日本語2016 Training period 6 - WRC 8th round, Neste Rally Finland
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Mäkinen. Two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai made their first entry into the FIA World Rally Championship, Neste Rally Finland.
Training Objectives
Katsuta and Arai face by far their biggest challenge yet in this program, competing in the Neste Rally Finland. Target for both drivers is to gain the maximum experience of the long rally event.
Schedule
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- 24 July
- Test session (Kaipolanvuori, Jamsa)
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- 26-27 July
- Neste Rally Finland (Recce)
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- 28 July
- Neste Rally Finland (Shakedown-Ruuhimäki, SS1)
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- 29 July
- Neste Rally Finland (SS2-SS12)
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- 30 July
- Neste Rally Finland (SS13-SS20)
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- 31 July
- Neste Rally Finland (SS21-SS24)
24 JulyTest session
- Hiroki Arai with co-driver Glenn Macneall and chief instructor Jouni Ampuja at test session.
The crew had one day test session before the rally week. It was important to gain confidence back after both drivers retired in the previous rally in Estonia. Both drove 110 kilometers each during the day and tried small changes to the car setups.They also checked the car handling when carrying different amount of fuel and spare tires.
- Hiroki Arai with co-driver Glenn Macneall and chief instructor Jouni Ampuja at test session.
Day 1-4, 28 July - 31 JulyNeste Rally Finland
- Arai/Macneall - SS3 Halinen
- Katsuta/Barritt - SS17 Ouninpohja 2
- Hiroki Arai taking a media interview
- Takamoto Katsuta at the morning service of the final day
Katsuta and Arai faced by far their biggest challenge yet, competing in the Neste Rally Finland. This was their first start in an FIA World Rally Championship event and Rally Finland is known as one of the toughest events in the sport.
Despite the size of this challenge, Katsuta was able to successfully reach the finish, which was the main target for both drivers in their Ford Fiesta R5s. Arai meanwhile completed 21 of the 24 stages before broken suspension resulting from an off put an early end to his rally.
With the two young Japanese drivers having mostly competed so far on small one-day rallies in Finland and having experienced a tough preparation event at Rally Estonia in the FIA European Rally Championship, the priority was not on results for Rally Finland but rather on gaining experience.
Katsuta, co-driven by Daniel Barritt, was pleased in this regard, finishing 12th in the WRC2 category. “I’m so happy because I think this rally is the most difficult in the world,” he said. “I’m very happy to finish this rally and to finish every stage. I had a puncture on day two, so we lost quite a lot of time, but we finished this rally so I learned a lot of things.”
Arai tried to increase his performance each day, and was able to set a top-six stage time in the WRC2 category on Saturday, but his and co-driver Glenn Macneall’s rally ended on Sunday morning with only 3 stages left in the rally. “I just carried too much speed after I misheard a pacenote,” Arai explained. “I hit a stump on the outside of the corner, and that was it. But I feel quite happy, I learned many things. It was quite tough but it’s OK.”
The pair’s chief instructor Jouni Ampuja commented: “Of course we knew before the rally that this would be really challenging: like a first real rally. Lots of things happened and only Taka got through all the stages. The only aim was to get to the finish. It was hard and we weren’t expecting any results but to get that experience and to also get an understanding of the level in this sport and where we are right now. “They were not high up in the standings but both guys are doing things much better than one year ago, so the things we have been training them on during this last year has brought good progress. Naturally, there is still a lot of work to do to compete on an international level.”
- Arai/Macneall - SS3 Halinen
- Katsuta/Barritt - SS17 Ouninpohja 2
- Hiroki Arai taking a media interview
- Takamoto Katsuta at the morning service of the final day
Driver's diary
- Objectives
- To keep constant driving pace and clean lines
- What I felt through the rally
- It was the most difficult rally I've ever participated so far. Average speed was very high, and many corners combined with crests and jumps required high pacenotes skills. It was a good opportunity to know my current level as I could drive the same stages with top drivers.
- What I learned
- My time was close to top drivers' on some stages, but the time gap from them were quite big on other stages. For next rallies, I have to work hard to become able to drive with more consistent pace. Through the rally I could learn the driving pace of the top drivers and found out weaknesses in my pacenotes. I will try to improve those areas.
- Objectives
- To complete the rally as this is a long rally and my first WRC
To deepen my understanding in pacenotes and improve my driving skill
- What I felt through the rally
- Because there were so many crests and jumps, I had a very good lesson on pacenotes making. There were various types of road in a stage, and I learned a lot from adjusting my driving to various road condition. The four days rally was very tough, but I could manage it thanks to Daniel who always took good communication with me.
- What I learned
- I could deepen my pacenotes understanding by completing the rally, but pacenote making is still the biggest challenge for me. On the first day of the event, I could not draw a clear image of corners in my head from pacenotes information, but I could see accurate image stage by stage. Toward the final day I could think calmly how I could improve my pacenotes even while driving a special stage. This will help me a lot in my future rallies.
- Chief Instructor
Jouni Ampuja
Arai's result was unfortunate, but overall we are satisfied about the weekend. The drivers faced many new things. After experiencing the highest level of rally the drivers know much more about rallying as a sport and they understand better about their strong areas and weaknesses at the moment. By getting this experience now, both drivers understand better how much work is needed to be a professional level rally driver. The long WRC event is very demanding physically and mentally. Strong physical and mental strengths are required to keep the concentration level high during the competition. Both drivers still have to work a lot to get their fitness level. Now they know themselves better as a rally driver, we believe this experience will help their progress in the future.
Upcoming event is "SM-Ralli Turku" on 19-20 August - the 5th round of Finnish Rally Championship!
Link
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2016 Training period 1 - Arctic Lapland Rally
During two days the route covered 829 kilometres, 233 of which were special stages driven at maximum speeds. -
2016 Training period 2 - SM Vaakuna Ralli
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland. So far the drivers of the program, lead by Tommi Makinen, have competed in two events: the Arctic Lapland Rally and SM Vaakuna Ralli, driven in Mikkeli 26 - 27 February. -
2016 Training period 3 - Tahko SM-Ralli
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Makinen. Through the program the two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai competed in Tahko SM-Ralli held on 11 - 12 March. -
2016 Training period 4 - Enset Oy SM-Ralli
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Makinen. Through the program the two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai competed in Enset Oy SM-Ralli held on 11 June, 2016. -
2016 Training period 5 - ERC 6th round, auto24 Rally Estonia
Toyota GAZOO Racing Rally Challenge Program is well underway in Finland, led by Tommi Makinen. Two young Japanese drivers, Takamoto Katsuta and Hiroki Arai made their first entry into the FIA European Rally Championship, auto24 Rally Estonia.