RALLY JAPAN
1 November 2008
DAY 2
MITSUBISHI LANCER DRIVERS LEAD THE WAY THROUGH DAY2 OF RALLY JAPAN
Russian driver Evgeny Novikov maintained his grip on the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship standings of Rally Japan, leading the field throughout today’s 10 stages close to the city of Sapporo. The stages were devoid of the snow which caused the cancellation of two tests yesterday – and, despite the cold conditions, the sun shone throughout the day.
EVGENY NOVIKOV / DIMITRY CHUMAK
Novikov’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution ran without fault for the duration of the day, allowing him to head into tomorrow’s third and final day of the event with a clear shot at taking his first ever P-WRC win. Beyond Novikov’s continued success, there was more to cheer from the Mitsubishis, not least a scorching drive back up the leaderboard from flying Finn Juho Hanninen. Hanninen’s was the drive of the day; starting ninth in P-WRC this morning, he would end the day in second place.
He set fastest time on six of the 10 stages during the day, but admits he’s unwilling to risk everything in a final-day fight for the lead.
JUHO HANNINEN / MIKKO MARKKULA
“I don’t know if I need to win this rally,” said Hanninen. “Maybe I don’t. Certainly, if there’s the chance of the puncture or breaking the car, I’m going to slow down. One of the good things for me is that tomorrow’s stages are similar in nature to today’s, they’re fast and flowing – just as I like them.”
Hanninen started Rally Japan four points adrift of P-WRC series leader Andreas Aigner (Austria). Second place tomorrow afternoon would mean he headed into the final round of the championship four points ahead. This was clearly playing on the mind of the Finn.
“I’ve pushed harder today,” he admitted. “The stages have been a lot faster. They’ve suited me more than the twisty, slippery ones yesterday. But now I’ve got to think about things before tomorrow. The good thing is that, once again, the Mitsubishi has run perfectly. The only problem we’ve had today was the lights this afternoon. We didn’t have the right lights on, so running the dark was really tricky. That’s where we lost the time.”
It was the same story for Novikov, although winning the rally was definitely at the forefront of the 18-year-old’s mind.
“I was steady this morning,” said Novikov. “I wanted to be safe, not to take risk. I pushed harder this afternoon, but still I am trying to look after the car. I am a little bit concerned about [Juho] Hanninen, he seems to be coming quite quickly. Okay, we’ll see.”
FUMIO NUTAHARA / HAKARU ICHINO
The P-WRC top 10 was, once again, packed out with Lancer Evolutions. Crucially, both of the latest-specification Lancer Evolution Xs were still running in strong points-paying positions although Fumio Nutahara’s (Japan) day was spoiled by a puncture which cost two minutes on SS16. Katsuhiko Taguchi (Japan) was one place ahead of Nutahara, but his day didn’t get off to the best of starts.
KATSUHIKO TAGUCHI / MARK STACEY
“We hit the same post as everybody else in the first stage,” said Taguchi. “Unfortunately for us, it flattened the exhaust and so cost us some power from the car. That made the morning a bit tricky, but after that it’s been good.”
Further up the order, early P-WRC leader Eyvind Brynildsen’s (Norway) hopes of getting back into the lead were dashed when he suffered broken suspension after dropping his Mitsubishi into a big hole in SS18 – the final dirt test of the day. He was fourth in P-WRC with Mirco Baldacci (San Marino) two places further back in sixth.
At the head of the field, Ford men Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala (both Finland) maintained their one-two placings, while Sebastien Loeb (France) retained third place in his Citroen.
| FIA PWRC CLASSIFICATION | ||||||
| Pos | Driver Co-Driver | Nat | Vehicle | Grp Pos | Total Time | Diff Leader |
| 1 | Evgeny NOVIKOV Dale MOSCATT | RUS AUS | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 2 | 2:34:01.3 | **:**:**.* |
| 2 | Juho HANNINEN Mikko MARKKULA | FIN FIN | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 3 | 2:34:20.4 | 19.1 |
| 3 | Toshi ARAI Glenn MACNEALL | J AUS | SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi | N 4 | 2:34:22.1 | 20.8 |
| 4 | Eyvind BRYNILDSEN Mathieu GIRAUDET | N F | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 5 | 2:35:31.6 | 1:30.3 |
| 5 | Takuma KAMADA Naoki KASE | J J | SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi | N 6 | 2:35:59.8 | 1:58.5 |
| 6 | Mirco BALDACCI Giovanni AGNESE | RSM I | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX | N 7 | 2:36:40.7 | 2:39.4 |
| 7 | Katsuhiko TAGUCHI Mark STACEY | J AUS | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X | N 8 | 2:37:02.2 | 3:00.9 |
| 8 | Fumio NUTAHARA Hakaru ICHINO | J J | MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X | N 9 | 2:39:26.6 | 5:25.3 |
FUMIO NUTAHARA / HAKARU ICHINO
KATSUHIKO TAGUCHI / MARK STACEY
No comments:
Post a Comment