Ogier produced a commanding performance on the 16.44-kilometre Obara stage. He beat his team-mate Elfyn Evans by 3.2 seconds and, in doing so, extended his lead to 4.9 seconds. The gap remains small, and the battle between the pair is set to be thrilling on Sunday, with rain forecast for the Japanese stages.
“The stage went well. The previous one also went well, but so did Elfyn. The afternoon has been quite good, but I could have driven better in the morning. I need to be dangerous,” said Ogier.
“Overall it went quite well, but it’s not easy,” Evans remarked in turn.
Hyundai’s Adrien Fourmaux has stayed close to the leading duo, even though the gap has stretched to 21.8 seconds. The French driver has been the only one on Saturday even slightly able to challenge Ogier and Evans, who are both fighting for the world title.
Sami Pajari remains in fourth place. The podium slipped away from the Finn on Saturday when Fourmaux pulled out a 21.3-second advantage over the Toyota driver. In fifth place is Hyundai’s Ott Tänak, ahead of M-Sport Ford’s Grégoire Munster.
After losing a lot of time on Friday due to a suspension failure, Kalle Rovanperä has climbed up to seventh place. Behind him is the fastest Rally2 driver, Oliver Solberg, followed by Alejandro Cachón and Nikolay Gryazin.
One short spectator stage remains to be driven on Saturday in Rally Japan. The rally concludes on Sunday with six more special stages.
Rally Japan standings after SS13/20:
| POS. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Sebastien Ogier | Toyota | 2:30:40.4 |
| 2. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +4.9 |
| 3. | Adrien Fourmaux | Hyundai | +21.8 |
| 4. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +43.1 |
| 5. | Ott Tänak | Hyundai | +2:32.3 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +4:33.8 |
| 7. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +6:24.7 |
| 8. | Oliver Solberg | Toyota | +6:34.4 |
| 9. | Alejandro Cachon | Toyota | +7:47.4 |
| 10. | Nikolay Gryazin | Skoda | +8:16.0 |
| 11. | Jan Solans | Toyota | +8:18.9 |
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
