P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja have a 20 second lead on WRC FORUM8 Rally Japan after a dramatic opening day of the season finale. Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe suffered a power loss in their Hyundai i20 N in stage four, losing over six seconds per kilometer over the afternoon stages to their Estonian teammates […]
Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe experienced a power loss in their Hyundai i20 N during stage four, falling behind their Estonian teammates and dropping to 15th place overall, trailing the lead by 7 minutes and 41 seconds. Despite efforts to address the issue, the team struggled to make significant gains during the afternoon stages. Neuville expressed frustration, stating, “Obviously we couldn’t solve the issue that is for sure.” Their focus shifted to minimizing time loss and capitalizing on the remaining stages to secure crucial points for the WRC championship. Meanwhile, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin maintained their second-place position with strong performances throughout the day. Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria impressed in third place, closely followed by Takamoto Katsuta in fourth. As the competition intensified, Sebastien Ogier and Vincent Landais worked their way up to fifth place after a challenging start. Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka secured the sixth spot in their Ford Puma. In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin continued to lead in his Citroen C3, with Sami Pajari close behind in second place.
