Andreas Mikkelsen has crashed out of Rally Japan, dealing Hyundai a massive blow to its manufacturers’ championship hopes.
While Ott Tänak leads the event by 13.7 seconds over Elfyn Evans, Thierry Neuville is ailing through the afternoon with what DirtFish understands is a wastegate issue aboard his i20.
Mikkelsen’s performance therefore became even more important with Neuville unable to be a factor in the fight against Toyota.
Running sixth prior to SS5, the second pass of Isegami’s Tunnel, Mikkelsen lost the car under braking, slid on some mud and hit a tree with his Hyundai. His accident blocked the stage and caused it to be red-flagged for competing crews behind him.
Hyundai has a 15-point lead over Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship. As things stand after SS5, that gap would be reduced to 11 points, with Takamoto Katsuta backing Evans up in third place.
