TOKYO, 6 September 2004 — Subaru’s world champion Petter Solberg led from start to finish to win the inaugural Rally of Japan yesterday.
The Norwegian, roaring back from a big crash in Germany two weeks ago, was in control from day one on the fast gravel roads of Hokkaido and beat Citroen’s runaway championship leader Sebastien Loeb by a commanding margin of one minute and 13.3 seconds.
Loeb leads the standings with 84 points to Solberg’s 54, with five rounds remaining, and should take the title with ease.
The next rally is Britain, brought forward from its previous November slot, on Sept. 17-19.
“After Germany, it’s incredible,” said the triumphant Solberg, who escaped unhurt from the biggest crash of his career when he hit concrete blocks and rolled repeatedly in that rally a fortnight ago.
“I never thought I could be so good because it was a terrible accident.”
Loeb was also happy: “It’s the third time we finished second this season and I think it’s looking pretty good for the coming rounds,” said the Frenchman.
Estonian Markko Martin, in a Ford, finished third but a minute and 43 seconds behind the leader after struggling with his pace notes. He dropped from second to third place in the championship.
“Ironically I had my notes right but, on the long stage this morning, I couldn’t hear them because of an intercom problem,” said Martin.
“We were still fastest, though, so it wasn’t too bad. The problem was that I’d had two days of not trusting the notes so I found it hard to put all my faith in them.”
Champions Citroen’s dominance of the manufacturer’s championship continued with the French team now 35 points clear of Ford and Subaru 58 points adrift.
It was Solberg’s third win of the season, the eighth of his career and a welcome return to form after failing to score points in the last three rounds.
He paced himself through the final day, winning none of the final nine stages but losing little time.
Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm finished fourth after suffering gearbox trouble and a time penalty on Saturday, with Loeb’s Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz in fifth place ahead of Peugeot’s Harri Rovanpera.
“It’s been a disappointing rally for us,” said Peugeot boss Corrado Provera. “There have been too many technical problems and it’s clear we still have a lot of work to do.”
Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen, in a Subaru, was seventh with German Antony Warmbold in a privately-entered Ford taking the final point.
Ford’s Francois Duval was the main casualty of the final day, the young Belgian’s car sliding off the road backward on stage 22 while he had been running in sixth place.
