M-Sport-Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux grabbed an early Rally Japan lead after winning the opening super special stage at the World Rally Championship season finale.
The final round of the season began with a 2.15km asphalt head-to-head super special stage held inside Toyota Stadium in Toyota City.
Fourmaux faced eight-time world champion Sebastien Ogier in a two-lap duel in front of a packed stadium crowd. The Frenchman defeated his fellow countryman by a comfortable 2.2s, which was enough to secure the rally lead heading into Friday’s stages.
Hyundai’s Ott Tanak trailed Forumaux by 0.5s after the Estonian edged Toyota’s Elfyn Evans in their heat by 0.4s, as the latter slotted into fourth overall. Tanak heads into Japan with a chance, albeit slim, to secure a second WRC title this weekend.
Championship leader and title favourite Thierry Neuville lost the head-to-head battle with Toyota’s local hero Takamoto Katsuta, who set the third fastest time overall, 0.8s slower than Fourmaux’s benchmark.
"Super special feeling, nice to see the fans here, my friends and family,” said Katsuta.
“Everything is possible, I will do my best. I'm still waiting for a message from [Toyota team principal] Jari-Matti [Latvala] to push - when I get it, I push. I don't know when it's coming.”
Only needing to score six points to claim a maiden WRC title, Neuville was happy to reach the finish unscathed with an identical time to Ogier as the pair shared fifth position.
"We are counting down the stages for sure. The bigger stages are coming,” said Neuville.
“The objectives are clear for the team, everyone is motivated and at the same time relaxed.
“Once the rally started, it's easier to manage the stress and stuff around. We need to keep concentrated and do the job."
M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster snatched victory from Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen in the evening’s first Rally1 heat to end the day in seventh.
Mikkelsen had led Munster’s Ford Puma initially in their battle before revealing that his Hyundai was short on fuel as it limped over the finish line.
“I had to drive left and right [quickly] to keep some fuel, we almost didn't reach the finish line,” said Mikkelsen.
In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin defeated title hopeful Sami Pajari by two seconds to take an early class lead. Toyota driver Pajari can secure the WRC2 title this weekend if he finishes either first or second.
Japan’s famous twisting mountain roads welcome the crews on Friday with eight tests, comprising 126 competitive kilometres.
