Former F1 star to enter rally Japan

Ex-Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen features in a quality 38-car entry for next month’s FORUM8 Rally Japan (10 - 13 November).

Kovalainen retired from Formula 1 in 2013 and has since turned his hand to rallying, a sport he has followed since childhood.

The 40-year-old clinched the All-Japan Rally Championship title last month with a Škoda Fabia R5 and is set to make his FIA World Rally Championship debut in the car when Japan returns to the sport’s top level after a 12-year hiatus.

Native co-driver Sae Kitagawa, who has partnered Kovalainen since 2016, will call the pace notes.

Rally Japan will be the first for James Fulton as he starts partnership with Craig breen replacing the outgoing Paul Nagle for 2023 and beyond