The entry list for the FIA World Rally Championship FORUM8 Rally Japan 2024, to be held in Aichi and Gifu prefectures from Thursday 21 to Sunday 24 November 2024, has been announced.
A total of 44 vehicles, nine more than the 35 that participated in last year’s event, will gather from all over the world to compete in a fiercely contested timed stages in Aichi and Gifu prefectures.
For the top category Rally1 car entries, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WORLD RALLY TEAM will field a total of three GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrids. Last year’s event winner Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin in the No. 33 car, Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais in the No. 17 car and Takamoto Katsuta/Aaron Johnston in the No. 18 car will be entered as manufacturers’ registered drivers. Japanese driver Takamoto Katsuta, tackling his and his team’s home event, expressed his enthusiasm: ‘I know many fans would like to see a Japanese driver win, so I will do my best to achieve that.”
The HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM will also field three i20 N Rally1 hybrids, led by Thierry Neuville/ Martijn Wydaeghe in the No. 11 car, the 2022 event winner and top title contender in the driver category. In addition, the second-placed drivers in the standings, Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja in the No. 8 car and Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen in the No. 9 car will be competing.
In addition, the M-SPORT FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM will field two Puma Rally1 Hybrids, with Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria in No. 16 and Grégoire Munster/Louis Louka in No. 13. 8 cars from 3 teams in total will take on the challenge of the Japan round.
Meanwhile, a total of 18 Rally2 cars will be entered. The GR Yaris Rally2 of Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen, who have won three WRC2 races this season and are aiming for an upset championship victory, and the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov, known for their knowledge of Japan, will be amongst the top ranked cars in the WRC2 category that will be competing. In addition, Japanese drivers Hikaru Kogure and Yuki Yamamoto, who are competing in WRC2 as second generation trainees of Toyota’s young driver development programme, the ‘WRC Challenge Programme’, will also enter their home country’s round driving GR Yaris Rally2s.
In addition to this, members of the All Japan Rally Championship are also entering the WRC2 category. This year’s JN1 class champions Hiroki Arai/Shunsuke Matsuo will be competing in a Skoda Fabia, while Heikki Kovalainen/Sae Kitagawa, Norihiko Katsuta/Yusuke Kimura and Fumio Nutahara/ Shungo Azuma will be entering with GR Yaris Rally2s. In addition, Osamu Fukunaga and Misako Saida will race the Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo and Satoshi Imai and Jason Farmer will race the Citroen C3.
In the national category, Tomoyuki Shinkai and Yuichi Ando from TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRJ will enter a GR Yaris, while Toshihiro Arai and Sota Inoue from SUBARU TEAM ARAI will enter a Subaru WRX S4. In addition, from FIT EASY RACING, 1994 WRC champion Didier Auriol is scheduled to enter a GR Yaris with Denis Giraudet.
Other competitors include Yuta Yamamoto/Kazuko Tachikui in a Toyota 86 from the K-one RACING TEAM and Taiusuke Aihara/ Tsukasa Hagino in a Daihatsu Copen from the D-SPORT HALFWAY Racing Rally Team.
In addition, the talented Mako Hirakawa, a finalist in the Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme, a female driver development project run by the WRC promoter, will also compete in a Yaris.
With a stellar line-up of WRC factory team members, as well as members from Japan, FORUM8 Rally Japan 2024 is sure to see intense competition in all classes.
