The Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai), leader of the WRC world championship, is in great difficulty on Friday at the Japan Rally, the last round of the season where he is 15e rank while his competitor for the title, the Estonian Ott Tänak (Hyundai), is in the lead.
In an ideal position to finally win, at 36, his first world title, Neuville suffered a loss of power from the fourth special in the morning. He managed as best he could to complete the day, but almost eight minutes behind his teammate.
“The day was very difficult, I can't take anything positive except that I felt comfortable when the car was working well. I can’t wait until Saturday”declared the five-time vice-world champion.
The Belgian, who is 25 points ahead of Tänak while a maximum of 30 can be distributed to the winner this weekend in the land of the rising sun, is currently outside the Top 10 and therefore the points zone. But even if he doesn't manage to get back there on Saturday, 12 points will still be at stake on Sunday and he will have to score six to secure the crown.
Adrien Fourmaux is losing ground
His Estonian teammate was very efficient and was spared from technical problems on Friday, which allowed him to open up a gap of 20.9 seconds on the Welshman Elfyn Evans. Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux (M-Sport/Ford), third, is 1 minute 53 seconds behind.
“The stages went pretty well today (Friday). Tomorrow (Saturday), there are two stages that we know and a new one so it will be a new challenge”explained the 2019 world champion.
The other Frenchman, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota), is relegated to fifth place, more than two minutes behind the leader. Victim of a puncture, the eight-time world champion nevertheless hopes to allow Toyota to win the manufacturer's title at the last minute.
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On home soil, the Japanese manufacturer performed well on Friday while its South Korean opponent Hyundai, already hampered by technical problems at Neuville, lost the Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen, forced to retire after going off the road during the ES5. Seven stages representing 103.87 timed kilometers are on the program for Saturday.
Rally Japan standings after day two
1. Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (EST/Hyundai) 1 : 26 : 17.6
2. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (GBR/Toyota) + 20.9
3. Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (FRA/M-Sport/Ford) + 1: 53.9
4. Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston (JAP-IRL/Toyota) + 1 : 54.0
5. Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (FRA/Toyota) + 2: 15.6
…
15. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL/Hyundai) + 7: 41.3