WRC Rally Japan: Ogier puts Toyota on top in day one
10th November 2022Sebastien Ogier topped the first day of the weekend with a night-time run through Kuragaike Park, with a 2:07.0, putting Toyota on top in their home rally.
How the first day unfolded…
The sun had set on the first day of the rally, this forced the drivers to attack a very quick and quick stage in the dark as the corners came at them quick and fast.
WRC2’s Toksport’s Bruno Bulacia got the rally officially underway in Japan and the Bolivian set the benchmark with a 2:18.0 but this was soon beaten by the third runner, Sami Pajari who went seven seconds quicker.
However, Gregoire Munster oversteered into the final corners which briefly launched his Hyundai i20 up into the air after he clipped one of the drainage areas that lined the edge of the course.
Shortly after, Teemu Suninen suffered a similar fate, at the set of corners. While the Finnish driver was able to keep his Hyundai out of the drainage area, his car understeered into the left-hander and nudged the barrier with his front right fender.
As the WRC2 runners completed their runs on the opening stage, Toksport’s Emil Lindholm stood as the fastest driver with a 2:11.0 – the same time as Pajari before him.
M-Sport Ford’s Gus Greensmith was the first WRC driver to attack the course. With a clean run, the Ford driver quickly jumped to the top of the timing boards with a 2:09.2, 1.8 seconds quicker than Lindholm.
Toyota’s eight-time world champion, Sebastien Ogier, reset the benchmark with a 2:07.0, a time which was difficult for the remaining WRC drivers to beat. As such the Frenchman topped the first day of the weekend, and put Toyota on top in their home rally.
Top three:
- Sebastien Ogier, Toyota
- Craig Breen, M-Sport Ford
- Ott Tanak, Hyundai
That’s all for the article; WRC Rally Japan: Ogier puts Toyota on top in day one! With the first day completed, who do you think is a early contender to win Rally Japan? Let us know in the comments!
Read more WRC here:
- WRC Rally Japan: Rally returns to Land of the Rising Sun
- How Rovanpera secured the title in New Zealand
- WRC Rally New Zealand – Day 3: Rovanpera clears out front after Greensmith crash
- WRC Rally New Zealand – Day 2: Tanak top 0.2s ahead of Evans
- WRC2 Rally New Zealand: Paddon sets the pace in opening stage
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
