I think Tanak and M-Sport hoped for ,,easier'' rally (as of more difficult weather conditions, so the performance gap wasn't that big), but got a proper full dry tarmac rally with mostly uphill stages.
Hope for difficult weather and not the tarmac rally was the main reason why they decided to not "waste" testing days before Monte.
https://www.powerslideblog.com/wrc-route-previews/2026/rally-japan-2026-route-preview
My Rally Japan route preview - with some cool interactive maps that I have made. Pretty much identical to last...
nah, its going to be fun, dont worry
WRC mainclass from 2027