P1racenews AI automatic summary:
The opening morning of the final round of the WRC season started with a bang when Sebastian Ogier drppped two minutes with a puncture in the day’s opening stage, dropping the French crew to 18th overall. Takamoto Katsuta also had a puncture in the same stage and was ninth overall at the end of SS2, […]
In Rally Japan, Takamoto Katsuta faced a puncture in the same stage and placed ninth overall by the end of SS2, which was a setback for Toyota in their Manufacturers’ Championship battle. Thierry Neuville experienced power loss in the morning loop’s final stage, finishing 10th but holding on to third place, trailing the leader by 40 seconds. Unfortunately, Neuville couldn’t resolve the power issue in the tyre-fitting zone, impacting their performance in the following stages. Neuville lost over 2½ minutes in stage five and struggled to pick up speed in the faster-flowing sixth stage, where the Hyundai couldn’t surpass 100km/h due to the power problem. The race was temporarily stopped in stage five after Andreas Mikkelsen’s crash obstructed the track at around km 11. In WRC2, Sami Pajari maintained the second position crucial to securing the WRC2 title. Gus Greensmith’s hopes of winning WRC2 to support his teammate Oliver Solberg’s title bid were dashed when he veered off the track, damaging the front-end of his Skoda. Ott Tänak currently leads Rally Japan ahead of Elfyn Evans.
