“Its incredible, but there was a terrible rally - it couldn’t have been trickier”. Said Loeb. “It’s a great moment. It’s perfect. I’m so relieved this weekend is over now. Last year Daniel (Elena) and I equalled the record with four wins, so being the only ones to do five we are very happy.”
Hirvonen finished his third win of the year and took three hours, 25 minutes and 3 seconds to reach the finish but had no choice but admit to the supremacy of the Frenchman. “That’s it, it’s over,” he said. “He won 10 events before coming here so he deserves it. I did all I could. Now we need to try again next year.”
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing in Japan for Loeb. A dangerous spin on the penultimate stage, before recovering, ensured that he could only manage a time of 3 hours, 27 minutes and 33.6 seconds, almost 2.5 minutes behind Hirvonen. Jari-Matti Latvala came second ensuring that the manufacturers’ title decider ends at the final round in Wales.
Ford took maximum points from the event and are now trailing Citroen by just 11 points. “It’s very good for the team and very good for me,” said Latvala. “After such a bad time in August I can be happy. There was a time when our good result in Turkey seemed a long way away, but now I can be happy again.” Subaru’s Chris Atkinson finshed fourth with Suzuki World Rally Team duo P-G Anderson and Tony Gardemeister coming in at 5th and 6th place respectively.