At the 2022 World Rally Championship season finale, former Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen will make his debut at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia RC2 in the WRC2 class
The 2022 World Rally Championship (WRC) season will come to an end on the second weekend of November (10-13 November) with the Rally Japan, which is part of the WRC calendar for the first time since 2010. The entry list includes 38 cars, with one driven by a former Formula 1 driver.
Heikki Kovalainen will drive a Skoda Fabia RC2 Rally2 car entered in the WRC2 class at the Rally Japan. The Finn’s co-driver is the Japanese Sae Kitagawa. The duo has already been driving rallies together since 2016 and won the title in the Japanese Rally Championship a few weeks ago.
Kovalainen, who retired from Formula 1 at the end of 2013, has since spent most of his time in Japan anyway and has also competed in Super GT races there, among other things. He won the title in the popular circuit series in 2016 at the wheel of a Lexus RC F.
There are eleven Rally1 cars among the 38 entered for the 2022 World Rally Championship season finale. At Toyota, eight-time WRC champion Sebastien Ogier makes another start as part of his part-time programme. Apart from that, the newly crowned World Champion Kalle Rovanperä as well as Elfyn Evans and local hero Takamoto Katsuta will also drive a Toyota GR Yaris Rally1.
By the way: Norihiko Katsuta, the father of Takamoto Katsuta, also appears on the entry list for the Rally Japan. He is driving a Toyota GR Yaris, whose specification, however, is not Rally1, but standard.
For Hyundai, former world champion Ott Tänak as well as Thierry Neuville and part-time starter Dani Sordo will each compete at the wheel of a Hyundai i20 N Rally1 in Japan. M-Sport is sending four Ford Puma Rally1s into the race. They will be driven by Craig Breen, Gus Greensmith, Adrian Fourmaux and Greek privateer driver Jourdan Serderidis.
