The French driver takes the lead in the ranking Rally Japan after winning the first special of this last round of the . It all started with a stretch of just over two kilometers of asphalt inside Toyota Stadium, and Adrien Fourmaux confronted Sébastien Ogier in a two-round duel on a crowded stage.
The Frenchman beat his compatriot with a comfortable lead of two seconds, enough to secure the lead of the event before Friday's stages. Ott Tanak he was half a second behind the leader, having overtaken Elfyn Evans by four tenths, who ranked fourth overall, but the Estonian still has mathematical possibilities to fight for the title against Thierry Neuville.
The Belgian lost the battle against Takamoto Katsutawhich scored the third best record, eight tenths of Adrien Formaux: “A very special feeling, I'm happy to see the fans here, my friends and my family. Everything is possible, I will do my best, I'm still waiting for the message from Jari-Matti [Latvala, director de Toyota] press, when I receive it, I will press, I don't know when it will arrive.
Thierry Neuville just needs to add six points to win his first WRC titleand was happy to cross the finish line without incident, with a time identical to that of Sébastien Ogier, since they both shared fifth place: “We count the stages, the most important stages are here. The objectives are clear for the team, everyone is motivated and at the same time relaxed, once the rally starts it is easier to manage the stress and the things around us, we have to stay focused and do the work.
For his part, Grégoire Munster won the victory of Andreas Mikkelsen during the first round of Rally1 to finish seventh, although revealed that his car was low on fuel: “I had to drive left and right [rápidamente] to save a little fuel, we almost didn't reach the finish line.
In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin beat Sami Pajari by two seconds to take the class leadeven if the Finn can secure the championship this weekend if he finishes first or second. Ahead will be Japan's famous winding mountain roads, which will welcome crews with eight stages on Friday.
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