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
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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]
Statistics
Crews88 at start, 59 at finish
Overall results
Overall winnerFinland Mikko Hirvonen
United Kingdom BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

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

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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

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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

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Drivers' championship

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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

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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 11 4 10 16 9 14 15 11 15 18 18 18 10 6 - 175
2   BP Ford World Rally Team 8 18 11 7 13 14 10 18 9 7 6 11 14 18 - 164
3   Subaru World Rally Team 10 6 9 8 6 3 8 3 9 7 5 6 7 6 - 93
4   Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team 8 8 3 3 7 5 3 4 4 6 0 4 7 2 - 64
5   Suzuki World Rally Team 2 3 0 1 0 1 3 0 2 1 7 0 1 7 - 28
6   Munchi's Ford World Rally Team 0 0 6 4 4 2 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 0 - 22

References

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  1. ^ a b "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. [dead link]
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