Rally of Japan: an original way of recognizing

En rally, recognitions have always played an important role. In the past, however, there was an element of improvisation in piloting. The latter almost disappeared with the development of video. Competitors film their progress in the special stages and can then watch the images again and again to practically learn the times by heart. This works if the days devoted to completing the notes take place in good conditions. In order to maximize these two authorized passages over the entire course, the crews had an original idea.

In the land of the rising sun, traffic flows like in England or Australia… on the wrong side. “ Here we drive on the left », It is rightly written at the exit of the rental agency parking lot. While most competitors are used to driving on the right, it is not easy to carry out reconnaissance with a local car which will have the steering wheel on the right. Some pilots have therefore looked for a solution to evolve with a mount with left-hand steering. “We knew that some had managed to do it last year,” explains Kajetan Kajetanowicz who races on a SKoda RS Rally2. We contacted Toshi Araï to rent him a car equipped as in Poland, but the amount requested was excessive. While talking with the folks at the Toksport team, we learned that two companies were offering vehicles at attractive prices. We were able to rent a Peugeot 106, the last one they had. It was strange to find myself in this car. It was in fact on an identical model that I started rallying. »

At the wheel of this 106, Andreas Mikkelsen must not have gone unnoticed during the reconnaissance of the Japan Rally (Photo: Loïc Rocci)

In addition to that of the Pole, 5 other Lionesses were rented by candidates in WRC2. Among these competitors, Oliver Solberg was present to learn the special stages, but the Norwegian will not take part in the race. This will, however, be the case for Andreas Mikkelsen and Nikolay Gryazin who are among the favorites for victory in this final round of the season. “ Last year, explains Kajetan again, I recognized it with a local car and tried to install the Maciej coast camera (Szczepaniak, his navigator, Editor’s note), but that hadn't been much help. This season, having been able to complete all the sections in the left seat, I feel better prepared. »

Organized for the 2^e time on the calendar after a long absence, the Japan rally will start on Thursday with the shakedown from 9:00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. in France). The superspecial will take place later in the stadium Toyota City and we will have to wait until Friday to see which of the drivers who used a Peugeot 106 achieved the best marks.