Hirvonen cruises to Rally Japan win

The Ford number two kept his composure superbly in treacherous conditions that saw both title contenders Marcus Gronholm and Sebastien Loeb, and early rally leader Jari-Matti Latvala, all crash out within the first day and a half.

Hirvonen had taken the lead from Latvala on the opening leg and was then handed a commanding advantage when Loeb and Latvala both went off within a few kilometres of each other on Saturday morning.

Although Sordo had closed on Hirvonen during leg two, the Finn was able to re-establish a 50-second lead prior to the final loop. With the surface finally drying up but the roads becoming increasingly rough as it did so, Hirvonen drove cautiously through the last stages and cruised to victory by 37.4 seconds.

"It was so, so difficult this weekend," said Hirvonen. "When we came here the only thing was to try to help Marcus fight against Sebastien, and that's what we did.

"After he went off, it was just a very hard one and a half days. I'm waiting for Marcus to buy me one big beer..."

Stobart Ford's Henning Solberg had battled with Sordo on the opening day but was left behind when the Citroen gained pace on Saturday. He then decided to drive extremely conservatively to ensure his second podium finish of 2007, which he duly clinched despite a scare in SS24 when his safety harness worked loose.

The tight battle for fourth provided the main excitement of the final afternoon, as Solberg's teammate Matthew Wilson hunted down and overhauled Munchi's Ford driver Luis Perez Companc.

The Briton had begun the leg 21.7 seconds behind and closed inexorably, moving ahead in the final full-length stage. Perez Companc could not strike back in the Obihiro superspecial and ended the rally 2.5 seconds behind Wilson in fifth, with both scoring their best ever WRC finishes.

"I think it's showed how difficult the rally's been with all the mistakes that have been made," Wilson said. "I'm so pleased. It's unbelievable. Fourth place... if somebody had offered that at the start of the rally I would have definitely taken it."

Perez Companc was far from downcast about his result.

"It's okay when the races are like that," he said. "Matthew really drove very well, and next time it will be me. It's been a fantastic rally for the Munchi's team."

Manfred Stohl had fallen behind the two independent Fords when he had clutch problems on leg two. He regained a little time on the last day before settling for sixth in the OMV Kronos Citroen.

Perez Companc's teammate Federico Villagra had a quiet run to seventh, which was also a career best for the recent Production class graduate.

The event was notable for the very high level of attrition amongst the WRC field. Gronholm had been the first major casualty - crashing shortly after taking the lead from Latvala on Friday morning. Although he managed to get back to service, damage to the Ford's rollcage would eliminate the championship leader from the event.

This gave Loeb a golden opportunity to take the points lead, but the reigning champion went off the road in SS13 after co-driver Daniel Elena misread a pace note.

Unlike Gronholm, the Citroen was able to resume under superally regulations next day. Loeb took four stage wins but retired for good after oil pressure problems in the penultimate stage. The result means that Gronholm is still four points ahead with two rounds remaining.

After the high of leading on leg one, Latvala took little joy from his eventual 26th place.

"I felt like a rally driver on Friday," said Latvala, "today I feel like a taxi driver..."

Home team Subaru had the worst rally of all the WRC squads, with all three cars retiring by Saturday morning. Both Chris Atkinson and Xevi Pons crashed, while Petter Solberg became stuck in sixth gear on a road section. Atkinson's Impreza was too badly damaged to rejoin, but Solberg and Pons used the superally system to take 17th and 37th.

"I'm very disappointed to not do the best we can for all the Subaru fans out there," said Solberg.

With so many of the WRC cars hitting trouble, local entrant Katsuhiko Taguchi was able to take eighth in his Group N Mitsubishi, ahead of Production WRC leaders Gabriel Pozzo and Armindo Araujo.

Pos  Driver         Car         Time
 1.  Hirvonen       Ford        3h23:57.6
 2.  Sordo          Citroen     +    37.4
 3.  H Solberg      Ford        +  4:33.7
 4.  Wilson         Ford        +  6:37.9
 5.  Perez Companc  Ford        +  6:40.4
 6.  Stohl          Citroen     +  7:04.3
 7.  Villagra       Ford        + 11:15.3
 8.  Taguchi        Mitsubishi  + 20:40.1
 9.  Pozzo          Mitsubishi  + 21:53.0
10.  Araujo         Mitsubishi  + 24:13.5