2008 Rally Japan

The 2008 Rally Japan was the fourteenth and penultimate round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The event saw Sébastien Loeb clinch his fifth consecutive world drivers title with his drive to a third-place finish. The event was won by Mikko Hirvonen in a Ford Focus, who led the event from start to finish to claim his third win of the season. Second place went to Hirvonen's teammate Jari-Matti Latvala, his fifth podium of the year and his first since the Rally of Turkey back in June.

2008 Rally Japan
5th Pioneer Carrozzeria Rally Japan
Round 14 of the 2008 World Rally Championship
 Previous eventNext event 
Rally baseSapporo
Dates runOctober 31 November 2, 2008
Stages29 (343.69 km; 213.56 miles)[1]
Stage surfaceGravel
Overall distance1,316.28 km (817.90 miles)[1]
Results
Overall winner Mikko Hirvonen
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Crews88 at start, 59 at finish

Stobart M-Sport Ford's François Duval crashed out from second place during the sixth stage. Duval was not injured in the crash, but his co-driver Patrick Pivato sustained a fractured pelvis and tibia. He was rushed to the hospital, and internal bleeding was discovered during surgery. On day two of the rally, after a second operation, his condition was described as critical but stable.[2]

On the 19th stage, Toni Gardemeister took the Suzuki World Rally Team's first-ever stage win. Suzuki also had their most successful rally to date with Gardemeister finishing sixth and teammate Per-Gunnar Andersson recording his best ever finish of fifth position.

The event was originally planned to run on October 24−26, but as to make full use of venues, including the Sapporo Dome, with its tenant the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters possibly needing it for the Japan Series, the event was approved by FIA to be delayed for a week. The dome was not needed for baseball, as the Ham Fighters didn't make it to the Japan Series.[3]

The Sapporo Dome Super Special Stage was the second to be held in indoor venues in WRC history.

Results

Pos. Driver Co-driver Car Time Difference Points
WRC
1. Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen Ford Focus RS WRC 08 3:25:03.0 0.0 10
2. Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Ford Focus RS WRC 08 3:25:34.1 31.1 8
3. Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën C4 WRC 3:27:33.6 2:30.6 6
4. Chris Atkinson Stéphane Prévot Subaru Impreza WRC2008 3:28:45.4 3:42.4 5
5. Per-Gunnar Andersson Jonas Andersson Suzuki SX4 WRC 3:30:15.9 5:12.9 4
6. Toni Gardemeister Tomi Tuominen Suzuki SX4 WRC 3:31:12.4 6:09.4 3
7. Matthew Wilson Scott Martin Ford Focus RS WRC 07 3:32:08.3 7:05.3 2
8. Petter Solberg Phil Mills Subaru Impreza WRC2008 3:38:22.9 13:19.9 1
PCWRC
1. Juho Hänninen Mikko Markkula Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3:43:30.4 0.0 10
2. Evgeny Novikov Dale Moscatt Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3:43:36.7 6.3 8
3. Toshihiro Arai Glenn MacNeall Subaru Impreza WRX STI 3:43:39.6 9.2 6

Special stages

All dates and times are JST (UTC+9).

Day Stage Time Name Length Winner Time Avg. spd. Rally leader
1
(31 OCT)
SS1 09:11 Heper 1 13.24 km M. Hirvonen 9:57.9 79.7 km/h M. Hirvonen
SS2 09:39 Yuparo 1 11.10 km M. Hirvonen 8:24.2 79.3 km/h
SS3 10:42 Isepo 1 13.67 km Cancelled
SS4 11:28 Pipaoi 1 5.74 km S. Loeb 3:17.3 104.7 km/h
SS5 14:28 Heper 2 13.24 km M. Hirvonen 9:35.6 82.8 km/h
SS6 14:56 Yuparo 2 11.10 km M. Hirvonen 8:02.5 82.8 km/h
SS7 15:59 Isepo 2 13.67 km Cancelled
SS8 16:45 Pipaoi 2 5.74 km Cancelled
SS9 18:14 Sapporo 1 1.49 km M. Hirvonen 1:39.4 54.0 km/h
SS10 18:24 Sapporo 2 1.49 km M. Hirvonen 1:41.6 52.8 km/h
2
(1 NOV)
SS11 08:28 Imeru 1 2.30 km D. Sordo 1:42.5 80.8 km/h
SS12 09:21 Nikara 1 31.12 km P. Solberg 18:37.0 100.3 km/h
SS13 10:37 Kamuycep 1 33.66 km J. Latvala 21:58.1 91.9 km/h
SS14 11:32 Kina 1 9.55 km H. Solberg 5:54.6 97.0 km/h
SS15 13:50 Imeru 2 2.30 km S. Loeb 1:42.5 80.8 km/h
SS16 14:43 Nikara 2 31.12 km J. Latvala 18:22.8 101.6 km/h
SS17 15:59 Kamuycep 2 33.66 km M. Hirvonen 21:22.7 94.5 km/h
SS18 16:54 Kina 2 9.55 km M. Hirvonen 5:54.3 97.0 km/h
SS19 18:09 Sapporo 3 1.49 km T. Gardemeister
D. Sordo
1:25.4 62.8 km/h
SS20 18:09 Sapporo 4 1.49 km D. Sordo 1:23.2 64.5 km/h
3
(2 NOV)
SS21 07:07 Koyka 1 3.57 km P. Solberg 2:00.2 106.9 km/h
SS22 07:56 Iwanke 1 13.57 km M. Hirvonen 8:13.0 99.1 km/h
SS23 08:21 Sikot 1 27.76 km J. Latvala 17:49.5 93.4 km/h
SS24 08:53 Imeru 3 2.30 km J. Latvala 1:57.3 70.6 km/h
SS25 10:06 Sapporo 5 1.49 km A. Kim 1:45.7 50.7 km/h
SS26 11:58 Koyka 2 3.57 km M. Hirvonen 2:08.6 99.9 km/h
SS27 12:47 Iwanke 2 13.57 km M. Hirvonen 8:39.9 94.0 km/h
SS28 13:12 Sikot 2 27.76 km P. Solberg 18:00.2 92.5 km/h
SS29 13:44 Imeru 4 2.30 km P. Solberg 2:03.8 66.9 km/h

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver MON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
 Pts 
1 Sébastien Loeb 1 Ret 1 1 10 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 112
2 Mikko Hirvonen 2 2 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 4 3 3 2 1 102
3 Dani Sordo 11 6 17 3 2 5 5 4 4 2 2 2 Ret DSQ 59
4 Jari-Matti Latvala 12 1 3 15 7 3 7 2 39 9 Ret 6 4 2 50
5 Chris Atkinson 3 21 2 2 3 6 Ret 13 3 6 Ret 7 6 4
6 Petter Solberg 5 4 12 Ret Ret 10 2 6 6 5 4 5 5 8 41
7 François Duval 4 3 Ret 4 3 Ret 22
8 Henning Solberg 9 13 5 Ret 4 7 8 5 5 7 9 11 15 Ret
9 Gigi Galli 6 3 Ret 7 8 4 Ret Ret Ret Ret Inj Inj Inj Inj 17
10 Matthew Wilson 10 Ret 6 Ret 5 12 6 7 9 12 17 9 8 7 15
11 Urmo Aava 18 Ret 8 4 Ret 16 8 5 35 7 13
12 Federico Villagra 7 6 6 14 13 9 Ret 8 12 9 9
13 Toni Gardemeister Ret 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 9 Ret 8 10 7 13 13 6 8
14 Per-Gunnar Andersson 8 Ret Ret 24 Ret 9 11 Ret Ret 15 6 32 17 5
15 Conrad Rautenbach Ret 16 16 4 26 13 10 8 10 10 Ret Ret 14 Ret 6
16 Andreas Mikkelsen 5 Ret 19 12 11 8 11 5
17 Jean-Marie Cuoq 7 2
Matti Rantanen 7
19 Juho Hänninen 8 21 13 14 29 24 10 1
Sébastien Ogier 8 11 22 36 19 Ret 20
Andreas Aigner 31 8 14 11 Ret Ret
Pos Driver MON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
Pts
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

Rank Team Event Total
points
MON
SWE
MEX
ARG
JOR
ITA
GRC
TUR
FIN
GER
NZL
ESP
FRA
JPN
GBR
1 Citroën Total World Rally Team 1141016914151115181818106- 175
2 BP Ford World Rally Team 81811713141018976111418- 164
3 Subaru World Rally Team 106986383975676- 93
4 Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 88337534460472- 64
5 Suzuki World Rally Team 23010130217017- 28
6 Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 00644203003000- 22

References

  1. "Rallies - Rally Japan 2008". Jonkka's World Rally Archive. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
  2. "Pivato in a critical but stable condition". Autosport. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  3. "Rally Japan 2008 in central Hokkaido". Rally Japan. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
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