Event description:

Hokkaido has a climate of extremes. From December to February the temperature rarely rises above zero. Rikubetsu, the location of the service park for 1 service on Leg 1, has one of the coldest locations in Japan. In summer, in contrast, the temperatures in Tokachi can be 35 degrees Celsius plus.

Introduced for the first time in the history of Rally Hokkaido will be an all tarmac special stage, IKEDA SS 13 & 17 on Leg 2. This is a 12.37 km stage which will bring new challenges for drivers.

The lush vegetation is one of the features of the Japanese rally – the stages are fast and narrow, and the pace notes have to be very accurate as the grass and bushes by the side of the road can often be covering some deep ditches and hidden obstacles.

The Satsunai River SSS will again run as the rally opening stage on Friday evening. This is a short high speed 1.0 km long stage running alongside the Satsunai River adjacent to Kita Aikoku SP. Used a total of 3 times during the event, this will be an exciting finale to Leg 2 on Sunday.

Points standings for APRC honours after Malaysian Rally give Team MRF Skoda driver Pontus Tidemand a 43 point advantage over his closest rival and team mate, Gaurav Gill. Third placed Cusco Racing driver Mike Young is another 44 points behind. It will be important for all drivers to finish this event and score valuable points and keep their hopes of winning the championship alive.

Asia Cup points give Team MRF Skoda driver Gill a 10 point advantage over SEM Wan Yu driver Fan Fan. New Asia Cup competitor, Japanese driver Hitoshi Takayama lies third driving a Subaru Impreza for Immens Motorsport.