RALLY JAPAN
2 November 2008
DAY 3
MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION DRIVERS DELIVER PERFECT RESULT ON RALLY JAPAN
All-Mitsubishi battle between Juho Hanninen and Andreas Aigner for FIA Production Car World Rally Championship on final round
JUHO HANNINEN / MIKKO MARKKULA
At the end of three exceptionally tricky days of rallying on the mountain roads around Sapporo, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers filled eight of the top 10 Group N positions on Rally Japan. Juho Hanninen (Finland) won the event and now takes a commanding lead into the final round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championsip in Wales next month.
Hanninen admitted he hadn’t been pushing for the win, through the final day’s nine stages east of the rally’s base at the Sapporo Dome, but when leader Evgeny Novikov (Russia) slowed in the final two tests, Hanninen moved to the front to clinch his third maximum P-WRC point score of the season.
The success of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution on Rally Japan is the 15th straight victory in the Group N category of the World Rally Championship. And this latest win came before tens of thousands of cheering and adoring rally fans from the home of the Lancer Evolution, Japan.
The final day had been far from a straightforward affair for any of the world’s fastest drivers, with torrential rain making the stages incredibly slippery this morning.
Hanninen now needs to finish fifth or higher in the P-WRC on December’s Wales Rally Great Britain to clinch his first world title. It’s hardly surprising the Finn is looking forward to his next event.
“This rally started badly for me, but then got better and better,” said the winner. “Today was tough, though. The rain in SS23 - Sikot – was just incredible. The water was so deep in the roads that the car was aquaplaning a lot. It wasn’t nice to drive in these conditions, you just had to come through. Luckily, we were in a good position and we didn’t need to take the risk. We pushed harder in the final stage, when it looked like we could be in a position for taking the win. Now it’s all down to the final round. The rain has given us some good preparation for the last rally in Wales. That’s an event I really like, now I just need to get the right result. The car has been perfect here, no problem at all.”
EVGENY NOVIKOV / DIMITRY CHUMAK
Novikov was naturally disappointed at missing out on his first P-WRC win, but second place remains a strong result for the 18-year-old. Behind the Russian teenage sensation, Eyvind Brynildsen (Norway) collected fourth place after a trouble-free final day in his Lancer Evolution and it was a similar story for Mirco Baldacdi (San Marino) in sixth. The good news for Mitsubishi fans was the P-WRC debut of the Lancer Evolution X. Both cars entered in the P-WRC category of Rally Japan finished and collected points on their first time out – an incredible achievement for a brand new car at this level of rallying.
Home heroes Katsuhiko Taguchi (Japan) was seventh and Fumio Nutahara (Japan) eighth in their respective Lancer Evolution Xs. Nutahara, a seasoned P-WRC campaigner, said: “This is a very good car. We have had a good rally. Okay, we have the puncture which is not so good, but driving the new Lancer has been very nice. It’s a strong car.”
Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala (both Finland) finished one-two for Ford in the overall standings, but it was Citroen and Sebastien Loeb (France) who did most celebrating in Japan, with Loeb collecting his fifth consecutive drivers’ title.
The next and final round of the P-WRC and WRC is Wales Rally Great Britain (December 4-7).
| FIA PWRC CLASSIFICATION | ||||||
| Pos | Driver Co-Driver | Nat | Vehicle | Grp Pos | Total Time | Diff Leader |
| 1 | Juho HANNINEN Mikko MARKKULA | FIN FIN | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 1 | 3:43:30.4 | **:**:**.* |
| 2 | Evgeny NOVIKOV Dale MOSCATT | RUS AUS | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 2 | 3:43:36.7 | 6.3 |
| 3 | Toshi ARAI Glenn MACNEALL | J AUS | SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi | N 3 | 3:43:39.6 | 9.2 |
| 4 | Eyvind BRYNILDSEN Mathieu GIRAUDET | N F | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 4 | 3:47:18.2 | 3:47.8 |
| 5 | Takuma KAMADA Naoki KASE | J J | SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi | N 5 | 3:47:53.5 | 4:23.1 |
| 6 | Mirco BALDACCI Giovanni AGNESE | RSM I | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 6 | 3:50:11.0 | 6:40.6 |
| 7 | Katsuhiko TAGUCHI Mark STACEY | J AUS | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X | N 7 | 3:51:25.1 | 7:54.7 |
| 8 | Fumio NUTAHARA Hakaru ICHINO | J J | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X | N 9 | 3:58:39.3 | 15:08.9 |
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