Rally Japan Final Leg

Rally Japan Leg 3
11th Round FIA WRC 2006
3 September 2006

Overall Final Results qualified for points after 27 Stages


After claiming second overall in last month's Neste Oil Rally Finland, Sebastien Loeb was forced to wait for the next opportunity to claim his record breaking 27th FIA World Rally Championship victory. Rest easy Loeb fans, Sebastien has come through and passed the legendary Carlos Sainz in the record books.



Due to problems during the second leg, Loeb was able to move past then rally leader Marcus Gronholm. Gronholm, who led the rally until midway through the second leg, began the third day of action 25.6sec off Loeb's pace. Though Gronholm battled harder than any other driver during the third leg, the time difference was just too great for Gronholm to overcome. For the second time in 2006, Gronholm was forced to settle for second overall behind Loeb.



Mikko Hirvonen ran a relatively non-pressured rally after the mechanical troubles of Petter Solberg during the rally's opening leg. Hirvonen completed the rally two minutes 40.9sec behind his team-mate and three minutes 21.3sec ahead of Subaru World Rally Team's Chris Atkinson. Hirvonen joked earlier in the rally that he had become more accustom to driving without pressure on either side of him, even going as far as to say that he believes his pace has improved when he is not under pressure.

Atkinson was the highest placed Subaru at the end of Rally Japan. Though Atkinson suffered 'cosmetic damage' to his Impreza WRC and a penalty, the Australian driver was able to put together several solid stage times in an effort to claim the highest position possible.



During the second leg, it seemed as though the battle for fourth overall was going to be one of the more exciting contests, but Manfred Stohl was unable to keep pace with Atkinson. Stohl was not able to find the speed necessary to move beyond Atkinson during the third leg either, but after a clean run through the final day, Stohl finished with a well-deserved fifth overall.

Toshi Arai began the third leg in eighth overall, but the problems that Petter Solberg suffered with brakes throughout the morning allowed Arai to move beyond his team-mate for the weekend.



Dani Sordo held sixth at the beginning of the day, but Luis Perez Companc inadvertently prevented Sordo from holding sixth overall at the end of the event. Sordo finished Rally Japan, his first attempt of Rally Japan in a World Rally Car, seventh, gaining much needed points for Kronos as the team moves forward in hope of capturing the manufacturers' title.

Petter Solberg completed the event eighth after running as high as third. Solberg suffered through problems with his brakes throughout the weekend, and the third leg was no different. Solberg began the day by losing his brakes on the opening stage, and was unable to compete with Dani Sordo, and eventually Toshi Arai, for a position higher than eighth.



Luis Perez Companc went off-stage during the rally's penultimate stage and was unable to return to action. Companc caused quite a stir with Dani Sordo, who lost at least one minute because of the blocked stage. Reports said that only three metres of clearance sat between Companc and the foliage.

Gareth MacHale, also contesting his first Rally Japan, drove a clean rally through the first two days and well into the third leg. On the fourth stage of the day, however, MacHale ran into a bridge, effectively ending his chances of a top-ten finish.

(photo and story: wrc.com)