Rally Japan – SS10: Solberg crashes out, Ogier moves into 2nd and closes in fast on Evans!

Unsurprisingly, the competitors all opted for Hard tires on this second loop of the day, as was the case this morning.

The first special stage of the second loop of the Rally The Rally Japan was marked by a minor off-road incident involving Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson. Caught out at low speed while braking, the Monte Carlo Rally winners were unable to stop their GR Yaris Rally1 in time, which struck an obstacle, tearing off the right rear wheel. This retirement obviously doesn't help their championship position, while their teammates continue their progress.

Sébastien Ogier Vincent Landais and Elfyn Evans made a major move on this special stage: setting the fastest time and finishing 5,5 seconds ahead of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin on this timed section, as the provisional leaders lost some time going around the... Toyota Oliver Solberg's performance has brought the reigning World Champions back to within 14,6 seconds of the leader. Will they have the resources to close the gap even further to Evans and Martin? The situation is also significant for Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen, who have provisionally moved into third place in the overall standings. In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin set the fastest time ahead of Alejandro Cachón: the gap between the two is now 11,6 seconds in favor of the Lancia Corse driver. It should be noted that the stage was interrupted due to Diego Domínguez going off the road.

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