Sébastien Ogier was the standout of the World Rally Championship field during shakedown for Rally Japan, clocking a fastest time one second faster than anyone else.
The reigning world champion had looked set for victory at the previous round in Portugal until a penultimate-stage puncture; he also won the most recent asphalt round of the championship, Rally Islas Canarias.
Rally Japan’s Thursday morning warmup was more of the same, with Ogier immediately 0.6s up on Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans on the first pass. By the second he’d extended that gap to a whole second.
Ogier’s assessment was brief and to the point, highlighting that his previous trip to Japan had led to victory: “The only thing that matters is I want the same result and I am here for that,” he said.
Evans has won in Japan twice, taking back-to-back victories in 2023 and 2024; he was firmly the best of the rest behind Ogier on shakedown.
Elfyn Evans was only second-fastest on shakedown – but he has double the number of sealed surface wins in Japan as Ogier
“It’s looking like a nice rally again, quite similar to previous years but let’s wait and see how it is,” said Evans.
“On the recce the roads seemed a bit cleaner though it hasn’t changed too much of the road really – less leaves, a bit less of this green moss, but it shouldn’t change things too much. The bigger factor perhaps will be the heat for tires and brakes.”
Sami Pajari was third fastest but lamented a lack of pre-event test – mandated by the rules which specify Rally1 testing can’t take place outside of Europe.
“We didn’t have testing for this event so it was trying to find the right feeling on shakedown,” said Pajari, who was 1.5s off Ogier’s benchmark.
Adrien Fourmaux disrupted the Toyota hegemony on its home rally with fourth-fastest time; he was one of four drivers to conduct five passes of shakedown along with team-mate Thierry Neuville and both M-Sport drivers.
Josh McErlean broke into the top six with his final shakedown run
Takamoto Katsuta tied Fourmaux for fourth-fastest time and insisted the weight of expectation on his shoulders – now taking on Rally Japan as a WRC winner while chasing a first win on home soil – was not an issue.
“Of course a lot [of pressure] but nothing disturbing at least, so all OK,” said Katsuta. “Quite nice atmosphere always in Japan, just need to push as much as possible to be there.”
Josh McErlean was the faster Ford Puma driver for the second consecutive asphalt event in sixth, besting team-mate Jon Armstrong by 0.3s; the M-Sport drivers were split by Oliver Solberg, who was a tenth of a second behind McErlean to set the seventh-fastest time.
Hayden Paddon and Neuville brought up the rear of the Rally1 field, with the 2024 world champion three seconds off Ogier’s benchmark.
Though Neuville comes here off the back of victory in Portugal – making up for crashing out of the lead in Croatia on the powerstage – he suggested his car was not where he wanted it to be.
Victory in Portugal was a pleasant surprise for Neuville but he struggled to find the right feeling in the Japan warm-up
“We’re delighted it happened so quickly after Croatia,” said Neuville of Hyundai’s Portugal win. “That’s all the positive. This weekend will be a bit more challenging but we will see. We have some work to do.”
Nikolay Gryazin was the fastest Rally2 car aboard a factory-backed Lancia, 0.2s up on M-Sport’s WRC2 regular Romet Jürgenson. Defending WRC2 Japan winner Alejandro Cachón was third-fastest, a further tenth of a second behind Jürgenson.
