2007 Rally of Japan - Preview

As the only round of the WRC to take place in Asia, Rally Japan usually attracts hundreds of thousands of fans from all over the continent. Last year over 200,000 people attended the three days of competition, while the ceremonial start alone drew 52,000 spectators.

Rally Japan is a highly technical event with narrow, loose gravel stages which run through dense woodland on the edge of the vast Tokachi plain that stretches inland from the Pacific Ocean. Each day will be a grueling test for crews with ten stages per day on legs one and two and seven stages on the final leg. The stages vary greatly in both character and length, ranging from the 1.35km SuperSpecial stage round the service park, which is run a total of five times, to the longest stage Puray which totals 34.96 competitive kilometres. Coupled with long liaison sections, drivers will be on the road for 12 hours each day during the first two legs.

Changeable weather is as much a feature of Rally Japan as the long days.

Although Obihiro is flanked by two mountain ranges, it lies in the path of Pacific weather systems which bring high winds and torrential rain to the island. With the rally taking place in autumn in the height of the typhoon season, it is likely that rain showers will fall each day, leaving the ground saturated. With some stages used five times, the roads can quickly become heavily rutted. Temperatures will be low, with a strong chance of snow as it dips below 0 degrees Celsius by night.

As with last year, Rally Japan comprises 27 stages. The five services during legs one and two do not permit refuelling, therefore there are four remote refuels on both days to cover the 465.40km of liaison on Friday and 468.78 on Saturday. In a change from last year, the stages farthest north will not be run to reduce the overall liaison distance.

The event commences with a ceremonial start in central Obihiro at 1930hrs on Thursday night. Leg one begins the following day with the first stage getting underway from 0733hrs. Sunday's podium finish is scheduled for 1500hrs at the Kita Aikoku service park.

1. BP-Ford

2. Citroen Total

3. Subaru

4. OMV Kronos Citroen

5. Stobart M-Sport Ford

6. Munchis Ford

1. BP-Ford

With just three rounds remaining of the 16-rally season, BP-Ford heads to the Land of the Rising Sun with a 32-point lead in the manufacturers'

championship in its bid for a second consecutive crown with the Focus RS World Rally Car. A maximum 54 points remain. In the drivers' series Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen lead by four points as they challenge for a third world crown, with a maximum 30 points still available.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "There are just four points between myself and Sébastien Loeb and that is not a comfortable margin. It is too close to call. A win in Japan would obviously help but I think this could go all the way down to the final round in Wales. The roads are very narrow in places, but quite quick. They remind me of the stages in Great Britain, and even Finland in places. They require great care because there are deep ditches by the side of the road. It's hard to pick them out because of the thick vegetation and it's tricky to see the exit of corners anyway because overhanging trees block the view."

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "I've heard temperatures might drop to -5ºC at night, with the possibility of snow and ice. If that's the case, being a Finn, those conditions would suit me. There are places that are good for cutting corners but it's important to be careful of stones in the grass and the ditches. I've heard that at this time of the year there isn't so much tall vegetation so it may be possible to see more of what is at the side of the road. The ditches can be right on the edge and even if you are just 10cm off line the car can slide into them. They are steep and there is no way out."

2. Citroen Total

The anti-penultimate round of the 2007 World Rally Championship takes crews to Japan where Citroën Sport has entered two Citroën C4 WRCs for its usual line-up of Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí.

Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: We need to try to finish ahead of Marcus Grönholm. If we succeed, and even if he finishes second, we will still be in with a chance for the title. We will have an even better chance, of course, if he finishes lower than second. It won't be easy because he is quick in Japan, but we will try to put the pressure on him and, at the same time, try not to make any mistakes."

Dani Sordo/Marc Marti: "I still have a great deal to learn about Rally Japan and there will also be some sections that are new to me this year, so that doesn't play in my favour. I will try to use the experience I gained in 2006 to avoid making the same mistakes. I don't know whether we will succeed in giving Seb a helping hand. We will do our best, but it is perhaps more reasonable to target a top-five finish."

3. Subaru

The Subaru World Rally Team has entered three cars for Rally Japan. Petter Solberg and Phil Mills will be driving Impreza WRC2007 number seven, Chris Atkinson and Stephane Prevot will be driving number eight, and Xevi Pons and Xavier Amigo number 17. Chris finished fourth in Japan last year, and Petter and Phil won this event in 2004. Xevi Pons has never competed on a rally in Japan.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "Rally Japan is very important for us and I always enjoy traveling there. Even if we have had some mixed results, winning in 2004 but not finishing in 2005, the fans are fantastic and of course it is important as it is Subaru's home event. I feel happier with the car after the event in Corsica last weekend and with the setup we have from our testing, so I hope we can have a good result."

Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: "Japan has been good for us in the past as we finished fourth last year and on the podium the year before. It'll be a good change to get back to a gravel surface again after the recent asphalt double-header, and the car should be better suited to the bumpy and loose surface than the flat asphalt from the last two events. I'm looking forward to a good result, but it will be tough as the days are long and the stages demanding. Approaching corners you are often unsighted by the trees and it is difficult to always get the lines right, but there is no margin for error so it is a hard rally."

Xavier Pons/Xavier Amigo: "I have never competed in Rally Japan before so I'm not quite sure what to expect. There are long days and a lot of stages which are very technical, so it will be hard. But it is an important event for the team so I will push as hard as I can without making mistakes. It is important for us to finish the rally and for me to learn as much as I can."

4. OMV Kronos Citroen

The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team will start another attempt for a top result at the "Rally Japan". The signs are good since, including the Austrian OMV driver, only 13 WRC teams will compete in the land of the rising sun. Furthermore, most of these have little Japan-experience. Stohl, on the other hand, had already finished fifth at his Japan premiere last year. Which gives hope to the 35-year-old overall fourth of 2006.

Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: "We're here to score points. In my first Citroen-season 2005 I had accumulated 22 points at year's end. This year it's only nine so far which means that 13 are still missing. And I have three rallies left to score them."

5. Stobart M-Sport Ford

After two successful tarmac outings this month the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team are back on a loose surface, in the land of the rising sun, as they tackle the fourth running of Rally Japan next week. This is the 14th round of the FIA World Rally Championship and the last of the long-haul events before the WRC circus heads back to Ireland and UK for the final two rounds of 2007.

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "For the third time this month I am going to another new event! I have never been to Rally Japan before and my approach will be similar to the other two events. The only good thing is that I am back on my preferred surface of gravel. I have heard some things about the stages and I think they will still be difficult for me; the fast, narrow roads with loose gravel will be tricky and it will be easy to get caught out. My plan will be to get some experience of the stages before I can really start to push. It will be interesting to get back to gravel as I think I will have learnt some things from the last two tarmac events that may also help my driving on gravel."

Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "I really like the roads in Japan but they are also very challenging for drivers and it's easy to feel confident and push too hard. I was leading here last year with the Group N car until we had some mechanical problems on the last day. The roads are fast, but narrow, with a lot of blind corners and because of this I will have the same plan here as with the last tarmac rallies. On the last events I have tried to have a less aggressive driving style and be smoother with the car and this is the most important thing for me again in Japan. I will be looking for a good result but also to progress my driving even further."

Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr: "It will be good to get back on gravel after two tarmac rallies. We will start with last year's notes and see how they go because both Saturday and Sunday's stages are identical to last year which will help on the recce. This event is going to be totally different for us because last year it was a bit warmer and dry whereas this year it's going to be quite cold, and I'm told there is a good chance of snow in the higher points which will make conditions very tricky. It's a good event and an amazing place and I've been looking forward to getting back onto the loose surface."

6. Munchis Ford

The Munchi's Ford World Rally Team will be back on a familiar surface next week as they tackle the penultimate round of their 2007 ten-event campaign at Rally Japan. This 14th round of the FIA World Rally Championship is an event which both Munchi's drivers will be competing on for the second time in their careers.

Luis Perez Companc/Jose Maria Volta: "I like the rally in Japan as the stages are fast, good to drive and there is quite a bit of grip. Last year this event was my first in the '06 spec car, I have very good memories from that and I was happy with the times that I set. From a team point of view, I think it is another good chance to earn some more manufacturer points as this surface suits both Federico and myself well. Another thing I remember from last year are the high numbers of spectators on the road sections of the rally. I don't have a problem making pace notes for these stages and it will be a good advantage to use our notes from last year, there are quite a few stages the same as last year so this will help me during the recce. This has been a good year so far for the team and there's no reason why Japan shouldn't be another good rally. Federico has been doing an impressive job this year, he has got the experience of the stages, is setting decent times and picking up points along the way."

Federico Villagra/Jorge Perez Companc: "As well as looking forward to the rally in Japan, I think it will also be very difficult. I have experience of the stages from a couple of years ago but will have to adjust my pacenotes slightly as back then it was in a Group N car. For this year in a top WRC car we will aim to be very neat on the stages and try to have a clean rally.

One of the most difficult things are the stages themselves, the roads are very fast, but narrow, with bushes very close to the side of the road.

Pacenotes need to be accurate and precise. I am feeling good going into this event. I have had some recent successful results in Argentina and hopefully we can score some more points for the Munchi's team in Japan next weekend."

7. Skoda Czech Rally Team

CRT-Skoda are not participating in Rally Japan. Please click the link above for all the latest Skoda news.

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Event Statistics

* This is the fourth year that Rally Japan counts toward the WRC since its inaugural inclusion in the calendar in 2004.

* The event again takes place in Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four principal islands. All the event's facilities are based in Obihiro, capital of the Tokachi agricultural region. The Kita Aikoku Community Square service park is situated some 6km to the south of Obihiro.

The principal media

room is in the Tokachi Plaza, while an annex media room will be set up at the service park.

* The time difference between Japan (UTC+9) and continental Europe is 7 hours. When it is 11am in Paris, it is 6pm in Obihiro. The local currency is the Yen. JPY 1,000 = ?6.

* The total length of the 2007 event is 1,575.79km, including 350.19km divided into 27 stages (11 different ).

* Rally Japan is paired with September's Rally New Zealand. The engines and chassis are the same for the two events and were sealed after New Zealand. The engines will go on to contest Wales Rally GB, but not the chassis. The pairing system also dictates limited numbers of front and rear subframes and steering racks. Four of each (one per car, plus two spares) are authorised for New Zealand and Japan.

* Two gearboxes and differentials per car were sealed for New Zealand and Japan.

* Tyres - the quota per driver is 60 tyres, of which 35 may be used (event + shakedown). Barcode lists and the pattern choice had to be nominated by Thursday September 13.

* Recce is scheduled for Tuesday October 23 (between 08.00 and 18.00 - SS12/16, SS13/17, SS14/18, SS4/8/11/15, SS1/5, SS3/7 and SS2/6) and Wednesday October 24 (between 08.00 and 15.00 - SS22/25, SS23/26, SS21/24 and the super-special). Two passes are authorised in an order and at specific times dictated by the organisers.

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Event Schedule

Thursday 25 October: Ceremonial start

Start Obihiro City 19.30

Friday 26 October: Leg 1 Obihiro - Obihiro

Start Kita Aikoku 06.00

SS1 Pawse Kamuy Reverse 1 9.03km 07.33

SS2 Cup Kamuy 1 13.95km 08.13

SS3 Kimun Kamuy 1 26.03km 08.36

SS4 Rikubetsu 1 2.73km 09.29

Serv A Kita Aikoku (30 mins) 11.32

SS5 Pawse Kamuy Reverse 2 9.03km 13.35

SS6 Cup Kamuy 2 13.95km 14.15

SS7 Kimun Kamuy 2 26.03km 14.38

SS8 Rikubetsu 2 2.73km 15.31

SS9 Obihiro 1 1.35km 17.44

SS10 Obihiro 1 1.35km 17.54

Serv B Kita Aikoku (45 mins) 18.07

Finish Kita Aikoku 18.52

Total 106.18km

Saturday 27 October: Leg 2 Obihiro - Obihiro

Serv C Kita Aikoku (10 mins) 05.05

SS11 Rikubetsu 3 2.73km 07.13

SS12 Puray 1 34.96km 07.44

SS13 Niueo 1 20.75km 08.23

SS14 Sipirkakim 22.43km 09.01

Serv D Kita Aikoku (30 mins) 11.16

SS15 Rikubetsu 4 2.73km 13.44

SS16 Puray 2 34.96km 14.15

SS17 Niueo 2 20.75km 14.54

SS18 Sipirkakim Short 4.67km 15.47

SS19 Obihiro 3 1.35km 17.57

SS20 Obihiro 4 1.35km 18.07

Serv E Kita Aikoku (45 mins) 18.20

Finish Kita Aikoku 19.05

Total 146.68km

Sunday 28 October: Leg 3 Obihiro - Obihiro

Serv F Kita Aikoku (10 mins) 05.40

SS21 Rera Kamuy 1 8.76km 07.06

SS22 Panke Nikorpet 1 17.04km 07.29

SS23 Penke 1 22.19km 08.09

Serv G Kita Aikoku (30 mins) 09.49

SS24 Rera Kamuy 2 8.76km 11.35

SS25 Panke Nikorpet 2 17.04km 11.58

SS26 Penke 2 22.19km 12.38

SS27 Obihiro 5 1.35km 14.33

Finish Kita Aikoku 15.00

Total 97.33km

Rally total 350.19km

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