Juho Hanninen wins P-WRC battle in Rally Japan

FIA PRODUCTION CAR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
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

Mitsubishi leads the way in Day 2 of Rally Japan

FIA PRODUCTION CAR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
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

Mitsubishi dominates P-WRC in day 1 of Rally Japan

FIA PRODUCTION CAR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
RALLY JAPAN
31 OCTOBER 2008
DAY 1

MITSUBISHIS DOMINATE P-WRC IN JAPAN, WITH LANCER EVOLUTION X MAKING STRONG DEBUT PWRC CLASSIFICATION

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers hold seven of the top 10 positions in the Production Car World Rally Championship category at the end of day one of Rally Japan. Evgeny Novikov (Russia) leads the penultimate round of the P-WRC, the 18-year-old moving ahead of day-long leader Eyvind Brynildsen when the latter spun his Lancer on SS9.


EVGENY NOVIKOV / DIMITRY CHUMAK

The opening day of Rally Japan was marked by cancelled stages - the third and seventh tests were shelved after heavy snowfall in the lead up to the event, while SS6 was stopped following the accident of Francois Duval (Belgium). In order to ensure the cars were on time for the Sapporo Dome superspecial stage, SS8 was cancelled to make up for the earlier delays. The stages all ran out east of Sapporo through some of the most technical and demanding dirt roads incorporated in the calndar this season.

Through all the drama, Norwegian Eyvind Brynildsen kept his head together and his right foot down. Brynildsen enjoyed a trouble-free run until his spin, which allowed Novikov to overturn the different - which was less than a second - between them.

Novikov said: "It's been hard to find grip on all of the stages today. The twistier stages this morning worked well and we made some good times there, but I think I was too cautious on the faster corners in the fourth stage. I dropped some time there. The first stage after lunch was good, we closed right up on Brynildsen."

Brynildsen, who dropped to third overnight, said: "I had no championship points to worry about here. That meant I can drive at my own speed. I had some understeer from the car, but I think this is because of my style of driving. As well as that, it's hard not to get understeer when the car is following in the ruts all of the time. It's been like driving a train on the rails. The spin on the last stage was very frustrating, it cost about five seconds."

The Russian driver did just that, arriving back in Sapporo with just four tenths of a second separating the top two positions. One of the most exciting stories of the event so far has been the exceptional pace and reliability of the all-new Lancer Evolution X, which makes its World Rally Championship debut on this event.

Multiple Japanese Rally Champion Fumio Nutahara placed his Evolution X in fifth place, with the sister car of Katsuhiko Taguchi one place further back. Nutahara said: "The car has been perfect, we have not had any technical problems. I might make some small adjustments to the suspension, but this is to help to find some more traction in the slippery conditions. The only trouble we had this morning was two slow punctures. We only had one spare tire, which meant I went into SS4 with a deflating right-rear tire. Apart from that, it's a good day - and it's very nice to be driving this car here at home."


FUMIO NUTAHARA / HAKARU ICHINO

It was a similar story from Taguchi. He said: "I am learning very much about this car. I did a small test before the start, but the road was not so much like the rally. The car feels very responsive, very fast. But today has been difficult with the conditions."


KATSUHIKO TAGUCHI / MARK STACEY

P-WRC title protagonist Juho Hanninen (Finland) struggled through the opening leg, running in an unusually low position out of the points. Hanninen admitted the treacherous conditions on the opening loop of stages had caught him by surprise.

"It's been very hard work today," he said. "I couldn't find any grip and there was no rhythm for me in the stages. It was terrible. The fourth stage was a little bit better, but still not so enjoyable. I tried to speed up in SS4, but I was having moments when I tried to make the time up."

At the head of the field, Ford men Mikko Hirvonen (Finland) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland) settled into a solid early pace, with Sebastien Loeb (France) starting slowly, but speeding up to make third by the close of play.

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	45:49.6	**:**:**.*
2	Toshi ARAI Glenn MACNEALL	J AUS	SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi	N 3	45:54.9	5.3
3	Eyvind BRYNILDSEN Mathieu GIRAUDET	N F	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX	N 4	46:06.1	16.5
4	Mirco BALDACCI Giovanni AGNESE	RSM I	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX	N 5	46:12.7	23.1
5	Katsuhiko TAGUCHI Mark STACEY	J AUS	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X	N 6	46:15.1	25.5
6	Fumio NUTAHARA Hakaru ICHINO	J J	MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO X	N 7	46:17.3	27.7
7	Takuma KAMADA Naoki KASE	J J	SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi	N 9	46:26.7	37.1
8	Naren KUMAR Nicky BEECH	IND GB	SUBARU IMPREZA WRX STi	N 10	46:35.4	45.8

Pictures from Shakedown [30-NOV-08]


FUMIO NUTAHARA / HAKARU ICHINO


KATSUHIKO TAGUCHI / MARK STACEY

Mitsubishi dominates PWRC class in Rally Argentina

After leading for 20 of the 21 stages on Rally Argentina, Andreas Aigner (Austria) crossed the finish line in Cordoba this afternoon, more than a minute ahead of his nearest rival to take his first ever Production Car World Rally Championship win.

Having come close on numerous occasions last season, Aigner was delighted to break his duck in such dominant fashion in South America. A string of fastest times on the first morning elevated him to an unassailable position at the head of the standings - and for the next two days, he controlled the pace from the front.
"I have to say a big thanks to Mitsubishi, my team for this," he said. "This car has been incredible. We have hit so many big rocks, but the Lancer Evolution is so tough, it didn’t have any problems. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with this result. It has been such a tough event. The stages this morning, we so difficult. The weather was bad again, with more rain and fog and then I hit a rock really hard and hurt my hand in El Condor. It’s been incredible - an amazing event. But now I’ve won - and that’s all that matters right now. After this I have to go on and build on this result for the rest of the season."

Fellow Mitsubishi driver Sebastian Beltran (Argentina) emerged victorious from an incredible battle for second place with Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar). The local hero was fastest on the day’s opener - Mina Clavero - taking 9.2seconds out of Al-Attiyah and closing to six second of the runners-up spot. Beltran redoubled his efforts in the penultimate test, but was able to throttle back mid-way through when his rival’s Subaru suffered an engine problem.

"I really wanted this position," said the overjoyed Beltran at the finish. "It means so much to me and to the Argentinian rally fans to have a home driver so high up. We gave it everything this morning, we were really pushing. Fantastic!"

The final day of Rally Argentina took crews through some of the most dramatic landscapes visited anywhere during the season of the World Rally Championship. After departing the service park alongside the San Roque lake in Villa Carlos Paz at just after seven o’clock this morning, the crews headed high into the Translasierra Mountains for the legendary Mina Clavero and El Condor stages. Running at an altitude of more than 2,000 metres, the cars battled with the soaring Condors and lunar-like landscape for the attention of the rapturous rally fans.

Once again, Mitsubishis were the dominant cars in the Production Car WRC battle, with eight Lancer Evolution IXs in the top 10 places. Fumio Nutahara (Japan) held third place for much of the opening leg, but had to settle for fourth after damaging his Mitsubishi’s rear suspension on SS15. Despite that indiscretion, Nutahara was upbeat about the event.

"This was my first PWRC round of the year, so to come away with some good points is what I needed," he said. "The event didn’t go to plan all of the time. We had some problems, but in these conditions, getting fourth place is good. I am happy."

The Lancer Evolutions of Martin Rauam (Estonia), Amjad Farrah (Jordan), Martin Prokop (Czech Republic) and Bernardo Sousa (Portugal) rounded out the points-paying positions.

At the head of the field, Sebastien Loeb (France) won the event for Citroen, with his team-mate Dani Sordo (Spain) third. Sandwiched between the two Citroens was the Subaru of Australian Chris Atkinson.

The next round of the Production Car World Rally Championship is the Acropolis Rally (May 29-June 2).

Hanninen scores PWRC win in Sweden

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Juho Hanninen (Finland) collected his first win of the season in Karlstad this afternoon, after dominating the final day of the Production Car World Rally Championship element of the Swedish Rally. There was an even bigger reason for Hanninen and co-driver Mikko Markkula to celebrate as they also collected points in the drivers’ world championship for eighth position overall.

The 26-year-old Finn moved to the front of the field mid-way through yesterday’s stages and then maintained a gap of more then a minute through today’s five stages to celebrate at the finish. The organizers of the event were forced to cancel another stage today due to the unseasonably warm conditions which left the road devoid of snow and ice.

Hanninen said: "The roads today were not so nice to drive on. Again, there was some gravel coming through, so we weren’t having a lot of fun, but at the same time, I am so happy with this result! The Production result is fantastic, but then to get a point as well is incredible. It shows how the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has run without any problems for the whole rally. The only concern for me was a puncture on the last day. I was careful to avoid the big rocks. But now we are here at the finish and we have the first win - it’s a great way to start the season."

Once again, Mitsubishi’s dominated the top 10 in the Group N category of a round of the World Rally Championship, with seven places taken by drivers of the Lancer Evolution.