WRC
Ogier tops Toyota 1-2-3 in FORUM8 Rally Japan shakedown
Sébastien Ogier picked up from where he left off in Japan last season, setting the pace in Thursday morning’s shakedown ahead of FORUM8 Rally Japan.
The defending event winner topped the times on the 2.53km Kurugaike Park test with a benchmark of 1min 55.3sec, exactly 1.0sec faster than Toyota Gazoo Racing team-mate and championship leader Elfyn Evans.
Sami Pajari completed a Toyota 1-2-3, a further 0.5sec back, while Adrien Fourmaux was best of the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team runners in fourth. The Frenchman matched Takamoto Katsuta’s 1min 57.1sec best, with Katsuta classified fifth on home soil.
Ogier, running a part-time season in 2026, made his intentions clear at the end of his opening run.
“The only thing that matters is I get the same result as last year, and I'm here for that,” said the nine-time world champion.
Evans starts the rally at the head of the drivers’ standings and will run first on the road for Friday’s opening leg, while much of the home attention will sit with Katsuta, who arrives in Japan second in the championship after two wins in the first half of the season.
Elfyn Evans on Thursday morning's shakdown
© AT World
Katsuta, who finished on the podium when Rally Japan returned to the WRC calendar in 2022, acknowledged the extra spotlight but insisted it would not change his approach.
"Of course it is a lot pressure but it is nothing disturbing,” explained the 33-year-old.
“It is nice atmosphere and I need to push as much as possible. It is not an easy rally but I will try to bring the best result possible."
Josh McErlean was sixth-fastest and best of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team drivers, 2.1sec off Ogier’s pace. Oliver Solberg followed in seventh, with Jon Armstrong eighth in the second Ford Puma Rally1.
Sami Pajari rounded out the top three on Shakedown
© At World
Hayden Paddon placed ninth in his third start of the season for Hyundai, one position ahead of team-mate Thierry Neuville. The Belgian arrives in Japan fresh from victory at Vodafone Rally de Portugal, but ended shakedown 3.0sec away from the outright pace.
Based out of Toyota City, FORUM8 Rally Japan begins later Thursday with the ceremonial start in nearby Nagoya. Friday’s opening leg takes crews into stages including the brand-new Asuke test and the famous Isegami’s Tunnel, before Saturday’s longest day of the rally and Sunday’s finale, where Lake Mikawako hosts the Wolf Power Stage.
