The Petter Solberg World Rally Team is in Sapporo, ready for the upcoming Rally Japan. The tenth event this season, and the penultimate event on gravel. Air-freight and containers have arrived safely, and the team did a small test on Monday. 26 stages are waiting and 304 competitive kilometres. HQ and service park is at the Tsukisamu Dome, while the Sapporo Dome hosts a Super Special, which will be run 8 times during the weekend.
Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson started their visit in Japan with a few days in Tokyo and a “meet and greet” session with Japanese fans. “It feels so good finally to back in Japan,” said Petter Solberg. “And a couple of days in Tokyo are a perfect way to start the visit. I really enjoyed the time with the Japanese fans.”
Both stages and surface are quite special here in Japan. The roads are narrow with soft gravel, but long straights still makes this a quite fast rally. – Japan is one of my absolute favourites, says Petter Solberg. – The atmosphere is quite unique, and I really appreciate all the support we have from Japanese fans. We did a small test on Monday, and I have a good feeling with both the car and the rally. Really looking forward to the start on Thursday evening.
Rally Japan starts with 2 stages in the Sapporo Dome on Thursday evening, 8 more stages on Friday and 9 stages on Saturday. 5 stages to go on Sunday.
– Credit: Petter Solberg World Rally Team.