Amended information following the exclusion of Car No. 2 (Sordo/Marti) for a breach of Appendix J, Article 253, Article 6, Seat Belts
Frenchman Sébastien Loeb made history today when he claimed a record-breaking 27th world rally victory at the finish of Rally Japan, the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Citroën Xsara driver, co-driven by Daniel Elena, now has the honour of being the most successful driver in the sport and, with his seventh win of the season, is one step closer to claiming a third consecutive world title. Ford driver Marcus Grönholm mounted a massive assault today, providing a thrilling fight to the finish. Ultimately he lost out to Loeb by a mere 5.6 seconds after 345 kilometres of competition. His team-mate Mikko Hirvonen finished third.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Loeb extends his advantage over Marcus Grönholm by another two points and takes a 33 point advantage with five rounds remaining. Mikko Hirvonen’s fourth podium finish of the season sees him retain fourth in the series, the Finn closing the gap to third-placed Spaniard Dani Sordo. In the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, BP-Ford closes the gap, leaving the battle wide open for the remainder of the season.
Today’s route included six stages and 93 competitive kilometres and Loeb and Grönholm once again topped the time sheets. Starting 25 seconds adrift this morning, Grönholm managed to reel in 10 seconds over the first three stages and then slashed another 6.9 seconds off the deficit in the following stage. Another victory in the penultimate stage left the Finn just 5.4 seconds off the lead but, with only the short 1.3 kilometre super special stage remaining, the nail-biting battle between the reigning and former World Champions was as good as over.
Mikko Hirvonen, unchallenged in third, cruised to the finish ahead of Subaru’s lead car driven by Australian Chris Atkinson. While the Japanese manufacturer has salvaged something from its home event, the disappointment surrounding Solberg’s brake problems - which continued in the final leg - will doubtless overshadow Atkinson’s best result of the season.
Manfred Stohl, not registered for points for OMV Peugeot Norway in this event, drove solidly to finish fifth with Toshihiro Arai, driving a Subaru Impreza WRC for the first time in four years, climbing to sixth, ahead of Petter Solberg. Dani Sordo finished seventh in the second Citroën Xsara but was excluded at the end of the event for not wearing seat belts in one stage.
The 12th round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to the Cyprus Rally (22-24 September).
Rally Japan – Results after Leg 3 (subject to the results of routine fuel analysis) - Amended
| 1 | Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena | Citroën Xsara WRC | 3 hr 22 min 20.4sec |
| 2 | Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen | Ford Focus RS WRC | 3 hr 22 min 26.0sec |
| 3 | Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen | Ford Focus RS WRC | 3 hr 25 min 06.9sec |
| 4 | Chris Atkinson/Glenn Macneall | Subaru Impreza WRC | 3 hr 28 min 28.2sec |
| 5 | Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor | Peugeot 307 WRC | 3 hr 29 min 31.1sec |
| 6 | Toshihiro Arai/Tony Sircombe | Subaru Impreza WRC | 3 hr 31 min 25.5sec |
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 11 of 16 rounds)
| Sébastien Loeb (F) | 102 points |
| Marcus Grönholm (S) | 69 points |
| Daniel Sordo (E) | 41 points |
| Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) | 33 points |
| Manfred Stohl (A) | 28 points |
| Petter Solberg (N) | 22 points |
| Toni Gardemeister | 16 points |
| Henning Solberg (N) | 16 points |
| Gigi Galli (I) | 15 points |
| Chris Atkinson (AUS) | 14 points |
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 11 of 16 rounds)
| Kronos Total Citroën World Rally Team | 132 points |
| BP-Ford World Rally Team | 121 points |
| Subaru World Rally Team | 74 points |
| OMV Peugeot Norway | 50 points |
| Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team | 29 points |
| Red Bull-Škoda Team | 22 points |