2007 Rally of Japan - Leg Two

Rally Japan Leaderboard after Leg 2

1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr

26min 28.9sec

2. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4

2hr 27min 07.1sec

3. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS 2hr

28min 20.6sec

4. L Perez Companc/J-M Volta ARG Ford Focus RS 2hr 31min

34.5sec

5. M Wilson/M Orr GB Ford Focus RS 2hr

31min 56.2sec

6. M Stohl/I Minor A Citroen Xsara

2hr 32min 28.6sec

7. F Villagra/J-L Diaz ARG Ford Focus RS 2hr 33min

55.5sec

8. K Taguchi/M Stacey J Mitsubishi Lancer 2hr

40min 19.3sec

9. G Pozzo/D Stillo ARG Mitsubishi Lancer

2hr 41min 16.0sec

10 T Kamada/N Kase J Subaru Impreza 2hr

42min 58.5sec

1. BP-Ford

2. Citroen Total

3. Subaru

4. OMV Kronos Citroen

5. Stobart M-Sport Ford

6. Munchis Ford

1. BP-Ford

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen stretched their lead in Rally Japan during a dramatic day's action on the country's most northerly island of Hokkaido today. The BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers returned to Obihiro with a 38.2sec advantage in their Focus RS World Rally Car after a marathon 14-hour stint behind the wheel. Team-mates Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen, whose hopes of landing the FIA World Rally Championship drivers' title suffered a massive blow yesterday when they crashed out, enjoyed a welcome dose of good fortune today. Arch-rival Sébastien Loeb, who looked set to take Grönholm's championship lead, crashed out of second place this morning.

It seems certain neither will take any points from this 14th round of the 16-rally championship.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: Retired (accident)

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "What a morning it was. I was happy to be fighting with Loeb but he made a mistake and when I saw him in a ditch I slowed down. When I then saw Jari-Matti off the road as well I slowed even further because I didn't want to follow them. The conditions were very wet but I had good grip and the tyres worked well. Every corner was so slippery that it was impossible to relax for a second."

2. Citroen Total

For Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, the second leg of the 2007 Rally Japan turned out to be just as troubled as the weather that had moved in over the Obihiro region during the night. The morning's third stage saw their challenge come to a halt when their Citroën C4 WRC left the road, an incident that puts them back into the situation they had been in prior to the start of the Rallye Catalunya. There was a comforting ray of sunshine in the Citroën Sport camp, however, since Spaniards Dani Sordo and Marc Martí are up to second overall with their Citroën C4 WRC.

Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I felt very confident following the changes we made to the set-up of my Citroën C4 yesterday and, although I wasn't taking any undue risks, I hadn't given up the idea of trying to take the lead.

Then, approaching a right-hand corner, Daniel got a note wrong and we were too quick into the turn. We swiped a tree with the rear left of the car and fell down a bank.

The front end of the

car came to a stop in some branches but the rear wheels were still on the stage. The car was practically unscathed and we did all we could to manhandle it back onto the road, but to no avail. It's a tremendous disappointment of course but we are still in contention for the title. The idea of now having to win both the remaining rounds is quite stimulating."

Dani Sordo/Marc Marti: . "The amount of grip available changed all the time but I managed to find a quick pace that enabled us to set some good times. There's still a day left for me to gain more experience of this type of conditions while at the same time trying to defend second place."

3. Subaru

After a disappointing first leg of Rally Japan, when the Subaru team lost any realistic chance of a home rally win, Petter Solberg and co-driver Phil Mills were back on stage winning form on today's second leg of competition.

Solberg netted four outright stage wins in a drama-filled day, during which treacherous conditions led to plenty of incidents and the retirement of two of yesterday's top-three drivers.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "The four stage wins today are very important for us and Subaru, proving that we can set fastest times. Unfortunately yesterday's problems dropped us out of any points-scoring position, but I am happier with the pace we have now. This morning I wasn't so comfortable with the car but after making a few changes it is clearly working better. It is important for the fans that we are still pushing hard. Even though we do not have a proper result this weekend, we are not giving up, that's for sure."

Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: Retired on leg one.

Xavier Pons/Xavier Amigo: "It is a shame that we were unable to compete on any stages this afternoon after going off the road during SS12 this morning.

It's been a frustrating day for me, but we will restart tomorrow morning for the final leg determined to put on a good show for Subaru and learn more about the car in these conditions."

4. OMV Kronos Citroen

There are highs and lows for the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team at the "Rally Japan" but in the end the positive side wins out. After the 35-year-old OMV driver had found his rhythm on the second day a broken clutch had him drop back again. The Austrian needed all his experience in order to reach the noon service at all. He lies in sixth place after the second leg. But the main goal of the OMV pair remains to cross the finish line in Obihiro in fourth place.

Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: "The problems already started on the second special stage of the day. From then on I had to be fully focused so that the car wouldn't stall during the special stage due to some carelessness or else we would have stayed in the woods forever and a day."

5. Stobart M-Sport Ford

Day two of Rally Japan has been another successful one for the Stobart M-Sport Ford rally team as both Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud and Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr occupy firm positions inside the top-five.

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "I am extremely happy with how things have gone for me today on my first time at this rally. My times have been very good and faster than I would have thought; I am pleased with how its all been working. The car feels really good and my confidence is getting even better. I didn't have a good feeling with the brakes on the last few stages and that's why Sordo was able to move further ahead. But I am happy with third position at the minute, it's more than I could have hoped for on this event on my first time here. I will try to keep this position tomorrow and gain some more points for the championship. A podium finish is extremely important for me and my sponsors."

Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: "I am very disappointed with things today. We were in a strong podium position before the problem so it's quite a big loss for me. We had a hydraulic problem on the stage before and I had to use the manual gear change during the stage. When I saw Loeb stopped maybe I lost some concentration but when we turned into the corner the car went straight and understeered off. We hit a tree with the front of the car, spun around and blocked the stage. I was worried as Mikko was very close behind and I didn't want to get in his road so we got the car moved into the bushes very quickly. Hopefully there is still a chance of getting some manufacturer points tomorrow, the battle is close with Subaru so at the minute every point will count."

Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr: "It's been a reasonably good day and to finish inside the top five is fantastic for me. Again the stages have been very difficult with both mud for the first pass then the ruts for the second pass. It is very easy to make a mistake, as you can see from the leaderboard, and you really need to stay focused. I found it difficult to have the confidence to keep the speed up in the rutted sections, especially in the medium to fast speed corners. The car was jumping out of the ruts and made things very difficult. We haven't made any mistakes so far on this event and again tomorrow we will try and keep things steady in this position."

6. Munchis Ford

No information available

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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Remaining Event Schedule

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