Friday wrap: Solberg battles illness to lead in Japan

Petter Solberg has not won a round of the world championship since Rally GB in 2005 but all that could be about to change after the Norwegian completed the opening day of Rally Japan with a lead of almost 10 seconds in his privately-run Citroen C4 WRC.

While that might not represent a huge advantage, Solberg has battled a fever throughout the day, which he admits has masked some of his pace.

“It has not been easy at all today,” said Solberg. “I am feeling a lot better than I was but it’s very strange when you don’t feel okay and don’t have the energy you need. Now I need a good night’s sleep to sweat out the last bit [of fever]. The car is working very well and we have had a good pace and a good performance today so I am happy. I know there is more to come from me.”

Mikko Hirvonen completed the opening loop of three stages today in fourth overall but an upturn in pace in the afternoon has enabled the factory Ford Focus driver to leap to second, 9.4s behind Solberg, courtesy of two stage wins.

“It’s worked really for us today,” said Finn Hirvonen. “I didn’t want to go too fast too early so I’ve been building up my speed slowly and it’s starting to be pretty good. We have to see what we can do tomorrow. I didn’t change anything at midday service, I just went for it because the others were doing that too.”

Sebastien Ogier is third on his first Rally Japan. He is also the leading works Citroen driver after team-mate and title leader Sebastien Loeb lost significant ground cleaning the road of the loose surface gravel on Friday morning.

Ogier, who held the overnight lead after going quickest on both of Thursday evening’s superspecial stages, said: “To be racing to be in the lead is very good for my first visit to Japan. The road has been very bad this afternoon so it has not been easy. For this reason I am very happy. The car has been perfect but we made some changes to the set-up to adapt it for the rougher stages in the afternoon.”

Loeb, meanwhile, suffered a broken front damper to add to the delay he suffered running first on the road. His road position remained a hindrance for the afternoon tests due to the ruts that had formed following the first pass of the three gravel stages.

Jari-Matti Latvala, who is fourth in the second works Focus, reported making two small mistakes on stage seven. “I just got confused with my notes on a few occasions and ended up braking too early,” he said after completing day one 15.4s off the overall lead.

Dani Sordo completes the top five in his Citroen Junior Team C4 but was left to bemoan a gearbox glitch that struck during the afternoon.

Henning Solberg is seventh with Stobart M-Sport team-mate Matthew Wilson completing the top eight. Federico Villagra is ninth in his Focus, 16.6s clear of ex-Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who spent the day adapting to the challenging gravel roads around host city Sapporo.


Source: WRC

The Citroën Junior Team aims to conquer Sapporo

The Citroën Junior Team will take the start of the Rally Japan – round 10 of the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship – with two C4 WRCs that will be driven by Dani Sordo/Diego Vallejo and Kimi Räikkönen/Kaj Lindström

The Rally Japan gets underway on Thursday 9 September with a superspecial in Sapporo. On Friday 10 September and Saturday 11 September the route will take the crews towards the towns of Tomakomai, Chitose and Eniwa in the south of the island of Hokkaido. The final day, Sunday 12 September, visits the area around Sunagawa, Bibai and Naie, to the northeast of the service park close to Sapporo.

Dani Sordo has taken part in the Rally Japan on three previous occasions, with a best result of second overall in 2007. The Spaniard just missed out on victory by 37.4 seconds on that occasion, having been the best performer of the rally after setting the same number of fastest stage times as Sebastien Loeb.

“I’ve got some great memories of Japan,” said Dani. “It’s a long way away but a very beautiful country. The route is really complex though. As a driver you have to be very precise in order to place the car accurately on very narrow roads and the co-driver has a lot of pace notes to get through, which need to be read out with perfect timing. If all those things don’t come together you end up either losing a stack of time or going off the road. From start to finish, you need to be really exact.”

Dani Sordo is joining the Citroën Junior Team for the last few gravel rounds of the 2010 season, and he is determined to get stuck into the battle with the frontrunners. “I’m going to be giving my all to show that I can drive just as quickly on gravel as I can on asphalt,” added the Spaniard.

Kimi Räikkönen has been used to making the trip to Japan throughout his Formula One career, winning the Japanese Grand Prix in 2005, but the gravel stages on the island of Hokkaido are going to be all new to him.

Kimi finished in the points on his last outing, the all-asphalt Rallye Deutschland, and also set the first fastest stage time of his short WRC career to date. He said: “We’ve not been testing since we finished the Rallye Deutschland. When we get to Japan, I’m going to have to get straight back into the rhythm again. I’m expecting it to be a very tricky event for us. From what I’ve heard, the Rally Japan is particularly complex. And it’s sure to be even more complicated for a beginner like me.”

The Finn has been in the points on four occasions from the eight starts he has taken this year, but his objectives remain unchanged. “My targets are exactly the same,” he confirmed. “From the first few stages in Japan we will be able to see the pace we can run at. But once more the main thing will be to be there at the end of the rally.”

After nine of the 13 events that make up this year’s World Rally Championship, Dani Sordo is fifth in the drivers’ standings while Kimi Räikkönen is 10th. In the manufacturers’ rankings, the Citroën Junior Team lies third with 168 points.

- Credit: Citroen Junior Team.

Source: HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS