Solberg attacks, Evans resists: what happened last night at the Rally Japan?

As Europe barely wakes up on this Saturday, May 30th, the first assessments are already underway in the Land of the Rising Sun, with three special stages completed this morning. Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin remain the overall leaders, ahead of Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson. Sébastien Ogier – Vincent Landais. Five Toyota now occupy the top five places in the hierarchy, as Sami Pajari – Marko Salminen (4th) and Takamoto Katsuta – Aaron Johnston (5th) complete the provisional overall standings of the race.

The three Hyundai are neatly lined up behind the Toyotas, with Adrien fourmaux – Alexandre Coria in the lead ahead Thierry Neuville – Martijn Wydaeghe and Hayden Paddon – John Kennard, while dominating the two Ford Puma Rally1s M-SportJon Armstrong and Shane Byrne were the first to break away, followed by Joshua McErlean and Eoin Tracy. It should be noted, however, that the 2024 World Champions complained of handbrake problems on their car, which they must try to resolve before tackling the five afternoon stages.

Rally Japan: Oliver Solberg goes on the hunt, Gryazin regains the lead in WRC2

From the very first stage of the day, Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson put the pressure on their teammates by setting the fastest time, 3,2 seconds ahead of them. This stage also saw Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston looking more competitive than yesterday, notably securing the fourth fastest time, just seven-tenths of a second behind Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais. In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin had a close call; despite setting the fastest time, he made a mistake and damaged his car.

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But in the following stage, the longest of the day (Ena, 21,16 kilometers), Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin set the record straight, this time posting the fastest time and gaining 1,4 seconds on Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson. Conceding 2,4 seconds to Evans and Martin, Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais saw their gap to the leaders exceed 20 seconds for the first time. In the feeder category for the top tier, Nikolay Gryazin regained the WRC2 lead despite a damaged car, relegating Alejandro Cachón to six seconds behind.

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Ultimately, Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson prevailed in this internal battle. By setting the fastest time once again and gaining 3,3 seconds on Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin on the first run through Mt. Kasagi, they made the most of the opportunity, closing to within just 10,6 seconds of their teammates in the overall standings. Meanwhile, Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais, who posted the second fastest time, are now 9,5 seconds behind Solberg and Edmondson. Continuing their strong performances from the previous two stages, Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov extended their lead in WRC2 over Alejandro Cachón and Borja Rozada to 6,4 seconds.

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