WRC
Rally Japan: BFGoodrich preview
And on to the Pacific rim... Round 11 of the 2006 World Rally Championship takes the sport's stars to Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido. For this event's narrow yet fast gravel stages, BFGoodrich's partner teams will be able to count on the ...
Edited: Dec 11, 2006, 4:13 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
And on to the Pacific rim...
Round 11 of the 2006 World Rally Championship takes the sport's stars to Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido. For this event's narrow yet fast gravel stages, BFGoodrich's partner teams will be able to count on the g-Force Gravel tyre which has won all five of the loose surface events that have been organised since the start of the year. And already, a BFGoodrich runner is sure to win the Drivers' title at the end of the tyre firm's maiden WRC campaign.
Far from the bustle of Japan's urban sprawl, the island of Hokkaido is a favourite destination for Tokyo's in-crowd looking to profit from wide open spaces. Here, at the northern tip of Japan, just opposite the eastern shores of Siberia, the main leisure activities from June to September are hiking and mountain biking, while skiing and snowboarding take over for the remainder of the year when snow up to four metres deep covers the country in its wintry cloak. Last winter saw temperatures dip as low as 36C!
That said, conditions should be significantly milder next weekend in the wooded hills around Obihiro, the town which hosts the eleventh round of the 2006 World Championship. Drivers readily compare the region's fast and narrow gravel stages with those of Rally Finland, but without the jumps and with less grip.
"Rally Japan is a difficult event to call," says BFGoodrich's Rallies Programme Manager Aime Chatard. "Certain stages take place on an extremely hard-packed surface covered with a thin top-coating of soft gravel, while others are much sandier. In the latter, deep ruts also tend to form during the first runs."
"On-site testing is not permitted and it is difficult to find similar tracks in Europe. Usually, testing for Japan takes place in Wales. This year, however, our partner teams did not do any specific work for Rally Japan. If the conditions are wet, we will base ourselves on the data collected for this year's Rally GB. If the going is dry, our drivers will use the evolutions of the g-Force Gravel we took to Sardinia earlier in the year. They are more responsive and more precise."
Certain drivers have a special reason for wanting to come away from Japan with a top result. It was here that Sebastien Loeb made sure of his second world title last September and this year's visit could well see the Frenchman establish a new record by becoming the first ever driver to accumulate a total of 27 world class wins.
Meanwhile, BP-Ford/BFGoodrich's Marcus Gronholm and Mikko Hirvonen will be eager to postpone that feat as long as possible in order to bridge the points gap that separates their team from Kronos Total Citroen/BFGoodrich in the Manufacturers' standings. Gronholm, who is not all that far off the record number of WRC wins himself with a score of 22, took the laurels last year in Japan. His team-mate was also in impressive form twelve months ago driving a Skoda Fabia WRC, while another leading favourite Petter Solberg was the unlucky hero on Subaru's home soil in 2005.
RALLY JAPAN SEEN BY... SEBASTIEN LOEB(Citroen/BFGoodrich)
"It's quite a fast rally which I would put in the same category as Rally GB, New Zealand and Finland. The stages tend to be hard-packed with a topcoating of gravel, a bit like in Wales. But other stages are very sandy and deep ruts usually form before the second pass. Last year, we used some portions three or four times and they became quite difficult to drive. Rally Japan is perhaps the round where nominating tyres ahead of the start is the most complex. Not only do we have to nominate the types of tyre we wish to have available two months in advance but we also need to cover a very wide range of conditions. In 2005, we used practically all the different types of tyre we had, from very soft to very hard compounds. And if the weather is consistently good or consistently bad all weekend, it is difficult to nominate a sufficient quantity of each type."
BFGOODRICH NEWS
QUOTAS -- All Priority 1 drivers had to nominate their tyres for Japan (a total of 60, 35 of which may be used) before July 7. Only one type of tread pattern is authorised for Rally Japan.
-credit: bfg
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Standings after Rally Finland
Next article Rally Japan: Round 11 preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Sébastien Loeb
Sebastien Loeb tests new Project Rally One 2027 WRC car
WRC
WRC
Rally Italy
Sebastien Loeb tests new Project Rally One 2027 WRC car
Sebastien Loeb to make traditional stage rallying return
WRC
WRC
Sebastien Loeb to make traditional stage rallying return
Sebastien Loeb after 13 Dakar punctures: Cars now extremely robust, tyres the weak link
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Sebastien Loeb after 13 Dakar punctures: Cars now extremely robust, tyres the weak link
More from
Citroën World Rally Team
Citroen reveals new-look 2025 WRC line-up
WRC
WRC
Rally Monte Carlo
Citroen reveals new-look 2025 WRC line-up
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
WRC
WRC
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
WRC
WRC
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
Latest news
Marco Antonelli: "I saw the champion in Kimi after his Australia crash"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
29 min
Marco Antonelli: "I saw the champion in Kimi after his Australia crash"
Harvick: NASCAR may penalize Hocevar for 'dirtiest of dirty tricks'
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
50 min
Harvick: NASCAR may penalize Hocevar for 'dirtiest of dirty tricks'
Why Honda’s power unit lasted barely five laps in F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
1 h
Why Honda’s power unit lasted barely five laps in F1 Mexico GP
How Red Bull's crucial strategy call helped Max Verstappen win the "Maxico Grand Prix"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
2 h
How Red Bull's crucial strategy call helped Max Verstappen win the "Maxico Grand Prix"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe