Ex-F1 driver Kovalainen headlines Rally Japan entry list

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

Number	Driver / Co-Driver	Nat.	Team / Entrant	Car	Class
#69	Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen	Finland	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	Rally1
#33	Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin	United Kingdom	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	Rally1
#1	Sébastien Ogier / Benjamin Veillas	France	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	Rally1
#11	Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe	Belgium	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	Rally1
#8	Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja	Estonia	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	Rally1
#6	Dani Sordo / Candido Carrera	Spain	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	Rally1
#42	Craig Breen / James Fulton	Ireland	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	Rally1
#44	Gus Greensmith / Jonas Andersson	United Kingdom / Sweden	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	Rally1
#16	Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coira	France	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	Rally1
#9	Jourdan Serderidis / Frédéric Miclotte	Greece / Belgium	M-Sport WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	Rally1
#18	Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston	Japan / Ireland	Toyota Gazoo Racing NG WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	Rally1
#21	Emil Lindholm / Reeta Hämäläinen	Finland	Toksport WRT	Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo	WRC2
#23	Sami Pajari / Enni Mälkönen	Finland	Toksport WRT	Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo	WRC2
#25	Bruno Bulacia / Gabriel Morales	Bolivia / Brazil	Toksport WRT 2	Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo	WRC2
#28	Mauro Miele / Luca Beltrame	Italy	Toksport WRT 2	Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo	WRC2
#22	Teemu Suninen / Mikko Markkula	Finland	Hyundai Motorsport N	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	WRC2
#27	Fabrizio Zaldivar / Marcelo Der Ohannesian	Paraguay / Italy	Hyundai Motorsport N	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	WRC2
#20	Kajetan Kajetanowicz / Maciej Szczepaniak	Poland	Race Seven	Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo	WRC2
#24	Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka	Luxembourg / Belgium	BMA	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	WRC2
#26	Sean Johnston / Alexander Kihurani	United States	Saintéloc Racing	Citroen C3 Rally2	WRC2
#29	Heikki Kovalainen / Sae Kitagawa	Finland / Japan	Rally Team Aicello	Skoda Fabia R5	WRC2
#30	Osamu Fukunaga / Misako Saida	Japan	Osamu Fukunaga	Skoda Fabia R5	WRC2
#31	Toshihiro Arai / Naoya Tanaka	Japan	Toshi Arai	Citroen C3 Rally2	WRC2
#32	Luke Anear / Andrew Sarandis	Australia	Luke Anear	Ford Fiesta Rally2	WRC2
#34	Jean-Michel Raoux / Laurent Magat	France	Jean-Michel Raoux	Volkswagen Polo GTi R5	WRC2
#35	Eamonn Boland / Michael Joseph Morrissey	Ireland	Eamonn Boland	Ford Fiesta Rally2	WRC2
#36	Frédéric Rosati / Loris Pascaud	France	BMA	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	WRC2
#37	Satoshi Imai / Shizuka Takehara	Japan	AKM Motor Sport	Citroen C3 Rally2	WRC2
#40	Hiroki Arai / Ilka Minor	Japan / Austria	Ahead Japan Racing Team	Peugeot 208 Rally4	Rally4
#41	Katsuya Nakahira / Masahiko Shimazu	Japan	R-ART Rally Team	Toyota GT86 CS-R3	Rally4
#46	Kosuke Murata / Madoka Umemoto	Japan	WELLPINE Motorsport	Peugeot 208 R2	Rally4
#47	Mitsuhiro Kunisawa / Masahiko Kihara	Japan	Kunisawa Net	Renault Clio Rally5	Rally5
#48	Kohei Izuno / Tetsuhiro Higashiyama	Japan	K’s World Rally Team	Toyota Vitz III RS	Rally5
#38	Norihiko Katsuta / Yusuke Kimura	Japan	Toyota Gazoo Racing	Toyota GR Yaris	NAT
#39	Hiroshi Yanagisawa / Takahiro Yasui	Japan	Cusco Racing	Toyota GR Yaris	NAT
#43	Yasuyuki Sasaki / Anri Nakashima	Japan	Team BRIDE	Toyota GR Yaris	NAT
#45	Yuta Yamamoto / Kazuko Tachikui	Japan	K-ONE Racing Team	Toyota GR86	NAT
#49	Taisuke Aihara / Tsukasa Hagino	Japan	D-Sport Halfway Racing Rally Team	Daihatsu Copen	NAT