Evans extends lead after Ogier penalty
Evans completed the day’s six stages with a 1m49.9s advantage over eight-time world champion Ogier, who incurred a one-minute penalty before the last stage of the day. The Frenchman checked out of the final service six minutes late following a repair to the door of his GR Yaris which was damaged during stage five. Evans […]
Evans heads Toyota 1-2-3 after Neuville exit
Evans put his Toyota GR Yaris into a 26.0s lead over Neuville after winning the morning’s two stages held in extreme wet conditions, but the Welshman came under pressure from Neuville in the afternoon. Neuville’s charge came to a halt after a crash on stage six which helped push Evans into 50.9s lead over Toyota […]
Neuville crashes out, easing pressure on Evans
Neuville had closed to within 10.5s of Evans heading into stage six but his rally came to a premature halt 100 metres into the stage. The Belgian lost control of his i20N which found the trees causing terminal damage to the front of his car. Last year’s Rally Japan winners Neuville and co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe […]
Evans in command after surviving horrendous conditions
The Toyota driver emerged as the class of the field in arguably the most challenging and dangerous conditions the crews have experienced this season. Evans leapt from ninth after Thursday’s night’s super special to claim the lead from Neuville by 26.0s after winning the morning’s two stages. Organisers were forced to cancel the final stage […]
Sordo crashes out as Evans stuns to grab lead
The Hyundai driver appeared to lock up under braking on the incredibly slippery wet asphalt, littered with leaves and pine needles, and went off the road, 11.8km into the Isegami’s Tunnel stage (24.67km). Sordo’s i20N darted to left before swiping some trees as the car slid down an embankment. Both driver and co-driver Candido Carrera […]
WRC drivers expect «big challenge» in Japan from scattered leaves, pine needles
Drivers have noted an excessive amount of leaves and pine needles covering the asphalt stages following the recce earlier this week. The conditions are much worse compared to last year with some crews describing the road surface as like driving on “ice”, and to make matters worse rain is expected to fall on Friday. It […]
Эсапекка Лаппи продлил контракт с Hyundai в WRC на сезон-2024
Несмотря на две подряд серьёзных аварии, на Ралли Чили и Ралли Центральной Европы, финский гонщик заводской команды Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Эсапекка Лаппи продлил контракт с южнокорейским коллективом на выступления в чемпионате мира по классическому ралли WRC в 2024 году. «Я чувствую себя очень комфортно в команде. За прошедший год мы установили фантастическое сотрудничество и […]
Neuville gives Hyundai early lead with super special stage win
The Hyundai driver set the fastest time around the all-new 2.10km side-by-side super special stage, held inside the 45,000-seater Toyota Stadium, a host venue for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Neuville managed to comfortably beat newly crowned two-time world champion Kalle Rovanpera by 4.0s in their head-to-head contest. Rovanpera’s time was only good enough for […]
Three drivers could share third 2024 WRC Hyundai, says Abiteboul
The Korean marque announced on the eve of this weekend’s season finale in Japan that Esapekka Lappi will conduct a part-time programme, driving the team’s third factory i20N entry. Lappi had been expected to scale back from a full-time to a partial programme after Hyundai signed Ott Tanak from M-Sport to join Thierry Neuville for […]