Hiroki Arai and co-driver Hiroki Tachikui won Rally Hokkaido on September 6, taking the JN-1 class of the All-Japan Rally Championship's sixth round in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 — Arai's third win of the season, per Rallyplus.
Takuma Kamada finished second in a Škoda Fabia R5, 45.7 seconds back, with veteran Fumio Nutahara third in another GR Yaris Rally2, 1 minute 16 seconds behind Arai.
Rally Hokkaido's gravel stages
Based in the Tokachi region, Rally Hokkaido takes crews onto fast gravel stages through Hokkaido's forest roads — the same territory that hosted the WRC's Rally Japan in the 2000s, and the JRC calendar's marquee gravel fixture.
There is a changed-machinery subplot for anyone following along season to season: Arai won the 2025 edition in a Škoda Fabia R5 before switching to a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 for 2026, and has now beaten the Fabia of his closest rival with it. The name is familiar for another reason — Arai is the son of two-time Production World Rally Champion Toshihiro Arai, and spent years in the WRC's support categories himself.
A busy week for the GR Yaris name
The win lands in the same news cycle as the Rally1 car winning in Paraguay at world level — different machinery under different regulations, but the same nameplate carrying Toyota's rally program at both levels. Kamada's runner-up drive is worth a note too: the same driver took fourth overall at the Asia Cross-Country Rally last month in a Hilux. Japan's rally talent pool is having a busy season.