Step 1 – Gronholm quits but Loeb is not the leader

During the first stage of the Japan Rally, the 14th of 16 rounds of the season, it is Mikko Hirvonen who is in the lead. The Finn is ahead of Sébastien Loeb by just 10 seconds after nine stages, followed by Latvala. Gronholm and Solberg are the two losers of this first stage with two retirements. A turning point in the championship.

A lot of events happened on this first day at the other end of the world. With 10 stages completed out of 27 planned, gaining the advantage today was a good move for any driver or title contender.

From the first special stage, Jari-Matti Latvala is a surprising leader. The Finn starts his rally strong in this super-special on the Ford Stobart, dominating Loeb by just 0.4 seconds.

But it’s Gronholm who best succeeds at the start of the day, taking the lead from the second stage. The Finnish driver is ahead of two other Finns, also in Fords! Latvala and Hirvonen. Loeb is currently only 4th, ahead of his teammate.

The championship leader, Gronholm, is pushing hard to secure a victory and increase his lead over Loeb in the championship. But the Finn, who won last year in a close duel with Loeb, may be pushing too hard. He goes off the road in special stage 4, and his heavily damaged car is not allowed to continue. It’s a retirement, and a real twist in the championship since, with three rallies left in the season, Sébastien Loeb has the opportunity to take the lead in the championship.

« The accident happened in a left turn at a place where I had corrected a note during the reconnaissance », explains Marcus.

« It was a faster passage than last season because some trees had been cut down. I slid and the right rear wheel hit the side. The impact sent the car to the left against a tree stump. The crash was significant against my door. »

In the last five stages, Hirvonen gets the better of Latvala, who seems less performant and will even give up the second place to Loeb in the closing Super Special of the first day, thanks to two good times by the Frenchman.

Behind, there is a battle for the big points because many usual leaders are no longer in the race. This is the case for the two main Subaru drivers. On home ground, the Japanese team was expecting a great rally, but Peter Solberg went off the road in the penultimate stage, while Atkinson fell victim to a mechanical problem. Only Pons saves the honor for the blues. He still finishes in seventh position.

The second Citroën C4, driven by Sordo, is positioned at the foot of the podium, in fourth place, but already 40 seconds behind the leaders and, more importantly, only 7 seconds ahead of Henning Solberg in the other Stobart.

Stohl on OMV is 6th and delivers a good performance. Perez Companc completes the top 8.

Loeb is therefore temporarily leading the championship, that is, if he finishes at least 4th.

Stage 1 – Rally Japan