The fight for the world championship remains incredibly close between Ogier and Evans, as the pair once again set almost identical times on the 21-kilometre Ena stage. Ogier managed to edge out Evans by just 0.3 seconds, extending his overall lead to a slender 1.7 seconds.
Ogier is chasing down Evans’s 13-point advantage in the championship standings, so a victory would be especially important for the Frenchman.
“A nice stage. I don’t think we’ve ever driven it with such good grip before. I always enjoy a good fight, and that’s how it should be when we’re battling for the win,” Ogier said.
“The feeling was okay and the car was working fine. It’s no surprise if Seb is quicker — he’s normally faster on stages like this,” Evans admitted.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux continues his strong rally performance. He was third fastest on stage 12 and maintains third place overall, 19.8 seconds behind the leader.
“An incredible stage in a car like this. You really have to manage the tyres and the brakes. There are corners one after another all the time. I was very precise, so hopefully the time is good,” said Fourmaux.
Toyota’s Sami Pajari remains in fourth place. He started Saturday’s stages almost level with Fourmaux, but the Frenchman has pulled away. In fifth place is Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, followed by M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster.
After losing more than five minutes on Friday, Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä is climbing up the leaderboard. He has now overtaken Takamoto Katsuta, who made a mistake on the previous stage, moving into eighth place, and on the next stage he is set to catch Oliver Solberg, who is driving a Rally2 car.
“We made some changes to the car and the feeling is better. I just don’t like this stage — it’s too twisty and slow,” Rovanperä said.
Rally Japan continues with two more stages on Saturday, before concluding on Sunday.
Rally Japan standings after SS12/20:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 2:20:39.5 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +1.7 |
| 3. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +19.8 |
| 4. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +36.9 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +2:23.1 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +4:12.6 |
| 7. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +6:09.1 |
| 8. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +6:15.9 |
| 9. | Alejandro Cachon | Toyota | +7:12.4 |
| 10. | Nikolai Gryazin | Skoda | +7:38.1 |
| 11. | Jan Solans | Toyota | +7:47.8 |
Rally Japan itinerary (CET):
Thursday 6 November
01:01 Shakedown: Kuragaike Park (2.75 km)
08:05 SS1: Kuragaike Park SSS (2.75 km)
Friday 7 November
23:06 SS2: Inabu / Shitara 1 (17.08 km)
00:29 SS3: Shinshiro 1 (17.41 km)
02:02 SS4: Isegami’s Tunnel 1 (19.66 km)
03:57 Service (40 min)
05:35 SS5: Isegami’s Tunnel 2 (19.66 km)
06:53 SS6: Inabu / Shitara 2 (17.08 km)
08:16 SS7: Shinshiro 2 (17.41 km)
Saturday 8 November
23:23 SS8: Obara 1 (16.44 km)
00:34 SS9: Ena 1 (21.25 km)
02:05 SS10: Mt Kasagi 1 (21.74 km)
04:35 SS11: Mt Kasagi 2 (21.74 km)
06:08 SS12: Ena 2 (21.25 km)
07:21 SS13: Obara 2 (16.44 km)
09:35 SS14: Toyota City SSS (3.05 km)
Sunday 9 November
00:39 SS15: Nukata 1 (20.23 km)
01:35 SS16: Lake Mikawako 1 (13.98 km)
02:53 SS17: Okazaki SSS 1 (1.98 km)
03:04 SS18: Okazaki SSS 2 (1.98 km)
04:33 SS19: Nukata 2 (20.23 km)
06:15 SS20: Lake Mikawako 2 (13.98 km) *Power Stage
