This year’s IRC series has concluded once more with the China Rally, which was held at an all new venue: Shaowu, close to Fuzhou city on 4-7 December. This year the China Rally was visited by two Finnish stars: Juha Salo and Jarkko Miettinen, both driving Group N Mitsubishis. Their battle was a highlight of the event, which as always was watched by hugely enthusiastic crowds at every turn.

 

After the opening superspecial stage on Thursday night, Miettinen - the reigning Romanian Rally Champion - took the lead but his key rival, Salo, was not about to settle for second. Once the real action got underway on Friday using the red and dusty roads of the Shaowu region, Salo blasted into the lead, pulling out an advantage of more than half a minute over his compatriot at the end of the opening day. Local driver Liu Caodong was third from the opening morning but he admitted that there was little he could do about the leading duo, who were in a class of their own.

 

Miettinen was determined to overhaul Salo on the second day, but he had to maintain a careful pace in order not to pick up a puncture on the many sharp rocks that littered the route. However, in a dramatic finish on Sunday afternoon, Salo was forced into retirement and Miettinen claimed a last-gasp victory. Caodong eventually finished second, as the top local driver. He too was pushed hard, with Jun Xu passing Fan Fan to challenge Caodong on the final day.

 

 

 

In the IRC 2WD Cup, Marco Cavigioli headed to the China Rally needing to finish in the top four of the two-wheel drive runners in order to claim the inaugural IRC 2WD Cup. With Honda driver Alessandro Bettega leading the classification by three points, but choosing not to make the long trip to China, the final round of the IRC was a huge opportunity for Cavigioli. After a slow start in the superspecial, the Italian eventually worked his way up to a potential title-winning third place in class by the end of the second day. On the final day, Cavigioli concentrated on maintaining his position which he held to the finish, claiming an emotional IRC 2WD Cup victory.

 

 

 

Local Honda driver Jianrong Yan won the class in China ahead of the Volkswagen Polo of Xiong Xie. Freddy Loix (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) commented: “This rally was a very big challenge. Nobody knew quite what to expect, so it was important to try and drive safely although I could not relax for a minute. In the end it was unbelievable, but both me and Juha Salo were pushing hard throughout the rally.” Marco Cavigioli (Fiat Punto diesel) said after the event: “It’s been an amazing rally. We’ve had some bad luck in the past this year, but this title victory means that we can now put it all behind us. I’m really looking forward to celebrating our title now!”

 

 

 
01) J.J. Miettinen/M. Lukka (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) - 02h 00m 23,9s
02) C. Liu/H. Pan (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 05m 41,9s
03) J. Xu/S. Liu (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 07m 52,1s
04) F. Fan/J. Fang (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 08m 21s
05) H. Ma/J. Zhong (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VIII) + 12m 06,5s
06) Z. Tan/R. Yu (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 12m 55,9s
07) J. Wu/Z. Ke (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 13m 07,1s
08) J. Yan/X. Chen (Honda EK4) + 23m 48,4s
09) X. Xie/Z. Xie (Volkswagen Polo N2) + 25m 31,6s
10) Z. Yang/X. Guo (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) + 28m 32,8s