Success for Solberg first time out in Japan.

World class rallying's first ever visit to Japan has ended in victory for Petter Solberg, the Subaru driver taking command on Leg 1 to cross the line ahead of Citroen-Michelin's Sebastien Loeb.

The result extends the Frenchman's lead and that of his team at the top of the current championship standings, while Markko Martin brought his Ford-Michelin home in third place ahead of early challenger Marcus Gronholm.

Solberg will go down in rallying history as the man who won the first Rally Japan to count towards the World Rally Championship. The Subaru driver emerged in front from the first competitive loop on the morning of Day 1 but then, with stage start order less of a decisive factor second time through the same tests, Loeb and Gronholm piled on the pressure to end the leg hard on the Norwegian's heels.

The following day, however, just as it seemed as though an exciting three-cornered battle was shaping up between this charging trio, Loeb and Gronholm dropped back leaving Solberg with a comfortable margin that allowed him to control from in front with ease to take the laurels in the Hokkaido Island city of Obihro.

His task was facilitated by the fact that Loeb - after losing ground following a perfectible tyre choice on Saturday morning - was in fact perfectly happy to settle for second place inasmuch as it comforted his lead at the top of the Drivers' championship, leaving him with an advantage of 30 points with five rounds remaining.

Meanwhile, Gronholm's bid was thwarted by transmission trouble which left him with 3rd gear only for much of Leg 2's opening loop. A problem with his clutch later in the day saw the Finn drop as far back as fifth before profiting from the final day to squeeze past Carlos Sainz into fourth position overall. Solberg and Loeb were ultimately joined on the podium by Martin who grew in confidence as the rally progressed after initially being hampered by the lack of precision of his pace-notes and the set-up of his car. The Estonian even emulated his Ford-Michelin team-mate Francois Duval by posting fastest stage times on Sunday morning, although by this time the Belgian had become the weekend's one and only WRC runner to retire when he slid off the road on SS22.

Fifth place for Sainz bagged valuable extra championship points for Citroen-Michelin in the French team's bid to retain the Manufacturers' title, while Harri Rovanpera coasted home to collect finish sixth after being eliminated from the fight at the sharp end from the very start by two consecutive gearbox failures.

Michelin's rally - Information a key on unknown territory!

Frederic Herny-Biabaud - deputy director of Michelin Competition... "As anticipated, the challenge for Michelin on this, the WRC's maiden visit to Japan was first of all to offer a sufficiently broad selection of competitive tyres for the rally despite teams having no prior knowledge of the terrain from their European bases. And I believe that our total score of 15 fastest times from 27 stages, including 5 from 9 on Day 1, shows that we were successful in that.

"During the rally, the second aspect of the challenge was the need to choose the ideal tyre for the conditions of the moment despite a lack of up-to-date information from the stages. And Loeb, who emerged as our best chance for victory once running order was no longer an issue, was unfortunate that his choice for Saturday's first loop - which proved pivotal in the way the event unfolded - was perhaps too hard for the damp conditions he reported."

Consolidation... This weekend's result consolidates Loeb's strong lead at the top of the provisional Drivers' World Championship as well as Citroen-Michelin's advantage in the Manufacturers' classification. With five rounds of the 2004 calendar remaining, Loeb's cushion now extends to 30 points (a victory is worth 10 points), while that of his team is 35 points. A maximum of 90 Manufacturers' points can still yet be claimed (the equivalent of five one-two finishes from five).

Michelin Japan... The WRC's maiden visit to Japan provided Michelin Japan with a golden opportunity to communicate directly around a sport which has seen Michelin claim a total of 210 wins at world level, including eight from eleven so far in 2004. Their efforts focused not only on the country's media but also on their significant national sales network, including the attendance at the rally of some 90 distributors from all over Japan.

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