Ketomaa flies to third S-WRC triumph

Jari Ketomaa has maintained his commanding advantage in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship section of Rally Japan throughout the final day to secure a dominant victory over Martin Prokop.

Ketomaa, from Finland, was fastest on the opening superspecial stage in the Sapporo Dome on Thursday evening to build a lead he would never relinquish at the wheel of his Autotek Motorsport-run Ford Fiesta S2000.

Co-driven by fellow Finn Mika Stenberg, Ketomaa was fastest on 13 of the 26 stages to land his third win in the class this season, more than half a minute clear of Czech Prokop, who was also in a Fiesta.

“The rally was all about not making any mistakes and trying to keep my consistency because I had a big lead from the first proper stage on Friday,” said Ketomaa. “Winning for the third time this season is a very good feeling and it is very good for my chances of the championship.”

Second place for Prokop, the reigning Junior world champion, means he joins Xevi Pons at the top of the title standings on 96 points. However, because Prokop took over Nasser Al-Attiyah’s Barwa Rally Team registration for Japan having originally not intended to compete in the Far East, he must surrender one of this two remaining events, meaning he has only Rallye de France left on which to score in his efforts to win the inaugural S-WRC title.

“I got some good points for the championship and that is very important on this rally,” said Prokop. “After the problems on Friday I knew it would not be possible to catch Jari so it was important not to make any mistakes because really there was no reason to. I am sure without the problems we could have been closer to Jari and fought for the victory.”

Ketomaa, however, remains firmly in contention for the S-WRC crown and can take the title by beating Pons on the final two rounds in France and Great Britain, although he fears his lack of Tarmac experience might hold him back on the Alsace-based French round.

Bernardo Sousa restarted under SupeRally regulations following his retirement on Saturday’s opening test. The Portuguese driver’s M-Sport Fiesta had suffered alternator failure close to the start of the stage but was restored to full working order to enable him to tackle Sunday’s eight stages.

With only three starters in the S-WRC category in Japan, Sousa was heading to the final podium spot and his first top-three finish of the season when another alternator fault grounded his Fiesta on stage 22.

“The car was fixed with no problem and with no fight I just had to drive carefully to arrive at the finish so it is a real shame this has happened,” said Sousa.

Despite the disappointment of not finishing, Sousa could take some satisfaction from the fact he was the fastest S-WRC runner through Sunday’s second stage.