Finland’s Marcus Grönholm has taken the early advantage in Rally Japan, the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Ford driver holds a slim 10.5 second lead after the opening leg and, in an identical situation to Rally Finland two weeks ago, is being hunted down by series leader Sébastien Loeb and team-mate Mikko Hirvonen.

The rain of the last few days has finally given way to clearer conditions, but the stages in the forests on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido remain muddy and extremely tricky. All the crews have been struggling for grip however Marcus Grönholm has powered his Ford Focus over the slippery gravel roads in commanding fashion. However, despite winning six of today’s 10 stages, the Finn - like many others - has had a few scares and narrowly avoided going off the road on a fast section this afternoon.

Arch rival Sébastien Loeb is the only other driver to have won stages today and after claiming four fastest times in the Citroën Xsara - including two on the super special stage - has been on Grönholm’s tail throughout the leg. While these two battle it out for the lead, Mikko Hirvonen holds third in the second Focus, comfortably ahead of fourth-placed Manfred Stohl (Peugeot 307 WRC). In his first outing in Japan, the Austrian is struggling for grip and getting used to the conditions.

Dani Sordo (Citroën Xsara) climbed to fifth during the two closing super special stages after a close fight with Chris Atkinson in the lead Subaru Impreza. The Australian also picked up a 50 second penalty earlier in the day for leaving the service park late when the team experienced difficulties replacing suspension components. Subaru has once again been struck by more bad luck, however. Going into the third stage - in third position - brake problems slowed Petter Solberg and then in the following stage the Norwegian lost nearly two minutes as the condition worsened. He dropped to 10th, but has since climbed to eighth in the team’s home rally.

Rally Japan – Results after Leg 1
 

1. Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen		Ford Focus RS WRC	1 hr 11 min 01.9sec
2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena		Citroën Xsara WRC	1 hr 11 min 12.4sec
3. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen		Ford Focus RS WRC	1 hr 12 min 04.0sec
4. Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor		Peugeot 307 WRC	1 hr 13 min 22.6sec
5. Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti		Citroën Xsara WRC	1 hr 13 min 56.4sec
6. Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall		Subaru Impreza WRC	1 hr 13 min 58.0sec

 
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