PWRC: Pozzo keeps title race alive.

Mitsubishi's Gabriel Pozzo secured the win in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship category on the Rally Japan on Sunday, the sixth round in the series.

Pozzo, who took the lead on Saturday in SS14, when Fumio Nutahara went off the road and retired, eventually came out top by more than 2 minutes.

The result moves him up to second in the PWRC standings and with Toshi Arai failing to score, the Tango Rally Team driver could conceivably take the title as he is now 17 points behind, with, unlike Arai, two of his nominated events still to come.

"It was very important to win here. This is the first victory for me in one and a half years," said Gabriel. "It was more difficult to go slowly, controlling the fight, than drive when we are in a close fight. I absolutely have to win the last two events to take the P-WRC title now. I will probably have to fight very soon."

Armindo Araujo meanwhile took the runners-up spot to give Mitsubishi a 1-2. He lost out with a puncture in SS12 on Saturday, which dropped him off the podium, but he managed to fight back on the final day.

"It was a very difficult rally. We tried very hard. We pushed together; I, my co-driver, the whole team. I am very happy with the result," he noted.

Leszek Kuzaj took the final place on the PWRC podium, followed by Takuma Kamada, who dropped back from P2 to P4 in the penultimate test.

"We had some traction problems at the rear in stage 26," noted Kuzaj, "and I had to slow down but Araujo was faster anyway."

Despite losing out on a podium finish right near the end due to brake problems, Kamada was still happy with fourth: "This year the weather made it very difficult. The stages were slippery. I am very happy however that I finished. My car broke at the end. It was a pity. At least I still got some points. We will try harder at the next rally," he stated.

Further down the order, Evgeniy Vertunov completed the top five in his Impreza, with Mark Higgins sixth, 40 seconds further back.

Higgins, who was competing this weekend with a broken collar bone after an accident in the UK prior to coming to Japan, was disappointed not to have finished one spot higher, as he is now no longer in with a shot of taking the PWRC title.

"I like the Japanese stages but not at all the traffic jams on the road sections. The 50 second road penalty on Friday has prevented us from having a chance to win the P-WRC title," he stated.

"It is hard but such things happen in rallies. I was OK yesterday but when the adrenaline drops down it [my shoulder] hurts like hell. Today was really hard."

Patrik Flodin and Juho Hanninen rounded out the points' scorers in seventh and eighth, the latter having recovered to scoop the final drivers' point after losing time in SS7 and having to rejoin on day 2 under the SupeRally.

"It was a very difficult rally," noted Juho. "Friday I went off the road. We did not make such good times but it was a good experience."

In total 16 of the 17 PWRC runners were classified at the finish, with Toshi Arai eleventh after being dogged by punctures. It was his sixth and final PWRC outing of the season and he now faces an anxious wait to see if he has done enough to take his second Production crown.

"It's the rally of punctures for us. We had to slow down twice and to change the wheel three times. It was like a survival course. It felt like in Greece. Now my P-WRC programme is over and we have to wait until the end of the season to see if we make it [and secure the title]," he summed-up.