Rally Japan, the 2023 World Rally Championship’s season finale on November 16-19, will include a new stadium-based superspecial stage this year.
The new stage will take place in the Toyota Stadium, the 45,000-capacity facility in Toyota City, which hosted the event’s service park in 2022, as well as its ceremonial start and podium presentations.
Rally Japan returned to the WRC calendar last year as a new asphalt event based in the Aichi Prefecture. Crowd numbers in the stages were heavily restricted to ensure the event’s smooth running, but the rally still drew a large number of fans who lined road sections and formed long queues for access to the service park.
The new superspecial stage will allow nearly 40,000 people to witness competitive action close up, with two cars running head-to-head through the stage.
It will be run three times, opening the rally on Thursday night, with repeats on the Friday and Saturday evenings.
The venue is likely to be reminiscent of the Acropolis Rally’s similar superspecial in the Athens Olympic Stadium which last year drew a crowd of 65,000.
