänak?said: “Rally Japan is going to be a challenging one for us because it’s a new event, so I personally don’t have too much information on what to expect, but we will gather all the info we have available with the recce and prepare for it as much as possible. After three years with Hyundai Motorsport, this is going to be my last one with them, so I hope that we can find a good feeling on the roads and finish the season and our partnership on a high note.”

Crew notes: Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (#11 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Belgians finished second at previous round, Rally de España
Duo searching for fifth podium of the year

Neuville?said:?“New country, new rally, new adventure. Other than knowing it will be tarmac stages we have no clue what is waiting for us. This obviously makes it a bit more difficult to prepare but most of the time I have done better when the rally is new than when it is one I have done before. We always want to finish in the highest place possible at the end of the season, as it gives you a nice feeling going into the winter break and helps motivate you for the next year. So the target will be to give the best of ourselves, get the most out of the car, and then see where we end up.”

Crew notes: Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (#6 Hyundai i20 N Rally1)
Sordo has competed in Japan before when it was a gravel event
Spanish crew has taken three podiums this season

Sordo?said:?“I have rallied in Japan back when it was on gravel, but I am excited to try the new tarmac stages, which I have been told are very narrow and difficult. When you don’t know what to expect it is always more challenging, as all you can do to prepare for the stages is to watch videos. Once we are at the event, the recce and pace notes will be important to producing a good weekend. As always, our goal is to get on the podium at a minimum and deliver the best result possible for the team.”

WRC2 Overview
Following an excellent display at Rally de España, Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula and Fabrizio Zaldivar/Marcelo Der Ohannesian will conclude the WRC2 season in Japan. The Finns took an emphatic victory in Spain, the first of the year for the pair and the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car. They will be targeting another strong tarmac performance next weekend.

Zaldivar and Der Ohannesian also continued their run of top ten finishes in WRC2 at Rally de España, extending the streak to four consecutive rallies. The pair will hope to make it five in a row at Rally Japan.

Suninen said: “I had a taste of Rally Japan back in 2019 when I did the recce of the candidate event and I have been looking forward to coming back ever since. It is a unique rally with nice smooth tarmac, but it can be surprisingly slippery. There are many slow sections, which creates a big challenge for the drivers and the car has to be good in the slow corners. It’s going to be a fantastic experience to rally in Japan as the fans there are amazing.”

Zaldivar said: “I am happy with how we have performed this season and hope that we can finish the year with another good result. At each event I feel like I have learned more about the car and improved my feel and pace in it. I have never competed in Japan before, but I am really looking forward to it. I have also heard that the fans are very passionate, so hopefully we can put on a good show for them.”

Deputy Team Director Julien Moncet said:
“After having their win in Finland taken away, it was great to see Teemu and Mikko back on the top step in Spain. They have got pace out of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 all season, particularly on tarmac, so there is definitely a chance for another victory in Japan. As for Fabrizio, he has shown promise and progression at every rally this year. We are proud of how he has performed and hope he can finish well again next weekend.”

Weekend at a Glance
Rally Japan begins on Thursday evening with 2.75km stage in Kuragaike Park
Friday is the longest day of the event in terms of distance, with the two loops of stages totalling 130.22km
The itinerary on Saturday consists of seven stages, including two passes of the super special Okazaki City (1.40km)
Five stages, including the Asahi Kougen Power Stage (7.52km), bring the event to a close on Sunday.

Entry List

Posted: November 7, 2022 5:21 AM

Japan (WRC) - 10-13 Nov 22 - ENTRY LIST

Rally Guide / Details / Event Website

Posted: September 6, 2022 2:15 PM

Rally Japan