Pre-Event Rally Hokkaido - Sumiyama’s Dilemma
Can Japan’s Yuya Sumiyama win the FIA APRC driver’s championship and the manufacturer’s title for Skoda Motorsport at this weekend’s Rally Hokkaido, his home event?
Sumiyama’s co-driver Takahiro Yasui has already secured the co-drivers championship, Cusco Racing the teams award and for Sumiyama to win the drivers and manufacturer’s title, the equation is simple.
After three straight wins Sumiyama has a 60-point lead over his nearest rival Italian Fabio Frisiero and with two rounds to go, there are 78 points available for the driver’s and manufacturer’s title.
Therefore, to secure both titles this weekend in Hokkaido, Sumiyama needs only to score 19 points to make it impossible for Frisiero to sneak the title away from him.
Can Young go One Better in Japan?
New Zealand rally driver Mike Young is reveling in the opportunity to test and develop Cusco's new 4WD TRD Toyota Vitz (Yaris) and this weekend is the team's home event in Japan, Rally Hokkaido.
This will be Young's 8th start in Hokkaido and an event where he’s finished on the podium twice driving a production class Subaru Impreza, but never won outright.
This time Young has the package to win, but there's a question mark over the Toyota’s reliability. However the good news is on the previous APRC event in Malaysia the toughest and hottest of them all, Young finally drove the Vitz over the finish-ramp into second place - can he go one better in Japan?
The team has given the Toyota a major refresh over the past two weeks and two days of testing were largely trouble free, allowing Young and co-driver Malcolm Read time to fine-tune the Vitz's handling and suspension.