Toyota drivers Elfyn Evans, Sébastien Ogier and Kalle Rovanperä are battling each other for this season’s crown. Evans holds a slight advantage over his teammates, with Ogier and Rovanperä trailing the Welshman by 13 points and two rallies remaining.
Evans is the only one among the trio who has yet to win a drivers’ world title. He has come close several times, finishing runner-up in the championship four times.
At first glance, it might seem that Evans is under huge pressure compared to Ogier and Rovanperä, who both know what it’s like to win a championship. However, Juha Kankkunen – acting as Toyota’s team principal in Japan – strongly disagrees.
“Elfyn has been in this situation before also. He is an experienced guy, so I don’t need to say anything. You can feel that he is happy about the car. And he was fastest on the shakedown this morning,” Kankkunen said.
“I have been in the same situation myself, when you have to win the last rally to become world champion. Everybody thinks that you have a hell of a lot of pressure, but that’s not right. For a rally driver, it’s actually easier when you have the pressure – you know what you have to do and you try your best. Simple as that,” he explained.
Rovanperä set the fastest time on the opening stage of the Japanese asphalt rally, with Ogier and Evans close behind. Ogier will start Friday’s stages from fourth place (+0.4s) and Evans from sixth (+0.8s).
Kankkunen predicted that the fight will remain close throughout the weekend.
“They’re quite equal. Kalle is fast on asphalt, Seb is good. Elfyn has always been very good here in Japan,” he noted.
When asked which Toyota driver he would bet on, Kankkunen smiled:
“I’ll put money on all of them – my little money, what I have.”
Rally Japan continues on Friday with six special stages on the schedule.
