WRC Rally Japan: Kalle Rovanpera crashes early in SS3 drama

Two-time world rally champion Kalle Rovanpera clipped a barrier in stage three, which proved costly

Kalle Rovanpera's bid for a third World Rally Championship title suffered a blow after damaging his Toyota's suspension in stage three of Rally Japan.

Rovanpera led the rally overnight after winning Thursday night’s super special stage, but slipped to fourth after Friday morning’s first stage, before drama struck in stage three [Shinshiro 1 - 17.41 km.].

The Toyota star, co-driven by Jonne Halttunen, clipped an Armco barrier during a fast section of the stage, which caused significant damage to the left rear suspension of their GR Yaris Rally1 car. The pair were able to trundle through to the stage end, but dropped 2m22.6s in the process.

What happened in SS3?

Rovanpera explained how a miscalculation may have led to the incident.

“One quite high speed narrow place I just came too fast and I don’t know if the pace note was wrong, I think I need to check. It was probably a bit too optimistic a note and we went a bit wide. We will see [if we can repair it],” said Rovanpera, who started the event 13 points adrift of championship leader and Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans after winning the Central European rally last month.

Rovanpera and Halttunen attempted to fix the damage on the road section after the stage using ratchet stars and a spanner strapped to the damaged suspension arm. After frantic work the pair headed to stage four Isegami’s Tunnel sitting in 19th overall.

Other early incidents

Takamoto Katsuta, Aaron Johnston, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

The Shinshiro stage was not without further drama as M-Sport’s Josh McErlean suffered a heavy crash, 8.9km into the stage. The impact caused damage to the front and rear of his Ford Puma that forced the Irishman into an early retirement.

Toyota’s home hero Takamoto Katsuta claimed the fastest time on the stage which elevated the Japanese driver into the rally lead by 0.5s from team-mate and title contender Sebastien Ogier.

Grégoire Munster, Louis Louka, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: M-Sport

Championship leader Evans held third, 3.1s adrift ahead of team-mate Sami Pajari, while Adrien Fourmaux headed Hyundai’s charge, 13.1s in arrears.

The Hyundai drivers continue to struggle for speed on the asphalt stages with Ott Tanak [+26.8s] and Thierry Neuville [+31.9s] already well adrift of the lead group.