19. Rally Hokkaido - JRC 2020
11. 9. – 13. 9. 2020, Obihiro city, Hokkaido • AG Members Sports Club Hokkaido (AG MSC) • gravel 107.70 km • total distance including road sections - 874.06 km • Other years
Info
SS10
It is not too bad. OTOFUKE stage is wet and slippery so I have to be careful, but PAWSE KAMUY is comfortable and I think I am doing all right. There is no need to push hard, so I will make sure to finish the rally and bring the car to the podium.
Due to the troubles with the class leaders the gap from them are now narrowed down. I could mark almost my best results in the first section, and as I am now used to those stages I will do maximum attack in the second section and see how much more we can narrow the gap.
While we wait and see something might happen with the leaders while doing our best. I will keep doing my best in the afternoon, and aim to move up in the classification.
At the first stage of the day, OTOFUKE REVERSE we had a problem with the management system of the car and slowed down, but the next stage, PAWSE KAMUY was fast stage with dry surface, and it was good fit for both the car and myself, so I recovered the loss and still leading the class. We will keep this pace and aim to win the class in the afternoon.
Our pace is not bad, but Yaris was very fast. They had a trouble and slowed down, so we thought we may be able to catch up with them but we had puncture and we are now back in where we were. We will do what ever we can do to win in the next two stages and see if we can win. We will keep fully pushing in the afternoon.
Unlike NUPRIPAKE of Leg 1, we do not have stages where we have no hope for good battle with this car, and I think we are leaving competitive stage times with other rivals. Only Mr. Kohama marked bad time due to a trouble but it did not affect class standings, so I think we will go for the final section with a new settings for testing purpose.
Things are going as planned so far. On the stages where this car does not fit, I lost 5 seconds, but on the other stages I won by 5 seconds, so it balanced out.
I want the second section for the day to go in the same way. I think I can win the class only if I do not make mistakes, so I drive safe to win.
Now we have 40 seconds' lead against rivals, but I could keep my pace. I will control my pace in the afternoon, but if I slow down too much it may lead to troubles so I will be careful.
First stage of the day, OTOFUKE was in rain and wet, so it became even more slipper than usual. But FWD cars are faster on slippery condition than RWD cars. So my stage time there was so-so.
The second stage, PAWSE KAMUY was dry, so we went fast but it was slippery due to loose gravel. We will adjust the setting of the car for the latter section of the day.
(Suzuki, co-driver) The car is good, and so as the driver. But instead of narrowing the gap, it became larger and I am sad about that. All we can do in the afternoon section is to push hard, just like morning section.
We are not really good. I want to improve my pace but it is tough - and it just went that way. Our gap to the top group is too large, so I will go steadily to finish the rally.
We never know which of us will win - so I will keep pushing hard in the final section. Even though this battle is against my own father, we will fully push to win the rally.
(1 second behind the class leader, Hiroki Arai - his son) He does not give up easily, but same as I. So I will keep pushing hard till the end. I will do maximum attack again in the afternoon.
It’s raining but I am enjoying. I think my driving skill is improving. I will push a little more and finish the rally.
The stage time difference between Mr. Fukunaga and myself shows differences of our driving skills.
Road surface traction today is less than yesterday stages, but there is no difference from what I have to do. So we will drive in the same way.
We are driving steadily. As I had to sweep the loose gravel on the first loop, I would like to drive fast
enough to catch up with stage times of JRC competitors. Actually road condition differs depending on start order, so it may not have any meaning to compare with them. This time I have to finish the rally with 6 of Michelin tyres and I realized their tyres are amazing
SS8
Road conditions were not as severe as previous years, and was less demanding to the car. There will be fast stages tomorrow, too, so I will not loosen my concentration and keep the lead to win the class.
I tried extremely hard to win the stage on SS8 and marked the best result in the class. I will keep this pace and push hard tomorrow.
Fast stages are good fit for the car, and I can control the car very well. Tomorrow I will widen the gap on fast stages, and keep the lead with other stages to win the class against rivals.
It was exciting and rewarding stages for my attempts. While the gap from the leader was wider now, I will not give up and try to catch up with Mr. Kohama. I will do my best on the first section tomorrow and will see how I should drive for my position and championship series.
It has been a tough day today. I left behind with large margin on NUPRIPAKE stage. Tomorrow I will push to win day points for the championship series.
I could finish the day leading the class, and it is what I planned for, but by only 7 seconds. While it depends on stage conditions and weather, but I will push hard to win the class tomorrow.
The road surface did not get as rough as previous years, and I could enjoy the stages. The closes rival retired for the day so I am leading the class with a good margin, but it is not comfortable enough. I will stay calm and do my best tomorrow.
Now i am getting used to the way how I should drive on gravel, and am driving well. Mr. Yamamoto of JN-3 class is leading me in the overall classification by 9 seconds gap, and I do not like that. I think I can catch up with him tomorrow, and I will do so and finish the rally.
It was raining in the morning in Obihiro, but stages were dry and I could enjoy the stages. I will make good use of what I learned today and will try to improve my driving tomorrow.
At 6km from the start of SS8, a driveshaft got broken. I kept driving to finish the stage and fortunately, I lost only 10 seconds on that stage. I think it is not easy to regain those 6 seconds tomorrow as all the stages are short, so I will think and see what we can do.
I wanted to mark better stage times, but ended up with left behind with wider gap from others. I will think what I can do for tomorrow.
The result of the last part of the day was too good, and I could gain the leader's position on the final stage of the day. All the stages tomorrow are short ones, so I will do maximum attack tomorrow.
I had to sweep the loose gravel on the Section 1 and ended up in losing time. I am only 2 seconds behind the leader, and have only 6 seconds' gap to the next, so I will have to fully push from the first stage tomorrow.
I could drive steady throughout the day. When compared with JRC competitors I am not fast enough but I think it might be because of the differences of road surface conditions. We will adjust settings of the car and I would like to satisfy myself with my own driving.
My aim for the day was to successfully finish the day, so I am happy with the result. Tomorrow we will drive my favorite stages and I would like to drive faster than today
My stage times are not really good, but I am enjoying typical Hokkaido fast and flowing stages. I will finish the day without troubles.
It is every year thing, but I feel it is more difficult rally than I previously thought. I was shocked to hear Mr. Aoki (Car#3) retired for the day. I will keep my focus on driving to finish the day tomorrow, too.
SS6
I now have better feel of the car than Section 1, and my stage times are improving. The road is getting rough so I will be careful not to break the car.
Due to minor problems I lost two stages. Roads are getting rougher so I will not push too hard and finish the day.
I did maximum attack on SS4 and successfully widened the gap with Mr. Amano, but lost some due to dust on SS5. I will keep pushing.
Others are improving their stage times but we are still leading the class. I will keep my lead to finish the day.
I pushed a little harder and the gap with the leader was not as large as Section 1. I feel like pushing harder to win stages, but that may lead to troubles so I will be careful while pushing.
Road surface is getting rough, and Mr. Furukawa's pace has improved and he is now leading the class. I will not push too hard and finish the rally.
Road surface is getting rough and my lack of experience became apparent. YAYOI is especially tough and challenging. I am losing my lead gradually but I will try to keep my lead as much as possioble.
Road surfaces are getting clearer and easier, but I think it will turn to rough from this point. I will be careful.
I regained my feeling with gravel roads, and am enjoying the rally. I will finish the day in good shape.
Doing good, but gap between the stages I am good and and the stages I am not good at are obvious. But still I am leading the rally with 6 seconds margin and will keep it that way.
We are doing good. I am fully pushing and would like to get better stage results.
Some part of the stages got clean surface, but some were rougher, and setting of my car is not suitable for such condition. We will adjust it and go back to the stages.
Cars with Dunlop tyres were faster on SS4. SS5 was not bad, but once again they were faster on SS6. I would like to keep up with the leader on Section 3.
I am improving, but so as others and I have not been able to narrow the gap with others yet. My aim is to
secure and get the 3rd position.
Road surfaces are getting rough, so I will aim to finish the rally without problems.
I could finish the stage without any problem at this time, but I have been scared and careful. I will try to
finish the rally while improving my stage gimes.
I think we are doing good. As this is my first rally in the past 3 years, I am driving on my own pace and
we will push harder to improve our stage times
Not much loose gravel on stages anymore and road surface is better now, but comparing with JRC
drivers I am not doing good enough. Stage distances are short and thus I have not been able to make
good use of the tyres. But we are the first in the international class and we will keep this position and
finish the rally.
SS3
SS1 was a good fit to the car, but I could not drive SS2 and 3 well. I would like to improve my stage time on Section 2.
I have to finish the rally, so I drove carefully - but my stage times were not bad. I will try to finish the rally in this way.
We lost much time on SS1 but somehow we are within the top group. I would like to gain the leader's position in the latter section of the day.
The power band of Yaris fits with Rally Hokkaido very well, and finally we could come to the rally where it is competitive against other cars. I suppose road surface gets rougher so we will concentrate on driving.
Some part of the road was difficult due to loose gravel so I drove carefully. We are fighting close battle and we have to concentrate. It seems Yaris is very fast on fast stages with high average speed. We will keep pushing on Section 2, too.
Mr. Koyama on his Yaris was very fast on SS1. I won the SS2 and 3 but still have not been able to catch up with him. Maybe it is tough for us, as this year we do not have Kunneywa and Yam Wakka stages.
Maybe I was a bit too careful, but my stage times were not bad. I will try not to break the car while keeping pushing.
Somehow I am not doing well enough. We are currently 2nd fastest in the class, and after some adjustment of the settings it got better. I will try to finish the day as a class leader.
Road surface was drier than I expected, and I could get a good grip of the road. We had a trouble on SS1 and lost 1second per kilometers, and have not been able to catch up with the class leader.
I had a trouble on SS1. There were a lot of loose gravel and the car frequently went about to go off from the road. I will be careful not to lose traction with the road.
I am good at gravel roads, but somehow I feel the gravel road here is difficult. I cannot get a good grip of the road because of loose gravels. The car is not bad, so I would like to push harder on the Section 2.
So far, so good. SS2 was slippery and did not push hard but still I won the stage, and now I believe I can win the rally if I do not make a mistake.
It is long since I rallied on gravel last time, and so I am somewhat careful. The setting changes we made with the car was not good, so we will change it back and push harder in the afternoon.
Driving fine, no problem with the car. I would like to keep this way.
砂利をかかなければいけない立場なので、全開率に対してタイムがあまり良くないが、2 秒差につけているので、明日に繋げられるようにしたい。
There were a lot of loose gravel on SS1 and SS2. In addition, SS2 was narrow and difficult stage, so I tried to go faster than the others.
I had 12 years of time since my last rally, and it has been difficult to catch up with the speed of this rally
I will try to improve my speed gradually.,
It has been a tough rally. There were so much loose gravel and I had several dangerous moments. I will
stay cautious and will do my best.
I had my car rolled up to 90 degrees on its side, but the damage to the car was just cosmetic one. As
there is no room for more damage with the car, so I will not push much and aim to finish the rally.
The engine would not rev-up smoothly on SS1, but the symptom was resolved on SS3, so I will push
harder and will move up myself in the standings.
There has been much loose gravel on the road surface. I was too careful as the tyres I am using today
are new to me. I think there will be less loose gravel on the next loop and I will push harder.