Relive the second stage of the Rally Japan with live text commentary

WRC – Rally Japan
The program of the day

0h40 - ES7 – 🇸🇪 Oliver solberg > The feedback 
1h55 - SS8 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Elfyn Evans > The feedback 
3h30 - ES9 – 🇸🇪 Oliver Solberg > The feedback 
6h - ES10 – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier > The feedback 
7h40 - ES11 – 🇫🇮 Sami Pajari > The feedback 
8h55 - SS12 – 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Elfyn Evans > The feedback 
10h15 - ES13 – 🇫🇮 Sami Pajari
10h35 - ES14 – 🇫🇮 Sami Pajari

Relive the second stage with live text

11:01 AM – Thank you all for joining us this morning to experience the Rally From Japan, see you (very early) tomorrow morning for the last six special stages. 

• Sunday's program 

1:14 – SS15: Nukata 1 – 20,49 km (Canal+ Sport 360)
2:05 – SS16: Lake Mikawako 1 – 13,98 km (Canal+ Sport 360)
3:13 – SS17: Kuragaike SSS 1 – 2,56 km (Canal+ Sport 360)
3:32 – SS18: Kuragaike SSS 2 – 2,56 km (Canal+ Sport 360)
5:30 – SS19: Nukata 2 – 20,49 km (Canal+ Sport 360)
7:15 – SS20: Lake Mikawako 2 (Power Stage) – 13,98 km (Canal+ Sport 360)

See you soon on AUTOhebdo.fr!

10h59 - The overall standings at the end of this second day at the Rally Japan.

10h57 - 🏁Second consecutive stage win for Sami Pajari on SS14! The Finn concludes a great day in style, while Elfyn Evans still leads with an 18-second advantage. 

10h56 - Elfyn Evans concedes 1.7s after narrowly missing a rail.

10h54 - Second time from Sébastien Ogier, who does not beat Sami Pajari by 0.4s. That leaves Elfyn Evans.

10:53 PM – ⏱️Sami Pajari set a blistering time, winning SS13 on his first run through this super special stage. The Finn put 1.3 seconds on Thierry Neuville and could very well achieve a double victory. 

10:50 PM – ⏱️Thierry Neuville takes the lead and becomes the first driver under 1:50. 

10:48 PM – ⏱️And at home, Takamoto Katsuta takes the lead by two tenths!

10:46 a.m. – 🇫🇷 Around'Adrien fourmaux  to take the best time! Without an extra donut like on his first run, the Northerner takes the lead with a 0.3s advantage. 

10:45 PM – ⏱️Hayden Paddon in the lead by 1.7s. 

10:42 PM – ⏱️Jon Armstrong takes the lead with a 2.5s advantage over Josh McErlean, his Ford teammate M-Sport.

10h40 - McErlean gained 7 seconds compared to his first run. He owes this to having only performed one donut this time instead of two on SS13.

10:38- 🟢 We move directly on to a second pass through this short special stage, which will be SS14, the last of the day. Josh McErlean once again leads the way.

10h36 - The general classification after SS13

10:34 am 🏁So that's a third stage win in this Rally Japan for Sami Pajari ahead of Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans!

10h33 - Third fastest time for Evans, 1.3s behind Pajari.

10h32 - Now, let's turn to the leaders of the Rally Japan, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin.

10h31 - This will be the second fastest time for the French crew, 0.4s behind Sami Pajari.

10:30 a.m. – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais are on track.

10:29 PM – ⏱️Nice move by Sami Pajari, new provisional leader by 1.5s.  

10h27 - There was only one donut to complete, so Fourmaux and McErlean incurred their own penalty. They'll correct this mistake on their second run in a few minutes.

10:27 PM – ⏱️Best time for the 2024 world champion with a 0.6s lead over Takamoto Katsuta.  

10:25 PM – ⏱️Takamoto Katsuta was fastest, 0.2 seconds ahead of Hayden Paddon. Now we're waiting for Thierry Neuville.

10h23 - The Northerner finishes 5 seconds behind Paddon! He clearly did one too many donuts… It doesn't seem very clear because McErlean also did two donuts while Armstrong, Paddon, and Katsuta only did one. Strange situation.

10:22 a.m. – 🇫🇷 Now it's Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria's turn to take off! 

10h21 - Hayden Paddon takes the lead with a two-second advantage over Armstrong.

10h19 - Jon Armstrong finishes 6 seconds ahead of McErlean, who did not deliver a great performance.

10h17 - He'd barely left... and had already arrived in McErlean in 2:01. This special stage isn't of great sporting interest, it has to be said.

10:15- 🟢 Josh McErlean is off on the three kilometers of this SS13. 

9h44 - See you at 10:15 p.m. for SS13!

9h40 - In WRC2, Alejandro Cachon set another fastest time and closed the gap on Nikolay Gryazin in the overall standings. There are now only 6 seconds separating the two men!

9:25 a.m. – After SS12, Elfyn Evans now has a 20-second lead over Sébastien Ogier, a comfortable cushion with only two short three-kilometer stages left to cover today. 

9:24 AM – 🏁⏱️ Elfyn Evans scores his fifth stage win at this Rally Japan, winning SS12 by 0.7s ahead of Sami Pajari! 

9:20 a.m. – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier finishes a full second behind Sami Pajari. Only Elfyn Evans remains in the Rally1 category. 

9:18 PM – ⏱️Sami Pajari responds to Takamoto Katsuta. In their battle for third place, the Finn makes a significant gain, extending his lead to 2.1 seconds. Will this be enough for a second consecutive stage win? 

9h17 - Thierry Neuville finished 8 seconds behind Katsuta. He is provisionally third between his teammates Adrien Fourmaux and Hayden Paddon.

9:15 PM – ⏱️Takamoto Katsuta takes the lead with a 4-second advantage over Adrien Fourmaux. 

9h14 - If you haven't had the chance to see it, we recommend the interview with Adrien Fourmaux, who visited us at our premises a few weeks ago.

9:12 PM – ⏱️Adrien Fourmaux tops the timesheets, despite a slight scare in the final kilometers. The Frenchman takes the lead with a 6-second advantage, awaiting Thierry Neuville and the four leaders. Toyota.

9:10 PM – ⏱️Hayden Paddon then took the best time, finishing 4 seconds ahead of Jon Armstrong. 

9:08 PM – ⏱️Armstrong crosses the finish line 10 seconds ahead of his teammate McErlean, who is clearly struggling in this rally.  

9h06 - McErlean finishes in 10:27. But his time will soon be beaten by Armstrong. And by quite a margin!

9:03 a.m. – 🇫🇷 Adrien Fourmaux is at the starting gate. The driver from northern France is currently 5th overall and is the best-placed non-Toyota driver. Barring any unforeseen incidents, he will struggle to improve his position given the dominance of the Yaris, but you never know what can happen in the race. WRC That's what makes this category so magical, isn't it? 

9h02 - Hayden Paddon took his turn, he was the first Hyundai on track.

9h - Although Sébastien Ogier is still in contention for the victory, the nine-time world champion pointed out his difficulties with the Hankook tires on Friday evening to our special correspondent.

Sébastien Ogier highlights a "limiting point" at the Rally Japan

8:57 p.m. – 🟢 The M-Sport drivers are off in SS12! 

8h18 - Join us at 8:55 to follow SS12 together!

8h16 - In WRC2, Alejandro Cachon has just gained 2.2 seconds on Nikolay Gryazin in their battle for the win. The Bulgarian remains the overall leader in his Lancia Ypsillon, but his lead is now less than 10 seconds.

8h14 - The general classification after SS11

8h13 - The standings for SS11 in Rally1

8:11 p.m. – 🏁​ A great move by Elfyn Evans, who sets the third fastest time, 2.1 seconds behind Sami Pajari, whose stage win is confirmed. Evans gains three seconds on Sébastien Ogier, who is now 17 seconds behind. 

8:08 AM - 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier only third, 5 seconds behind Sami Pajari… 

8:06 PM – ⏱️Sami Pajari on his way to the scratch! The Finn set the fastest time with a 3-second lead over Katsuta. 

8:05 AM - 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier is behind at the halfway point. He concedes 3 seconds to Sami Pajari, who set the fastest time in this sector. 

8h03 - It's tough for Thierry Neuville, who finishes 13 seconds behind Katsuta, almost in the same time as Hayden Paddon…

8:01 PM – ⏱️Katsuta's great special stage, which puts 9.7s on Adrien Fourmaux and puts pressure on Sami Pajari, even though the Finn is currently keeping pace.

8:00 PM – ⏱️And Adrien Fourmaux improved the benchmark time by 5 seconds. Katsuta is expected to beat him. 

7:58 PM – ⏱️Hayden Paddon finished 1.8 seconds faster than Jon Armstrong. 

7h57 - Jon Armstrong levitates at M-Sport: the Irishman clocks a time 16.8 seconds faster than his teammate. Impressive!

7h56 - Josh McErlean and Eoin Tracy finished in 15:35.5, three seconds slower than their first run on SS8.

7h55 - What tire choices for the crews? We're going 100% Hard tires for this second loop of the day!

7:53 a.m. – 🇫🇷 Sébastien Ogier sets off. Objective: to gain time on Elfyn Evans for the driver from Gap. 

7h49 - Takamoto Katsuta then took to the course and after 5 kilometers, the local rider put 3.4 seconds on Adrien Fourmaux! He is very fast at the moment, while he is 17 seconds off the podium and 3rd place for Sami Pajari.

7h44 - On the Hyundai side, Fourmaux and Paddon have also left, and Thierry Neuville will soon follow suit, but the Belgian had a difficult start to the day… We explain why.

Will Thierry Neuville soon be forced to retire in Japan?

7:40 p.m. – 🟢 The M-Sport drivers are already underway in SS11! Josh McErlean and Jon Armstrong, the Irish duo from Malcolm Wilson's team, are on track.

7h38 -  So this is what the overall standings look like after SS10, exactly halfway through the rally!

7h34 - It was a busy night with four stages already run since this morning and a major setback: Oliver Solberg went off the road in SS10 after missing his braking point. Unable to make the corner, the Swede hit a post – without serious injury – and broke his right rear suspension. He will therefore not be the winner of this Rally Japan!

No room for error 😬#WRC | #RallyJapan 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/01ndOY8vZI

— FIA World Rally Championship (@OfficialWRC) May 30, 2026

7h32 - If you missed what happened on Friday during the first stage, our special correspondent Pierre Barré invites you to relive it in video with reactions from all the drivers!

7:30 – Hello everyone and welcome to AUTOhebdo.fr! Today is the second stage of the Rally Japan, and this final asphalt event of the year is particularly close at the top of the standings…