The season-ending World Rally Championship in Japan is underway.

Kalle Rovanperä drove the EK2 like a model, even though there were challenges with the car. PDO

At 07:02 Japan time, the second special stage of the World Rally Championship was started by Kalle Rovanperä.

On the tight route of EK 1, the driver of the Toyota had a hard time Sébastien Ogier, edging out Ford’s Craig Breen by a scant 0.1 seconds. Kalle Rovanperä was in 5th place, and lost to the Frenchman by 0.6 seconds.

Kalle Rovanperä started with his karter Jonne Halttunen at a good pace. The middle part of the road seemed to be very littered, which brought its own challenges to driving. EK2 is the longest runable section and the length of the track is 23.29 kilometers.

Hyundai’s Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja.

Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, who did not win in Spain, finished second in the special test.

Ott Tänak was behind Rovanperä after the first break by +2.9 seconds and Rovanperä’s pace was good. Neuville, on the other hand, is +1.8 seconds behind Rovanperä.

Rovanperä’s time in the second special stage of the World Rally Championship in Japan was 17:44.6. There were no problems with the ride overall.

After the race, Rovanperä commented by saying that the front tires lost their grip while driving.

– The car understeered a lot. About halfway through, smoke started to accumulate in the interior, and there is no information as to where it came from, Rovanperä says.

The race went perfectly until Ogier suffered a flat tire during the ride.

The race is stopped when Dani Sordon the right rear part of the car (Hyundai) caught fire in the air, and the fire could not be extinguished with small hand fire extinguishers. Despite efforts to extinguish the fire, it spread quickly, and it is known that this is the first hybrid car that has caught fire.

The second special test was run by seven drivers.

Rovanperä held the top spot. Neuville in second +1.8, Evans +5.5, Tänak +9.7, Breen +13.4 and Ogier +2:43.9