I’ve been slacking with my duties posting WRC news and rally updates. I’ll take the opportunity now since I’m actually ahead of schedule at work….

Petter Solberg won the inagural Rally Japan, leading the event from start to finish. While the win was important for Solberg and Subaru, it did little to affect the overall championship standings since leader Sebastien Loeb took second place. Loeb can afford to be cautious for the remainder of the season — he basically just has to finish in the points for the remaining five rallies and he’ll take the title. And this shouldn’t be a problem, with two sealed surface rallies remaining with Loeb as the favorite to win.

This weekend’s Rally Great Britain should provide for some entertaining strategy from the factory teams. Solberg and Subaru have admitted that they will be gunning to win rally from here on out. Solberg has the chance to get a hat trick of Rally GB wins this weekend, so that should provide extra motivation. Citroen has expressed some concern about the rally — the race was moved from it’s standard November date, and that means very changeable conditions. Add to the mix that the factory teams have to nominate their tyre choices today, and there’s potential for a poor performance. I expect Loeb to run cautiously, though he’ll still gun for a top four finish.

Peugeot has basically given up on competing for the driver’s championship and the maker’s championship, with another disappointing rally in Japan. The 307’s new five speed gearbox has been buggy, and both Marcus Gronholm and Harri Rovanpera were lucky to finish in the points. But, with nothing to lose, there’s not reason why Gronholm won’t go flat-out this weekend, if, of course, his car allows him to.

There’s been a major shakeup at Ford, with Francois Duval told he was free to sign with another team next year. The status of Markko Martin is also up in the air, since Ford has not decided if they will run a WRC programme next year. But, this isn’t stopping Martin from trying hard, and despite staying out of the news, he is one point behind Solberg in third place in the overall standings. Again, with so much up in the air, there’s no reason for Martin not to go flat out this weekend and go for the win.

Posted on 14 September 2004