Thousands of excited fans lined the road for the ceremonial start of this year's Rally Japan in Obihiro, Hokkaido, this evening. Just one Suzuki Swift Super 1600 is entered, for Estonian Urmo Aava who finished second in this year's Junior Championship. The Suzuki Swift has dominated the Junior Championship this year, with Swede P-G Andersson winning the series and Aava finishing as runner-up after a title showdown in Corsica two weeks ago.

Japan, round 14 of the World Rally Championship, will be a very different challenge - but it is an important event for Suzuki, in the manufacturer's homeland. The Japanese stages tend to be very fast and narrow, with some quick straights leading into tight 90-degree bends. This makes braking particularly difficult, and it also demands extremely accurate pace notes. The roads are often flanked by ditches, meaning that even a small deviation off the correct line can end in a costly accident.

Japan is also one of the most popular rounds of the World Rally Championship, as the crowds at the ceremonial start demonstrated. All the competitors had to do this evening was drive over a ramp and pose for photographs, but the real action starts at 0733 tomorrow (local time) with the first of 26 tough gravel stages totalling just over 350 competitive kilometres. The Suzuki Swift Super 1600 has demonstrated exemplary reliability all year, and Aava has consistently showed a rapid pace on all the events. Both will be needed for a strong performance on the tricky stages of Japan.