Co-driver: Miikka Anttila
Our first time in Japan. The roads were fast and difficult but they suited our car. On Friday I drove carefully, avoiding the worst parts. That was a very good idea because on Friday afternoon I was leading group N. In the evening I slowed down a little bit and still kept the lead. Back to the roads on Saturday morning, even more carefully than the day before. The racing started to feel so good that I raised my speed. On Saturday evening my lead was one minute ten second.
On Sunday all that was needed was to drive sensibly, avoiding faults and unnecessary risks. Everything seemed perfect until on the third last stage the rod broke and I lost the control of the car. We slid into a ditch and the car fell; that was the end of Rally Japan. It was a huge disappointment for us as well as for the team. There is no such way the breaking of a rod could be avoided beforehand. But once again something good came out of the bad: we got a lot of attention and new fans in Japan.
retirement
Subaru Impreza WRX Sti 06
Service Team: Motoring Club
Competition engineer: Asko Kosonen