26-10-2007 - Rally Japan van 26 t/m 28 oktober 2007.

28-10-2007- Japanese joy for BP-Ford as Hirvonen claims victory in Focus:

BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen today won Rally Japan to claim their second victory of the season and the team's seventh success. The Finns ended a dramatic three-day encounter with a 37.4sec advantage in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. The result secured at least third place for Hirvonen in the FIA World Rally Championship drivers' standings with two of the 16 rounds remaining.

Hirvonen's win enabled BP-Ford to increase its lead in the manufacturers' championship to 34 points. A maximum 36 points are available from the final two rounds in Ireland and Great Britain.

Based in Obihiro on Japan's most northerly island of Hokkaido, the rally was characterised by fast but narrow gravel roads through natural forests in hills north of the city. Fog and ice on the opening morning made conditions tricky and heavy rain overnight on Friday made the tracks treacherously slippery yesterday. Glorious early-winter sunshine shone down on the drivers today during the final seven speed tests covering 97.33km. In total, competitors tackled 27 special stages over 350.19km.

Hirvonen took the lead during the opening afternoon. He extended his advantage as closest rivals Sébastien Loeb and Jari-Matti Latvala crashed and started today's final leg with a comfortable 38.2sec lead over Dani Sordo. With no pressure from behind, Hirvonen matched his pace to Sordo's split times to ensure his third career success in the WRC.

"It was such a strange and difficult rally but the way it has turned out is perfect," said 27-year-old Hirvonen. "The conditions were tricky with fog, ice and rain at different times during the weekend. This morning I widened the lead over Sordo during the first loop of stages and that meant I could relax and drive a little easier over the second pass.

"When my team-mate (Marcus Grönholm) retired on Friday, the pressure was on me to score points to help the team's championship fight and to help Marcus in the drivers' series. The only way I could do that was to fight with Loeb and try to beat him, which is what happened. It keeps the team in a strong position for the manufacturers' title and keeps Marcus in front also," he added.

BP-Ford team-mates and championship leaders Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen crashed when leading on Friday. The damage to the roll cage on their Focus RS forced them to retire for safety reasons, seemingly handing the advantage to arch rival Loeb in their fight for the world crown. However, Loeb retired and with neither driver scoring, Grönholm retains a four-point lead at the top of the standings.

"The championship situation for us is the same as it was before we came to Japan," said Grönholm. "I was expecting and wanting to come away from here with a lead over Sébastien and we are doing that. I have to be happy that we still have that lead after what happened on Friday. It's going to be really difficult but we're still confident going to Ireland and it looks like a really exciting end to the season. We have to make no mistakes now and try for the win on both remaining events."

BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson was delighted with Hirvonen's performance. "Since midday yesterday he hasn't been under huge pressure and this was an impressive drive. It's an important time for him as he prepares to step up within the BP-Ford team next year and he took his chance perfectly. The way this rally turned out wasn't what I expected. On Friday afternoon it wasn't looking so easy but in the end we've taken a step closer to the manufacturers' title," he said.

Ford TeamRS director Jost Capito said: "To win in Japan is special because this is one of the world's biggest car markets and to have four Focus RS cars finish in the top five here emphasises the performance and reliability of Ford's vehicles. Leading both championships keeps us in a perfect position for an exciting finale to the season on the final two rounds," he said.

News from our rivals

Behind Hirvonen, Dani Sordo (Citroen) set two fastest times en route to his best result on gravel and Henning Solberg (Ford) matched his career-best finish with third. The fight for fourth was thrilling. Matthew Wilson (Ford) began the day 21.7sec behind Luis Perez Companc (Ford) but overhauled the Argentine on the penultimate stage and held on by 2.5sec to score his best result. Manfred Stohl (Citroen) rounded off the top six. Petter Solberg (Subaru), competing under SupeRally rules, finished 17th to take two manufacturers' points. Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) looked set to take the final point for the French team until engine problems on the penultimate test cost more than 12 minutes and he retired before the final stage. So Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) took the point for the Stobart-VK M-Sport team, despite dropping 45sec after spinning shortly before the finish of the opening stage.

Next round

The penultimate round is the final asphalt event of the season and a first appearance in the championship for Rally Ireland. Using stages in both northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to the south, the rally is based in Sligo on 15 - 18 November.

Final positions

1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 23min 57.6sec
2. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4 3hr 24min 35.0sec
3. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS 3hr 28min 31.3sec
4. M Wilson/M Orr GB Ford Focus RS 3hr 30min 35.5sec
5. L Perez Companc/J-M Volta ARG Ford Focus RS 3hr 30min 38.0sec
6. M Stohl/I Minor A Citroen Xsara 3hr 31min 01.9sec
7. F Villagra/J-L Diaz ARG Ford Focus RS 3hr 35min 12.9sec
8. K Taguchi/M Stacey J Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 44min 37.7sec
9. G Pozzo/D Stillo ARG Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 45min 50.6sec
10 A Araujo/M Ramalho P Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 48min 11.1sec

Drivers

1. M Grönholm 104pts
2. S Loeb 100pts
3. M Hirvonen 84pts
4. D Sordo 53pts
5. P Solberg 38pts
6. H Solberg 34pts

Manufacturers

1. BP-Ford 189pts
2. Citroen Total 155pts
3. Subaru 73pts
4. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford 71pts
5. OMV Kronos Citroen 43pts
6. Munchi's Ford 14pts

Bron: M-Sport

26-10-2007 - Hirvonen takes charge for Ford on opening leg of Rally Japan:

BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen lead Rally Japan after today's dramatic opening leg in which three frontrunners were sidelined. The Finns returned to the rally base in Obihiro with a 10.3sec advantage in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car after a long and tiring day's competition in the forests north-east of the city.

There was bitter disappointment for team-mates Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen. The FIA World Rally Championship leaders crashed into a tree stump on the final speed test of this morning's competition while leading the rally. The heavy impact damaged the roll cage on their Focus RS and although the car was mechanically sound, the Finns were prevented from continuing for safety reasons. They will not restart tomorrow.

An estimated 64,000 people attended last night's start ceremony in Obihiro for this 14th round of the championship on Japan's most northerly island of Hokkaido. The competition began for real today with two identical loops of gravel special stages on fast but narrow roads north-east of Obihiro, before two passes over a purpose-built super special stage on the edge of the city. The 10 stages covered 106.18km.

Thick early morning fog combined with the low angle of the rising sun to make visibility difficult initially, while ice added to the challenge. As the temperatures rose, the roads dried and competitors encountered dust during the afternoon tests before heavy rain fell this evening. BFGoodrich's extra-soft tyres were required this morning while Hirvonen opted for a soft compound this afternoon.

The 27-year-old was fourth on the opening stage but climbed to second by the end of the morning loop, just 5.0sec behind Jari-Matti Latvala. He won two stages this afternoon to take the lead and gradually build a slender overnight lead over Sébastien Loeb and Latvala.

"Leading is always the best position to be in but I know there are two difficult days to come," said Hirvonen. "I have the same fantastic feeling with the car that I had during Rally Finland in August. Conditions this morning were difficult with fog and ice on roads that were narrow and slippery but we survived. Visibility was down to 100m on the first stage. It was a shock to lose Marcus and now I have to drive to win to help his title chances.

"Tomorrow will be especially hard because there are long stages and a lot of kilometres and after the rain tonight the roads will be extremely slippery. They are even narrower than today and one mistake could prove costly," added Hirvonen.

BP-Ford team-mate Grönholm took the lead on the third stage but went off the road in the following 2.73km Rikubetsu test, dropping a minute and damaging the roll cage inside the door on his side of the car. The damage was too great for Grönholm to continue for safety reasons and he retired from the day's action. The team and FIA technical officials then examined the point of impact in greater detail to determine whether repairs could be made to allow Grönholm to restart tomorrow under SupeRally regulations. However, additional damage was found to the mounting where the door bars link to the main hoop of the roll cage and Grönholm was ruled out for the rest of the rally.

"The accident happened at a third gear corner at a point in the stage where I changed my pace notes during the recce," he said. "It's faster there this year because some trees have been cut down. I slid wide and the right rear wheel hit some straw bales. The impact threw the car down a bank into a tree stump. The impact was hard and on my door. The stage was covered with loose gravel and was slippery all the way through.

"The drivers' title is still open, whatever the result here, but a non-finish obviously makes it more difficult. The accident was similar to the one in Australia last year when I went off the road and hit some tree stumps. That cost me the title so I hope it works out a different way this season," he added.

BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson reflected on a day of delight and disappointment. "We've had a fantastic run this season but the team is obviously disappointed for Marcus," he said. "It was unfortunate the roll cage was damaged because otherwise the car was fine. It was a great drive by Mikko and I hope he and Jari-Matti Latvala can work to keep our title hopes on course."

News from our rivals

Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) powered his Focus RS into an early lead on his 50th WRC start before Grönholm moved to the front. Following the demise of the BP-Ford driver, Latvala retook the lead and stayed there until Hirvonen moved ahead early this afternoon. Latvala won two stages and held off the challenge of Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) until the penultimate test. The gap between the duo is just 3.4sec. Dani Sordo (Citroen) won two stages to climb to fourth, despite a third stage spin, ahead of Henning Solberg (Ford) who is an excellent fifth on his Japanese debut. Petter Solberg (Subaru) went off briefly in stage five and then retired from sixth on the liaison section after the test with gear selection problems. Team-mate Chris Atkinson spun on the second stage but worse was to befall the Australian when he crashed heavily on stage six.

Tomorrow’s route

The second leg is the longest of the rally and is based slightly further west than today's action. After a 05.05 start competitors face a daunting 14 hours behind the wheel before the day finally ends at 19.05. They face two identical loops of four tests before two more passes over the Obihiro super special stage in the evening – a total of 146.68km of competition.

Leaderboard after Leg 1

1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 00min 30.8sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen C4 1hr 00min 41.1sec
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 00min 44.5sec
4. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4 1hr 01min 11.4sec
5. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS 1hr 01min 19.2sec
6. M Stohl/I Minor A Citroen Xsara 1hr 02min 00.8sec
7. X Pons/X Amigo E Subaru Impreza 1hr 02min 33.4sec
8. L Perez Companc/J-M Volta ARG Ford Focus RS 1hr 02min 51.6sec
9. M Wilson/M Orr GB Ford Focus RS 1hr 03min 21.6sec
10 F Villagra/J Perez Companc ARG Ford Focus RS 1hr 03min 57.2sec

Bron: M-Sport

Rally Japan – Gronholm slides off

An estimated 64,000 people attended last night's start ceremony for this 14th round of the FIA World Rally Championship in Obihiro. Despite temperatures dropping rapidly towards freezing, fans on this most northerly of Japan's four main islands began lining the streets in the city centre more than four hours before the leading drivers started.

The competition began for real this morning with the first of two loops of gravel speed tests covering 51.74km north-east of Obihiro. Thick fog combined with the low angle of the rising sun made visibility difficult over the opening 9.03km Pawse Kamuy Reverse special stage while ice added to the challenge on the following 13.95km Cup Kamuy.

BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen were fifth through the opening stage in their Focus RS World Rally Car before setting second fastest time in Cup Kamuy to climb to second overall. Second fastest in the 26.03km Kimun Kamuy, the longest stage of the leg, sent the 39-year-old Finnish pilot and leader of the drivers' standings to the top of the leaderboard.

However, Grönholm went off the road in the 2.73km Rikubetsu test, dropping a minute and damaging the roll cage inside the door on his side of the car. The damage was too great for Grönholm to continue for safety reasons and he retired from the day's action. The team and FIA technical officials will now examine the point of impact in greater detail to determine whether Grönholm will be able to return tomorrow under SupeRally regulations.

"The accident happened at a third gear corner at a point in the stage where I changed my pace notes during the recce," he said. "It's faster there this year because some trees have been cut down. I slid wide and the right rear wheel hit some straw bales. The impact threw the car down a bank into a tree stump. The impact was hard and on my door. The stage was covered with loose gravel and was slippery all through. It will be hard to repair the damage but the team will do everything it can."

BP-Ford team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were fourth on the opening stage but climbed to third on the next. Second fastest time in Rikubetsu promoted the 27-year-old Finnish driver to second overall in his Focus RS, 5.0sec behind Jari-Matti Latvala.

"The roads were narrow, slippery and fast and the fog and ice meant it was a really tricky morning," said Hirvonen. "Visibility was down to 100m on the first stage. The second was icy and now that the temperature has risen, it will be wet and damp there this afternoon. It will be interesting now because if I can match Sébastien Loeb's speed he will have to decide whether to chase the rally win or think about his championship position and perhaps drive more cautiously."

Leaderboard after stage 4 of 27

1. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 29min 28.1sec
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 29min 33.1sec
3. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen C4 29min 34.2sec
4. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS 29min 50.1sec
5. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4 29min 54.8sec
6. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 29min 55.3sec
7. M Stohl/I Minor A Citroen Xsara 30min 12.2sec
8. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Ford Focus RS 30min 26.4sec
9. C Atkinson/S Prévot AUS Subaru Impreza 30min 29.1sec
10 X Pons/X Amigo E Subaru Impreza 30min 39.1sec

Bron: M-Sport