Rally Japan – Towards a Toyota hat-trick, the summary of the 2nd stage

Rally of Japan 2023 – Ranking after SS16:

• The second stage of the 2023 Rally Japan was much more peaceful than the first. Following the abandonments of Thierry Neuville (Hyundai, left with a penalty last night), Dani Sordo (Hyundai) and Adrien fourmaux (M-Sport Ford), all victims of leaving the road on a wet road, the survivors showed great agility during the night from Friday to Saturday.
• Freed from the threat of Thierry Neuville, both for the lead of the event and for the position of vice-champion, Elfyn Evans (Toyota) went into “control” mode. The Welshman, also helped by a one-minute penalty imposed on his teammate and opponent Sébastien Ogier for a repair time exceeded in the service park on Friday evening, won two stages just to show who was the boss this weekend.

More twists and turns on Japanese roads ⚠️#ToyotaGAZOORacing #GRYaris #WRC #RallyJapan 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/riGhgGQm5b

- TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRT (@TGR_WRC) November 18, 2023

• Toyota is heading straight for an authoritarian hat-trick on its land. Indeed, Sébastien Ogier occupies second place and the outgoing double champion, Kalle Rovanperä, is quietly installed on the last step of the podium. It remains to be seen whether the two stars of WRC will exchange their positions or not by the final arrival on Sunday morning. Ogier has “only” a 24-second margin over the young Finn, who could launch a big attack in the final stage.
• In WRC2, recent champion Andreas Mikkelsen (Skoda) has returned to the ranks. The Norwegian took advantage of the pouring rain to get to the foot of the podium on Friday. But on now dry roads, the former WRC winner with Volkswagen was unable to do anything against the powerful Rally1 hybrids. He slipped to 7th place.
• The only fight is between Ott Tänak (M-Sport Ford) and Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota). On his home turf, the Japanese continued to set fastest times and threatens the Estonian for 5th place (3 seconds apart).
• The third and final stage of the 2023 Rally Japan takes place overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

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