Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm on Sunday dedicated his Rally Japan victory to his late team-mate, Michael “Beef” Park, who died during Rally Great Britain two weeks ago. And, by finishing second, Sébastien Loeb gave Citroën its second consecutive WRC driver’s title.
Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm on Sunday dedicated his Rally Japan victory to his late team-mate, Michael “Beef” Park, who died during Rally Great Britain two weeks ago. And, by finishing second, Sébastien Loeb gave Citroën its second consecutive WRC driver’s title.
“The most important thing for me is that this victory is in memory of Michael Park: we want it to be for him,” said Gronholm. “We were pushing hard to the end and we were always close to the pace of Petter (Solberg). Whether or not that was why he went off is something we’ll never know, but we were never far off him.”
“Under the circumstances this was the best possible result we could have; it is very good for the team,” added the Finn.
While Gronholm dedicated the victory to Park, Sebastien Loeb converted a comfortable second place into the 2005 drivers’ championship title. He could have clinched the title in Great Britain, but he chose to not win after Park was killed on the final day.
Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena were pleased to have notched the 2005 WRC title. “Fantastic,” the Frenchman said when Rally Japan ended. “We have reached the first peak of what has practically been a perfect season by sewing up our second title”.
Loeb now has two championships to his name, the same as his rival Gronholm. Solberg’s hopes of winning the 2005 championship – which were only mathematical – were dashed when the Norwegian’s Subaru lost its steering on the 25th stage.
“Each time out, Citroën has given us a competitive and reliable car. This triumph is also theirs and we now intend to do all we can to make sure the team keeps the manufacturers’ title,” Loeb said. “They really deserve it. I only needed to finish 3rd here, and I came home in 2nd place but that doesn’t change much. In the circumstances I am happy for Marcus and Peugeot.”
As expected, Loeb drove conservatively this weekend and finished the event 1:22 behind Gronholm’s winning time.
“This wasn’t an easy situation,” Loeb summed up the rally. “I’m used to fighting for victory and driving flat out. Now I didn’t need to, and I had to keep that in mind.”
Gronholm had run behind Solberg for much of the event, and was 22 seconds behind the Norwegian going into the penultimate stage, the 17.4-km Panke Nikorpet 2. The team was prepared to take a well-earned second place, but for once this year, it was someone else’s heartbreak playing into Peugeot’s hands.
The Norwegian, who won seven stages in the rally, led for nearly the entire event after taking the early lead from team-mate Chris Atkinson. But Solberg’s hopes were dashed when his Impreza WRC hit a rock, which terminally damaged his car’s steering.
“It’s shocking, I almost can’t believe it,” Solberg said of the accident. “I don’t really know what to say. Things had been perfect for the 24 stages before and we were so close to the result we wanted, but then it just went in an instant. We could do nothing to avoid the rock, it was right in the line, it happened so fast and that was that. I’m absolutely gutted.”
Gronholm had been 32 seconds adrift of Solberg at the start of the third leg, and his plan for the last day was to put pressure on Solberg and try to force a mistake.
“There was something out there that surprised Petter,” Gromholm explained. “I tried to keep the pressure up, and even went and talked to him before the start.”
Solberg’s struggles have not ended. The 2003 champion did win in Great Britain, that was thanks to Loeb’s intentional penalty, and the team has to look to 2006 for a fresh start.
Apart from Solberg’s unfortunate early exit, Rally Japan was hard-fought. Gronholm took eight stage wins, Solberg seven and Loeb three – but behind them, Mitsubishi drivers Harri Rovanpera and Gigi Galli won three stages and one stage, respectively, and Atkinson claimed two stages on the first day.
In fact, Atkinson’s performance over the three-day event earned him his first podium finish. The Aussie finished third, nearly 20 seconds in front of Loeb’s team-mate Francois Duval – perhaps a sign of the future rivalry between the younger drivers.
Rovanpera, who had been running fifth behind Loeb and team-mate Gigi Galli coming into the final day, landed fifth for the Mitsubishi team. The Finn lost 35 seconds when his engine stalled at the beginning of the Sunday’s first stage, and then a minute with front-end damage, taking away his chance at a podium finish.
Atkinson finished third, 2:40 behind Gronholm, but 20 secs ahead Francois Duval, who scored five manufacturers’ championship points in the second Citroën.
Rovanpera was a minute adrift in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo WRC, still a solid showing, but the team’s home race really was spoiled by a combination of Rovanpera’s problems and Galli’s retirement with suspension damage on SS23.
With Solberg and Galli both dropping out in the late stages, Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta were able to secure sixth and seventh places for Ford, with Daniel Carlsson – filling in for usual Peugeot pilot, Markko Martin – taking home the final point.
