The FIA World Rally Championship heads to the Far East this weekend for the Rally Japan - the last long haul event of the season.

The rally is again based in Obihiro, 900 kilometres north of Tokyo on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido. It is likely to be the final visit here as plans are under way to switch the event to Sapporo next year.

As the only round of the WRC to take place in Asia, the event usually attracts hundreds of thousands of fans from all over the continent. Last year over 200,000 people attended the three days of competition, while the ceremonial start alone drew 52,000 spectators.

The event commences with a ceremonial start in central Obihiro at 1930hrs on Thursday night. Leg one begins the following day with the first stage getting underway from 0733hrs. Sunday's podium finish is scheduled for 1500hrs at the Kita Aikoku service park [all times local].


Special notes:

Rally Japan is a highly technical event with narrow, loose gravel stages which run through dense woodland on the edge of the vast Tokachi plain that stretches inland from the Pacific Ocean.

Each day will be a gruelling test for crews with ten stages per day on legs one and two and seven stages on the final leg.

The stages vary greatly in both character and length, ranging from the 1.35km SuperSpecial stage round the service park, which is run a total of five times, to the longest stage Puray which totals 34.96 competitive kilometres.

Coupled with long liaison sections, drivers will be on the road for 12 hours each day during the first two legs.

Changeable weather is as much a feature of Rally Japan as the long days. Although Obihiro is flanked by two mountain ranges, it lies in the path of Pacific weather systems which bring high winds and torrential rain to the island.

With the rally taking place in autumn in the height of the typhoon season, it is likely that rain showers will fall each day, leaving the ground saturated. With some stages used five times, the roads can quickly become heavily rutted. Temperatures will be low, with a strong chance of snow as it dips below 0 degrees Celsius by night.

As with last year, Rally Japan comprises 27 stages. The five services during legs one and two do not permit refuelling, therefore there are four remote refuels on both days to cover the 465.40km of liaison on Friday and 468.78 on Saturday. In a change from last year, the stages farthest north will not be run to reduce the overall liaison distance.


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