itll be airing the 9th as to
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more info from www.wrc.com
official site
"Rally Japan Preview
Event Begins: 0530hrs local time, Friday 3 September
www.SWRT.com letter
The next round of the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship starts on 3 September when crews move to the Far East to contest the eleventh event of the series, Rally Japan. Based in the country's northernmost island of Hokkaido, the rally will be a significant one for Subaru as it competes in a WRC event on home ground for the first time."
"Media Bulletin - Rally Japan Preview
27 August 2004
Media Bulletin - Rally Japan Preview
The Event
The next round of the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship starts on 3 September when crews move to the Far East to contest the eleventh event of the series, Rally Japan. Based in the country's northernmost island of Hokkaido, the rally will be a significant one for Subaru as it competes in a WRC event on home ground for the first time.
First run in 2001 as the Hokkaido Rally, for the last two years the event has been included in the FIA Asia-Pacific Championship. Following the inaugural Corona WRC Rally Mexico in March, Japan will become the second event to make its World Rally Championship debut in 2004. The third, Rally Italia Sardinia, occurs in October.
With FIA regulations preventing teams from testing outside Europe, the event's narrow gravel stages run in the Tokachi region remain unfamiliar for almost all the FIA WRC competitors . Presenting crews with a series of twisty, smooth, loose-gravel roads, which are fast and flowing in places, the stages run through some deeply forested areas. Weather conditions are expected to be wet and unpredictable, making tyre choice a difficult factor.
After a ceremonial start in the host city of Obihiro, 900km north of Tokyo, the event will commence on Friday morning when 90 competitors from 17 countries will cross the start ramp. In total, the event comprises 387.50 competitive kilometres and 27 stages run in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido. The longest stage is the Niueo stage at 26.57km, while the shortest is the 2.2km head-to-head Super Special at Satsunai."