Elfyn Evans made the most of optimal road conditions as first car on the road to lead Rally Japan after three stages, dominating the Isegami’s Tunnel test to build a 17.7s lead.
Though Oliver Solberg briefly led the way after stage one it was the infamous 15.1-mile Isegami’s Tunnel test which defined the first morning of action in Japan. Overnight rain and heavy tree overhang meant the roads remained damp – and pollution was dragged onto the road as cars began to pass through.
Evans maximized that opportunity, beating the entire field by 7.5s on SS2; he then went quickest again on the Inabu/Shitara stage.
Reigning world champion Sébastien Ogier lost 16.7s on the second test alone, with Evans’ Toyota team-mate saying there was nothing he could do to stem the time loss.
“There was not much we could do,” said Ogier. “The middle section was full of mud everywhere, so greasy, nothing we could do from our start position. But there’s still a long way and we will put maximum pressure on Elfyn.”
Ogier suffered more than his team-mates on Isegami's Tunnel as the last-starting GR Yaris Rally1
Oliver Solberg and Ogier are separated by 0.5s in the battle for second place overall. The Swede was delayed by a herd of deer on SS3 and lost 11.3s to rally leader Evans – and called for time to be given back to him.
“Full of deer in the straight and I had to slow down a very long time,” said Solberg. “I hit one a little bit; I lost all the confidence in the fast [sections] because I don’t know if there is more [deer] there. I lost way too much time with the animals so I should get some time back.”
Thierry Neuville is the lead Hyundai in fourth, 28.6s off the pace. He complained of understeer more than once and gambled on softs all around on the final stage of the Friday morning loop, which cost him time in dry sections but provided more grip on the tricker greasy sections under the trees.
Sami Pajari in fifth overall, 3.6s behind Neuville, was spooked on the morning’s opening stage by a loose drainage grate: “There was a concrete drain in the middle of the road which was offset, not like it should be flat but at an angle, and I hit this at high speed,” said Pajari.
“I was really sure I had a puncture or something. But luckily it seems like nothing. It was 2km in the stage, so…woah, lucky.”
A frustrated Takamoto Katsuta is languishing in sixth place overall, already 43.8s off the lead on his home round of the World Rally Championship.
Takamoto Katsuta was frustrated at a lack of accurate condition information in his pace notes at certain corners
Katsuta went off the road more than once: on the opening Asuke stage he understeered wide on a right hander and had to grab the handbrake to force rotation, dipping the left-rear wheel into a drainage ditch and picking up a puncture. On the loop-ending Inabu/Shitara stage he then overshot a slow right-hander and went off into grass, losing several seconds.
In both cases Katsuta said insufficient information on conditions from his route note crew was to blame: “Like I said same as stage one, obviously there was damp but no information in the notes. How is it possible? How can I drive like this?”
Adrien Fourmaux suffered a spin at a hairpin on Isegami’s Tunnel – though it was not the main reason he ended up 54.4s off the pace in the rally’s first three stages.
“I have no grip and no balance in the car,” said Fourmaux. “I had a dry setup and I expected it to dry a bit more, rain a bit less. It’s a very bad start for us but it’s a long rally but let’s see. But normally you will never catch those seconds per stage. As always on tarmac…”
Hayden Paddon is eighth, 22.7s behind Fourmaux; he also had an overshoot moment at a left junction on the Isegami’s Tunnel test.
WRC2 leader Nikolay Gryazin splits the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1s, with Jon Armstrong ninth and Josh McErlean 11th. Both drivers struggled with their tire choice, having gone mostly for hard compound tires as the rest of the Rally1 field – Paddon aside – leaned more heavily on softs.
Alejandro Cachón was fastest on the first and third stages in WRC2 and is 1.7s behind class leader Gryazin.
