Former FIA World Rally Champion Petter Solberg leads Rally Japan at the end of the opening day. Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen has climbed into second ahead of Sébastien Ogier after a day of hard fought and close competition.
Rally Japan - the 10th round of the FIA World Rally Championship - is based in Sapporo, the country’s fifth largest city. Undulating fast gravel roads through the forests make up the core of the event, however the impressive Sapporo Dome is home to the super special stage, which is run eight times during the rally. Rally Japan got underway last night with two runs through the Dome, but today’s route took the crews south of the city for two loops of three stages before returning to the super special stages.
Sébastien Ogier took the advantage after Thursday evening’s two stages and the Frenchman maintained his lead after the first forestry stage this morning. However, Petter Solberg claimed the lead after SS4 - despite a puncture - and the Norwegian has remained largely unchallenged throughout the day. He won three of the day’s stages to overnight with a 9.4 second lead over Hirvonen. The Finn has powered up the leaderboard, from fourth to second, having a trouble-free day as Ford aims for a second consecutive one-two in Japan.
Ogier maintained second position for most of the opening day, however he dropped to third in SS7. While still challenging for the lead, his is also defending his position from Jari-Matti Latvala, who is just 1.1 seconds adrift in fourth. Dani Sordo ran as high as third today, but the Spaniard dropped to fifth in SS6 with a differential problem. Reigning FIA World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb has had a difficult day and he overnights in sixth, 54.5 seconds adrift of the lead. The Frenchman has struggled with grip throughout the day.
Behind the top six, Matthew Wilson - in eighth - lost time with a half spin and a stall in SS4, and Khalid Al Qassimi was forced into retirement in the first stage after rolling.
Rally Japan - Results after Day 1
1. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 13 min 31.2sec
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 13 min 40.6sec
3. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 13 min 52.5sec
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 13 min 53.6sec
5. Dani Sordo/Diego Vallejo Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 14 min 07.7sec
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 14 min 25.7sec
7. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 14 min 53.4sec
8. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 16 min 48.1sec
9. Federico Villagra/J Perez Companc Ford Focus RS WRC 1 hr 17 min 17.7sec
10. Kimi Räikkönen/Kaj Lindström Citroën C4 WRC 1 hr 17 min 34.3sec
