Rally Japan - 1st Day -2nd Loop: Evans establishes his rally lead, Ogier narrows Solberg's gap

Αt the end of Friday afternoon, Elfyn Evans remains the rally leader in Japan with Oliver Solberg and Sebastien Ogier following him.

Elfyn Evans lays down his rally lead in Japan by setting the fastest time in Stage 5 which means that his gap from the second Oliver Solberg is now at 15,7 seconds.

The Swede keeps the second place on the overall classification as he set the fastest time in Stage 4, but his position is under threat by the third Sebastien Ogier as their gap is 1,4 seconds after the second loop of Friday.

Sami Pajari does the 1-2-3-4 for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT and stole the fourth position from Thierry Neuville at the end of Stage 5 while he was the fastest driver in Stage 6.

Thierry Neuville remains the best driver for Hyundai Motorsport, as he sits in fifth place, and managed to keep Takamoto Katsuta behind for 5,6 seconds.

Adrien Fourmaux, Hayden Paddon and Jon Armstrong complete the top nine.

Armstrong touched an armco with his Ford Puma Rally1 in Stage 4 and managed to get through it without a heavy damege.

Josh McErlean is still outside the top ten and dropped more than two minutes in Stage 5 as he was forced to stop in order to change a front right puncture.

Watch below the stage times:

Watch below the overall classification after Stage 6:

Photo Credits: Toyota