Trophies for Japanese rally talents on Finnish snow

Quotes:
Mikko Hirvonen (TOYOTA GAZOO Racing WRC Challenge Program chief instructor):
“This rally was held in very difficult conditions but overall our crews did a good job, and we had some very nice results. With the soft and slushy surface and some gravel coming through, as well as some ice in places, it was not easy to judge the grip and have the confidence to push. Yuki did very well to finish third overall between some very experienced drivers, and this result will be good for his confidence. Hikaru showed some strong split times as well, and when the grip was less predictable and more difficult for him, he could still continue to the finish with a clean drive. Takumi did very well also, getting quite close to the lead and making it cleanly through the very tricky last stage, where many drivers went off, including Shotaro. Overall though, it has been a very positive first winter rally season from both of them, and they’ve gained a lot of experience in many different conditions. Tomiya has also been making a great start as co-driver to Jarkko, as shown by this first victory together.”

Hikaru Kogure:
“This was not an easy rally for me and I struggled with the conditions. With the drivers in front cutting the corners and bringing a lot of fresh snow and slush onto the line, the grip levels were changing every few metres. It was difficult to estimate and I couldn’t have confidence, so I took a little step back to drive carefully and reach the finish. It was good to learn in these conditions and get the mileage even though I’m not happy with the speed. I just need to analyse this for the future and hopefully the next rally can be better for me.”

Yuki Yamamoto:
“I’m really happy to finish on the podium, it’s a special result for me. In the beginning I was surprised by the tricky conditions and I took too much care, but after that I managed to adjust my driving and my mindset. Going into the last stage I knew the gaps were tight, but I just tried to continue what I had been doing, and it worked well. It was really fun battling with Jari-Matti and Juho, who were still giving us many tips between the stages. This time, Jari-Matti was faster but I can learn from him to improve for the future. After struggling a bit in Sweden, I’m kind of relieved to have had this great result and performance to finish the winter.”

Shotaro Goto:
“I struggled quite a lot with the conditions on this rally. In the same stage there would be places with good grip and others with a lot less grip, and I found it difficult to judge which was which, so I struggled to have the confidence to be fast in the corners where we could be fast. In the last stage, I slightly misheard a pacenote and took the wrong speed into the corner, so we went into the loose snow and got stuck. During these first rallies on snow, I have had some very good stages and some that were not so good, so I can see what I need to focus on to improve my driving.”

Takumi Matsushita:
“I’m really happy that I managed to get through this demanding rally and finish on the podium. Based upon the recce I expected some slush and gravel on the stages, but in the rally it was even worse than I expected. In some corners I could feel the grip, and then in the next corner there would be no grip at all, so it was really difficult. We made a steady start but after that I could be more consistently close to the top times. Having started the winter with a win and then struggled a bit more on the next rallies, it’s great to finish the winter with this result, and to experience all these different conditions has been great for the learning process.”

Tomiya Maekawa:
“I’m very pleased to be able to get this win for Jarkko and myself. The conditions were very tough so it was not easy to stay on the road, but thanks to Jarkko’s really clever driving we could take this very nice result. With his experience, the pacenotes we made were very good in terms of marking the tricky places, so even in these conditions, we only had to make a few modifications during the rally. Of course, I still found plenty of points that we need to improve, so I have to keep focused on improving my co-driving.”