Which return is the most exciting? Rally Japan’s reinclusion on the World Rally Championship calendar, or Sean Johnston and Alex Kihurani’s return to the WRC service park?
Many of you probably don’t see it as a toss-up – you’ve been waiting for Rally Japan for years. But for the American rallying crew taking on the world, they could be competing anywhere and be absolutely ecstatic to be back.
Johnston and Kihurani haven’t been in action since July’s Rally Estonia. With budget concerns for next season, they’ve elected to save money and not do all seven of their planned WRC2 events this year, and instead attention has turned to firming up plans for 2023.
That’s a process that’s still ongoing, but there was a carrot dangling before Johnston’s eyes, and Rally Japan was too irresistible to miss out on.
“Since we skipped Greece and Spain and a number of small national rallies that we were planning on using as preparation, we have some budget left over for this season and for next as well which is great,” he told DirtFish.
“Plus we received some logistics support, and Citroën Racing stepped up with some technical support as well, so we’re actually able to do Rally Japan at just over the cost of a European round which is amazing! So for us we figured we’ll get one more points-scoring finish on the books this year and have a set of notes for the future as well.
“And we’ll have another opportunity for us to try and score those first world championship points as well. We narrowly missed it at Monte and Safari this year so it’ll be good to have another crack at it, as there’s an exciting story to tell if it goes well which we think will be helpful in continuing to raise more money for next year.
“For sure it’ll be tough with the strong WRC2 field entered but we’re excited to get out there and see what we can do. At the least, a few points to get us back into the top 10 overall standings in WRC2 is the minimum of what we’re hoping for from the event.”
“Plus, with all the craziness going on in Alex’s world, when he said it would be really, really great to get back in a rally car and re-engage with his passion, that for me was the thing that pushed me towards ultimately deciding to go to Japan. I’m looking forward to it.”
The craziness in Alex’s world has been a collapsed lung quickly followed by the birth of his beautiful daughter Ziana. Arriving into the world three months earlier than expected, it’s been an intense time for all involved but Ziana is now home from the hospital and Kihurani can begin to look forward.
“It’s been nice having a rally to work towards and look forward to, even when it comes to the logistical challenges such as flights, hotels, and movement schedules” he admitted..
“During the first month with Ziana having some complications we found it really, really tough – going through the routine of spending the whole day stressed in hospital and coming home exhausted while not really feeling like we were getting anywhere. It was nice to have a distraction at times to feel like I was still able to work towards, and control, something..
“It seems like such a basic process but I never realized how much that little sense of progress feeds and motivates me, so it’s been nice to have something productive to distract me. To get back rallying is going to be really, really nice.”
And what a place to be doing it. Both Johnston and Kihurani adore traveling and experiencing new cultures, so the chance to compete in Japan is tremendously exciting.
“It’s a bucket list item for me,” said Kihurani. “My mom has been back in the ’80s before I was born, so it’s been fun listening to some of the stories my mom had from that perspective, but it’s always been at the top of my bucket list as locations I want to go to.
“It seems like it’ll be culturally so different yet so advanced, so I’m pretty excited to be able to do something like rallying there.
“Going to a country and rallying gives you perspective that you don’t get as a tourist, it does embed you in the society in ways that you normally wouldn’t and you definitely get taken to locations you normally wouldn’t go, so I’m definitely excited for it.”
“I’ve been once, I absolutely loved it and I can’t wait to go back!” Johnston added.
“It’s very much an unexpected bonus being able to participate in this event this year, so I’m super grateful to get to go – I can’t wait.”
Nor can we. It’s been too long since we heard the word ‘fruity’ called down the intercom on a round of the WRC.
