Hirvonen wins Japan but Loeb wins overall championship

Hirvonen wins Rally Japan but Loeb secures the Championship


Mikko Hirvonen completed the short final stage in Sapporo this afternoon to take victory on Rally Japan, while third place for Sebastien Loeb was enough to secure him the 2008 WRC drivers’ title.

Hirvonen crossed the finish line with a winning margin of 31.1sec but even the best possible result this weekend wasn’t enough to prevent Loeb sealing the series. However the Finn was quick to pay tribute to his rival at the end of the stage: “That’s it, it’s over. But okay, he won 10 events before coming here so he deserves it. I did all I could. Now we need to try again next year.”

After their heart-stopping spin on the penultimate stage, Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena climbed onto the roof of their C4 at the finish control, waving a French flag in celebration. “It’s incredible!” said Loeb. “But that was a terrible rally - it couldn’t have been trickier! It’s a great moment. It’s perfect. I’m so relieved this weekend is over now. Last year Daniel and I equalled the record with four wins, so being the only ones to do five we are very happy!”

Jari-Matti Latvala finished second, helping Ford to a maximum 18 point haul in the manufacturers’ championship, and ensuring the battle would go to the final round in Wales. “It’s very good for the team and very good for me,” he said. “After such a bad time in August I can be happy. There was a time when our good result in Turkey seemed a long way away, but now I can be happy again.”

Chris Atkinson finished fourth in his Subaru World Rally Team Impreza WRC2008, while the Suzuki World Rally Team celebrated its best ever result with sixth and seventh. “It’s been fantastic,” said P-G Andersson, who was sixth. We made a great start but after losing the tyre yesterday I though that was it - but we got ourselves together and pushed hard again today.” Toni Gardemeister said: “I’m really happy this rally is over - it’s not so nice at all! But it was a good result for our team for sure.”

Matthew Wilson brought his Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Focus to the finish in seventh place, while Subaru driver Petter Solberg was eighth, the last points winning place.

-WRC

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

K. Taguchi's Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X for 08 Rally Japan

Katsuhiko Taguchi's Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Group N Specs

Pending final homologation, K. Taguchi's Group N Evo X was displayed to the public following the announcement of the new Rally Japan sponsor, Pioneer carrozzeria. The Group N Evo X also served as course cars in last year's Rally Japan. After final homologation, these rally machines will be in official competition.

Rally Japan 2008 to be known as PIONEER Carrozzeria Rally Japan

New Name for the Rally - PIONEER Carrozzeria Rally Japan
2008.07/28

On July 22, Rally Japan Organising held a press conference in Tokyo. It was held to announce the new title of the event − PIONEER CORPORATION, the world famous audio components maker. Rally Japan, Round 14 of the FIA World Rally Championship 2008 will run on October 30 − November 2 in the central part of Hokkaido under a new name PIONEER carrozzeria Rally Japan.

Ichiro KAMOSHITA [The Environment Minister (Center)], Mr. Toshihiro ARAI (Right) and Mr. Katsuhiko TAGUCHI (Left)

Three rally cars − Subaru Impreza WRC 2008, Suzuki SX4 WRC and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X were displayed on the event stage where the Pirelli girls greeted more than 200 media representatives. On behalf of the Organisers Nobuyuki IDEI, the Event Chairman, encouraged the media to look forward to the all-new Rally Japan. Ichiro KAMOSHITA, the Environment Minister and the head of the Liberal Democratic Party members union for motor sports promotion was also present at the official announcement. His comment was: "Please make Rally Japan a true people's event". The Executive Director of Sapporo Dome Takeshi SETO wished the event a great success and expressed high expectations on behalf of all administration representatives and other parties involved.

The summary of the event was also give at the conference. The Service park, the Rally HQ, the Media center and the Super Special Stage will all be located at the Sapporo Dome. Besides that Shin-Chitose purpose built stage, which will be used on Day 2 and Day 3 of the Rally, was introduced. The stage is located on the existing off-road course 10 minutes away by taxi from the Shin-Chitose airport. On Day 3 the final stage of the event will run here thus giving the spectators an excellent opportunity to witness the moment of winning the Rally.

A presentation on Rally Japan long running environmental effort was also given at the media conference.

Katsuhiko Taguchi (in red shirt) [Mitsubishi] and Toshi Arai (in blue shirt) [Subaru]

Two special guests were invited to attend the conference − 2005 and 2007 PWRC champion Toshihiro ARAI and the current Asia Pacific Rally Championship points leader Katsuhiko TAGUCHI. ARAI said: "I am very excited about the coming event and will try to do my best there, please come and watch". TAGUCHI, who won Rally Japan Group N category in 2007 has finalized the arrangements to participate in this year event using Lancer Evolution X. He said: "Since this year the event will be held in Sapporo I hope more people can come to watch the rally. In my turn I will try to have a drive that would meet everyone's expectations".

-Rally Japan

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Group N car

Serving now as Course Car ("0" and "00" cars) in Raly Japan. FIA Group N homologation to follow mid 2008.

Ceremonial Start

Shakedown

Leg 1

Leg 1


Leg 2

Leg 3

Lancer Evo X to debut as Course Car in WRC Rally Japan

FIA PRODUCTION CAR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 14: RALLY JAPAN
06 SEPTEMBER 2007

MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION X (10) TO DEBUT AS COURSE CAR IN RALLY JAPAN


Mitsubishi Motors Corporation has announced that their new-generation high-performance 4WD sedan, the Lancer Evolution X (10) is to be used as the course cars for the Japanese round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). Rally Japan is also the 6th round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship (PWRC) and will run in Tokachi, Hokkaido from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th October 2007.

As official the Course cars for Rally Japan, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X will be the vehicles that run though the route and all the demanding stages of the event ahead of the competitors to check track conditions making sure that everything is ready for the 14th round of the WRC. The Course cars, often referred to as the ‘Double Zero’ and ‘Zero’ cars, travel through the course before the competing vehicles, 30-minutes for the Double Zero car and 15-minutes for the Zero car.


The Lancer Evolution X will run on Rally Japan in Group N specification and include various new features that have been developed in close collaboration between the Motor Sport Division / Technical Development Department of Mitsubishi Motors and Ralliart Inc.

Included in these new developments is the integrated of the roll cage into the body of the car with extensive reinforcements resulting in the cars strength and stiffness being drastically upgraded from the normal road-going version. Purpose-built components have been used for the running gear and brakes with drive-train components specially developed by Ralliart featuring a constant-mesh close-ratio gearbox.


The exterior of the Lancer Evolution X Group N will use accessories usually found on all high-performance vehicles and familiar to all rally enthusiasts including sump-guard, floor guard with fuel tank protection and mud flaps. In the cockpit additional safety features have been added including five-point safety harnesses for the crew with bucket seats and a competition steering wheel.

As Course cars on Rally Japan, the Mitsubishi Lance Evolution Xs used will have revolving roof lights as well as a siren and loudspeaker to warn the many thousands a of spectators expected on the stages that the competitors will be arriving shortly.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X is scheduled to obtain the Group N homologation from the Federation International de L'Automobile (FIA) next summer with the new rally challenger taking part in international rallies during the second half of 2008 or 2009. Registration with the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) will be applied this year, allowing competitors to participate in JAF-sanctioned events with the new-generation Lancer Evolution X.


The development of the official reconnaissance vehicle plays a leading role when it comes to supplying competition parts/components to the customer early on. Also, the participation as course car will allow the automobile manufacturer and the rally specialist to technically verify the potential of rally cars prepared by customers who use these special components. Mitsubishi Motors and Ralliart are fully committed to making maximum use of the know-how and expertise learned through various motor sport activities to support future customers and for the development of the production model.

-MMC