Evans heads Toyota 1-2-3-4 after tricky WRC Rally Japan opening leg

Elfyn Evans ended an opening day of tricky, changing conditions on Rally Japan with a 15.7s lead as Toyota Gazoo Racing filled the top four places on Friday’s leaderboard.

Evans (above) came to the FIA World Rally Championship’s final all-asphalt event of the season leading the drivers’ points, meaning the two-time Rally Japan winner would start first on the road in his GR Yaris Rally1. He made the most of his clean road position, putting together an error-free day on Aichi prefecture’s narrow, twisting asphalt stages to head teammate Oliver Solberg, with defending Rally Japan winner Sebastien Ogier ending the leg just 1.4s further back in third.

Sami Pajari completed Toyota’s top-four lockout, 41.5s from the lead, after winning the day’s final stage, the 10.61-mile Inabu/Shitara 2 test.

Evans had been fourth fastest on the all-new, 8.02-mile Asuke opener, where overnight rain had left damp patches under the trees, making tire choice difficult. But his day turned on the first pass of the rally’s longest stage, 15.1-mile Isegami’s Tunnel, where he set a time 7.5s faster than anybody else to move into the lead.

From there, the Welshman kept the rally under control. He added another stage win on the first run through Inabu/Shitara to close the morning, then protected his margin across the afternoon repeat loop as conditions became drier, but remained unpredictable in places.

“Road position; it’s always road position,” said Evans after the final stage. “It’s been an OK day for us overall. It’s been relatively clean and we managed to keep a good rhythm, so other than that it has been OK.”

Solberg had made the perfect start by winning the Asuke opener and later repeated that success on the afternoon pass, but lost time on the morning’s final stage when he slowed to avoid a deer on the road. A couple late moments on the day’s final stage didn’t result in an off and he reached the overnight halt second overall.

“It was a horrible stage,” admitted Solberg after his final-stage scare. “I had way too many small mistakes. That was probably the worst stage today. I’m very disappointed and a bit sad today, because instead of being 16s behind [Evans], it could have been 10s, but that’s life.”

Oliver Solberg admitted to being “a bit sad” after a mistake-riddled final stage, but is still second in his GR Yaris Rally1 and just 15.7s off the lead.

Ogier, who won Rally Japan last year, spent much of the day chasing a better feeling from his GR Yaris. The nine-time and reigning WRC champ was frustrated by his road position after dropping 16.7s to Evans on the morning pass of Isegami’s Tunnel, then kept Solberg under pressure through the afternoon to end Friday 17.1s off the lead and definitely not out of contention with two days to go.

“Not ideal for sure,” said Ogier. “We were hoping for better. We did what we could, but we still have to work to find the sweet spot in the car. I was fighting it all day.”

Pajari’s GR Yaris was fifth overall at midday, but moved ahead of Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai during the afternoon and signed off with the fastest time on the closing stage. The 24-year-old Finn is in something of a no-man’s land, 24.4s behind Ogier and 16.7s clear of Neuville heading into Saturday’s second leg.

Neuville ended the day as the leading factory Hyundai driver in fifth, 58.2s from Evans. The Belgian showed competitive speed in his i20 N Rally1 in the damp and greasy sections through the morning loop, but struggled for balance once conditions dried and he switched to the hard compound Hankook tire.

“Once we are on the hard tire the balance is gone,” said the 2024 WRC champ. “It’s the same story with this car. This car is not meant to go fast in these conditions.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville held his own in the morning’s damp conditions, but struggled in the afternoon as the stages dried. Red Bull Content Pool

Home hero Takamoto Katsuta endured a frustrating start to the rally he wants to win most after a start to the season that earned him victories in Kenya and Croatia. The Japanese factory Toyota driver clipped a bank on a damp right-hander in the opening stage and picked up a left-rear puncture, then struggled for confidence through the morning. He ended the day only sixth overall, 1m03.8s from the lead and last of the five-car factory GR Yaris Rally1 fleet.

“It was one of the worst days I have had,” said a disappointed Katsuta. “It is very bad and it was very frustrating. But there are still two days to go.”

Adrien Fourmaux holds seventh after a difficult day in the second of the three factory Hyundais. The Frenchman spun at a hairpin on the morning pass of Isegami’s Tunnel and never found the balance he wanted, while his teammate, part-timer Hayden Paddon, completed his first day in a circumspect eighth overall.

Jon Armstrong holds ninth for M-Sport Ford, despite grazing a barrier on the afternoon Asuke stage in his Puma Rally1 and later battling an intercom issue caused by sweating into his helmet. His teammate, Josh McErlean, lost more than two and a half minutes when he stopped to change a front-right puncture on the penultimate stage and lies 12th.

In WRC2, the second tier of international rallying, Alejandro Cachon holds a slender 8.3s lead over Nikolay Gryazin after a finely poised opening day. The pair traded the category lead throughout Friday’s six stages, with Cachon ending the day on top after a late push on the final pass of Inabu/Shitara.

Cachon struck first on the Asuke opener, going against conventional thinking by running his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on soft tires. The gamble paid off, with the Spaniard putting in a time 8.0s faster than anybody else in the category and showing the form which carried him to victory in Japan last year.

Gryazin responded immediately on the first pass of Isegami’s Tunnel. The Lancia Ypsilon YF driver was fastest by 16.5s from Cachon through the 15.1-mile test, where the changing grip and damp patches created major gaps across the field.

Cachon cut the deficit back on Inabu/Shitara 1, before reclaiming the lead on the afternoon’s second run through Asuke. Gryazin then moved ahead once more on Isegami’s Tunnel, although the drier conditions meant he couldn’t repeat his morning advantage and reached the final stage only 1.0s clear.

That set up a decisive final push from Cachon, who was 22.8s faster than Gryazin on the closing stage to end Friday with an 8.3s overnight advantage.

Alejandro Cachon’s bid for a second straight Rally Japan WRC2 win has started strongly, the GR Yaris Rally2 driver holding an 8.3s overnight lead. Red Bull Content Pool

Saturday’s eight-stage leg is the longest of the rally. It features two passes of the Obara, Ena and Mt. Kasagi tests, before a double hit of the Fujioka super special stage, for a total of 74.7 competitive miles.

WRC Rally Japan, positions after Friday/Leg One, SS6
1 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 1h13m07.0s
2 Oliver Solberg/Elliott Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +15.7s
3 Sebastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +17.1s
4 Sami Pajari/Marko Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +41.5s
5 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +58.2s
6 Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) +1m03.8s
7 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +1m16.3s
8 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) +2m17.0s
9 Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) +2m40.9s
10 Alejandro Cachon/Borja Rosada (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 – WRC2 leader) +3m26.6s

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