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Kuzaj Marks His Personal Best Finish in Troubled Rally
Vertunov finishes in 4th place, Flodin in 6th! TEIN’s onslaught at home!
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The 6th round of the 2007 P-WRC (Production car World Rally Championship), “Rally Japan” was held in Obihiro City, Hokkaido, from October 26-28th. Stages for Leg 1 and 2 were held in the usual areas of Rikubetsu and Ashoro, but Leg 3 was held in the Shintoku area. On the narrow twisting courses of this impregnable rally, the 4 TEIN cars, #41 L. Kuzaj of SUBARU POLAND RALLY TEAM (Subaru Impreza GDB-F), #43 C.S. David of STOHL RACING (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9), #50 P. Flodin of STOHL RACING RUSSIA (Subaru Impreza GDB-F), and #53 E. Vertunov of SUBARU RALLY TEAM RUSSIA (Subaru Impreza GDB-F) all stepped up to the challenge.
With the rally held later than usual, at the end of the October, there were withering vegetation on the sides of the roads, and many of the WR cars took the inside line, scattering sharp stones over the Group N line. It also rained on the night of the 26th causing the road conditions to become very muddy and Leg 2 saw the loss of many drivers, turning the rally into a survival race. But Kuzaj, the Polish champion, drove superbly from start to finish to come home for his personal best 2nd place. David finished in 11th place, Vertunov in 4th, Flodin in 6th, and 3 TEIN cars were able to finish up in the rankings to earn valuable points. |
The curtains opened on 25th, for the ceremonial start of Rally Japan, TEIN’s home event, held in Obihiro City. On the 26th, the competition started on the woodland roads of the Rikubetsu and Ashoro areas. TEIN user, Flodin marked the best time for the eagerly watched opening stage. This was Flodin’s first challenge in Japan and he finished both SS2 and SS3 in good shape. He completed SS4 with the 4th best time and was even at the top for the morning loop. Unfortunately, during the second stage SS6 he had a mishap with his pace notes and went off course. When he managed to get back, he had lost 12minutes off the leader and finished the first leg in 14th position.
This day developed into a survival rally with the loss of many drivers, but within all the turmoil, it was Vertunov who drove a composed first leg and finished in a respectful 4th place. Kuzaj, who had a slow start due to flat tire during SS3, fought back to finish in 6th. David, driving in his first rally in Japan, finished within contention in 8th place.
Road conditions in leg 2 held on the 27th were very muddy due to the overnight rainfall. Vertunov, who was in 4th position, came into contact with another car, which crashed off course in SS12, and damaged his rear suspension. 6th placed Kuzaj drove splendidly, even with a bad tire choice in the opening stage. Many rivals struggled with punctures or slipping off course, and allowed Kuzaj to gain a position to finish in 3rd. After dropping off pace with rear suspension damage, Vertunov drove hard, after repairs were made, to finish leg 2 in 5th place.
Flodin suffering from a loss of power to a blocked air filter, and traction loss due to a damaged rear stabilizer kept fighting and drove tenaciously. David lost a position to finish leg 2 in 8th place.
During leg 3 on the 28th, there was some drama for Kuzaj who lost a position, but luckily was able to get it back with the 2nd placed car dropping pace. During the last SS He also suffered from differential gear trouble and even spun his car, but recovered quickly and was able to keep his 3rd position. 7th placed David also suffered from differential gear trouble and dropped to 12th place. On the other hand, Vertunov and Flodin finished leg 3 trouble-free and finished in 5th and 7th respectively. Further more, during the inspection at the end of the rally the 2nd placed car was disqualified due to regulation infringement, and Kuzaj ended up finishing in his personal best 2nd place. Vertunov finished in 4th, Flodin in 6th with 3 TEIN cars gaining valuable points.
Comment from TEIN engineer (TEINI R&D Section/ Mr. Ippei Sugano)
For this rally, we put in place settings and information gained from the New Zealand round. The Japanese woodland courses are easily disrupted, so softer spring rates were used. To accommodate the road conditions, vehicle heights were lowered for the first loop, and raised for the second loop. Test held on Monday went well, and during the rally, we were able to adjust the ride heights for Kuzaj and Vertunov’s cars to suit the stages. Even though there were many incidents in this tough rally, suspension wise, there weren’t much trouble and we were able to find the sweet spot. For the 7th round in Ireland, with the rough tarmac road conditions, we will use the data gained from the Polish rally as the base for the vehicles settings. We hope to base the data gained from this rally in Japan for the 8th round in Great Britain, and make changes accordingly to the conditions. |
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