The 2007 Rally Japan was the 14th round of the

2007 World Rally Championship The 2007 World Rally Championship was the 35th season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on 19 January, with the Monte Carlo Rally and ended on 2 December, with the Wales Rally GB. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb won his fourth co ...

. It took place between 26 and 28 October 2007.

Report

Ford Mikko Hirvonen took the lead on Friday afternoon after overtaking Jari-Matti Latvala. Hirvonen then led the rally to the end. After team-mate Marcus Grönholm had already retired on Friday morning, the task was to keep Sébastien Loeb behind and thereby take points from him in the Drivers' World Championship. Hirvonen did that with success, he put the three-time world champion under pressure and fought an exciting battle for the top with him. The situation changed on Saturday afternoon. Loeb was also eliminated after his co-driver Daniel Elena misread a pace note. Third-placed Latvala, who had led the rally at the start, also had to retire after an accident. Both later started again under the Rallye 2 regulations. So Hirvonen had a new pursuer Daniel Sordo. However, Hirvonen's lead was already large enough for him to control the rally. In the end, Hirvonen had a 37.4 second lead over Sordo. Loeb won four special stages on Sunday, after which he finally had to retire due to oil pressure problems.

Results

Retirements

Marcus Grönholm Marcus Ulf Johan "Bosse" Grönholm (born February 5, 1968) is a Finland, Finnish former rallying, rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming ...

- went off the road (SS4); *

Chris Atkinson Christopher James Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the World Rally Championship (WRC), Atkinson drove for the Subaru World Rally Team between 2004 and 2008. His best finis ...

- crashed his car (SS6); *

Fumio Nutahara is a Japanese rally driver. He finished eighth on the 2006 Rally Japan to score one World Rally Championship point. Career Nutahara made his WRC debut in 1999, contesting Rally New Zealand and the China Rally in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V. In ...

- mechanical (SS14); *

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He ho ...

- mechanical (SS26); *

Armindo Araujo Armindo is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Armindo Araújo (born 1977), Portuguese rally driver *Nicolas Armindo (born 1982), French race car driver *Armindo Tué Na Bangna (born 1994), known as Bruma, Portuguese professional ...

- excluded after post-rally technical check;

Special Stages

All dates and times are JST (

UTC+9 UTC+09:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +09:00. During the Japanese occupations of British Borneo, Burma, Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, and French Indochina, it was used as a common time with ...

Championship standings after the event

Drivers' championship

Manufacturers' championship

References

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...