FIA World Rally Championship

Ex-F1 driver Kovalainen headlines Rally Japan entry list

4 Mins read
Credit: Heikki Kovalainen on Facebook

The former Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen from Finland is headlining the decent 38-car entry list for the 2022 FIA World Rally Championship season-finale in FORUM8 Rally Japan next month, the Finn will do his WRC2 debut in a Skoda Fabia R5 fielded by the Japanese team Rally Team Aicello.

Kovalainen who retired from F1 in 2013 after a good career with teams like Renault, McLaren, Lotus, and Caterham, has since then enjoyed his passion for rallying but has also done some races in the Japanese Super GT series as well.

The 40-year-old Finn claimed the championship title in the Japan Rally Championship last month and now he and Japanese co-driver Sae Kitagawa will be on the start grid when Japan is returning to the WRC after 12 years hiatus.

Kalle Rovanperä. Credit: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

In the Rally1 class, there will be a total of 11 hybrid cars entered with the Kovalainen´s fellow Finn, the 2022 champion Kalle Rovanperä headlining the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT line-up. the eigh-time rally champion Sébastien Ogier from France will also be joining the season-finale and the Welshman Elfyn Evans. The home hero Takamoto Katsuta will be in the usual fourth Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 car, entered outside the factory team under the Toyota Gazoo Racing NG WRT.

With Oliver Solberg who recently got dropped out from the Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT line-up, it will be Dani Sordo from Spain who will be taking control of the third Hyundai i20 N Rally1 car for the Korean manufacturer. The experienced tarmac specialist will be joined by the current 2022 vice-champion Ott Tänak and the Belgian Thierry Neuville.

M-Sport Ford WRT who usually has the biggest amount of entries in the class will only be fielding three factory-entered Ford Puma Rally1 cars for the Irishman Craig Breen, Britain Gus Greensmith, and the Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux, while the privateer Jourdan Serderidis from Greece will be going under the M-Sport World Rally Team banner.

Emil Lindholm. Credit: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool

In the WRC2 class, there will be a total of four Finns with Kovalainen being one of them. The 2022 WRC2 Junior champion Emil Lindholm who just celebrated his title after the Britain Chris Ingram was forced to withdraw from the season-remainder will be leading Toksport WRT driver alongside his fellow Finn the 2021 Junior WRC champion Sami Pajari who joins the main team of Toksport WRT in a pair of Skoda Fabia Rally2 evos.

Teemu Suninen is entered for the Hyundai Motorsport N and will have his usual teammate Fabrizio Zaldivar from Paraguay with him, both entered in a pair of Hyundai i20 N Rally2. Gregoire Munster from Luxembourg is also entered with a private i20 N Rally2.

For Toksport WRT 2, the second team of the Skoda Motorsport backed Turkish outfit there will be the Bolivian Bruno Bulacia who this time is joined by the Italian Mauro Miele, both also in a pair of Fabias.

Another Fabia driver will be the Pole Kajetan Kajetanowicz, who joins the last round of the season in hopes to secure the WRC2 championship title, he is also entered in a Fabia. Sean Johnston from the United States is entered in a Sainteloc Racing fielded Citroen C3 Rally2 and hopes for a good result to wrap up his 2022 campaign.

Toshihiro Arai driving for Subaru World Rally Team in 2001. Credit: WRC

Out of the locals entered over the weekend it is the former WRC driver Toshihiro Arai who is headlining the entries, the Japanese legend will be entered in a C3 Rally2 and Takamoto Katsuta´s dad Norihiko Katsuta will be entering in the national class in a Toyota GR Yaris, however that car is not a Rally1-spec.

2022 FORUM8 Rally Japan entry list

NumberDriver / Co-DriverNat.Team / EntrantCarClass
#69Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne HalttunenFinlandToyota Gazoo Racing WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally1Rally1
#33Elfyn Evans / Scott MartinUnited KingdomToyota Gazoo Racing WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally1Rally1
#1 Sébastien Ogier / Benjamin VeillasFranceToyota Gazoo Racing WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally1Rally1
#11Thierry Neuville / Martijn WydaegheBelgiumHyundai Shell Mobis WRTHyundai i20 N Rally1Rally1
#8Ott Tänak / Martin JärveojaEstoniaHyundai Shell Mobis WRTHyundai i20 N Rally1Rally1
#6Dani Sordo / Candido CarreraSpainHyundai Shell Mobis WRTHyundai i20 N Rally1Rally1
#42Craig Breen / James FultonIrelandM-Sport Ford WRTFord Puma Rally1Rally1
#44 Gus Greensmith / Jonas AnderssonUnited Kingdom / SwedenM-Sport Ford WRTFord Puma Rally1Rally1
#16Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre CoiraFranceM-Sport Ford WRTFord Puma Rally1Rally1
#9Jourdan Serderidis / Frédéric MiclotteGreece / BelgiumM-Sport WRTFord Puma Rally1Rally1
#18Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron JohnstonJapan / IrelandToyota Gazoo Racing NG WRTToyota GR Yaris Rally1Rally1
#21Emil Lindholm / Reeta HämäläinenFinlandToksport WRTSkoda Fabia Rally2 evoWRC2
#23Sami Pajari / Enni MälkönenFinlandToksport WRTSkoda Fabia Rally2 evoWRC2
#25Bruno Bulacia / Gabriel MoralesBolivia / BrazilToksport WRT 2Skoda Fabia Rally2 evoWRC2
#28Mauro Miele / Luca BeltrameItalyToksport WRT 2Skoda Fabia Rally2 evoWRC2
#22Teemu Suninen / Mikko MarkkulaFinlandHyundai Motorsport NHyundai i20 N Rally2WRC2
#27Fabrizio Zaldivar / Marcelo Der OhannesianParaguay / ItalyHyundai Motorsport NHyundai i20 N Rally2WRC2
#20Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej SzczepaniakPolandRace SevenSkoda Fabia Rally2 evoWRC2
#24Grégoire Munster / Louis LoukaLuxembourg / BelgiumBMAHyundai i20 N Rally2WRC2
#26Sean Johnston / Alexander KihuraniUnited StatesSaintéloc RacingCitroen C3 Rally2WRC2
#29Heikki Kovalainen / Sae KitagawaFinland / JapanRally Team AicelloSkoda Fabia R5WRC2
#30Osamu Fukunaga / Misako SaidaJapanOsamu FukunagaSkoda Fabia R5WRC2
#31Toshihiro Arai / Naoya TanakaJapanToshi AraiCitroen C3 Rally2WRC2
#32Luke Anear / Andrew SarandisAustraliaLuke AnearFord Fiesta Rally2WRC2
#34Jean-Michel Raoux / Laurent MagatFranceJean-Michel RaouxVolkswagen Polo GTi R5WRC2
#35Eamonn Boland / Michael Joseph MorrisseyIrelandEamonn BolandFord Fiesta Rally2WRC2
#36Frédéric Rosati / Loris PascaudFranceBMAHyundai i20 N Rally2WRC2
#37 Satoshi Imai / Shizuka TakeharaJapanAKM Motor SportCitroen C3 Rally2WRC2
#40Hiroki Arai / Ilka MinorJapan / AustriaAhead Japan Racing TeamPeugeot 208 Rally4Rally4
#41 Katsuya Nakahira / Masahiko ShimazuJapanR-ART Rally TeamToyota GT86 CS-R3Rally4
#46Kosuke Murata / Madoka UmemotoJapanWELLPINE MotorsportPeugeot 208 R2Rally4
#47Mitsuhiro Kunisawa / Masahiko KiharaJapanKunisawa NetRenault Clio Rally5Rally5
#48Kohei Izuno / Tetsuhiro HigashiyamaJapanK’s World Rally TeamToyota Vitz III RSRally5
#38Norihiko Katsuta / Yusuke KimuraJapanToyota Gazoo RacingToyota GR YarisNAT
#39Hiroshi Yanagisawa / Takahiro YasuiJapanCusco RacingToyota GR YarisNAT
#43Yasuyuki Sasaki / Anri NakashimaJapanTeam BRIDEToyota GR YarisNAT
#45Yuta Yamamoto / Kazuko TachikuiJapanK-ONE Racing TeamToyota GR86NAT
#49Taisuke Aihara / Tsukasa HaginoJapanD-Sport Halfway Racing Rally TeamDaihatsu CopenNAT

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