Zoom Latvala's 50th rally will be in Japan

After two successful tarmac outings this month, the Stobart M-Sport Ford rally team are back on a loose surface, in the land of the rising sun, as they tackle the fourth running of Rally Japan next week.

This is the 14th round of the FIA World Rally Championship and the last of the long-haul events before the WRC circus heads back to Ireland and UK for the final two rounds of 2007.

Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila and Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr both have experience of the Asian event after competing here for the first time last year. For Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud this will be the third event in a row the Norwegian crew are experiencing for the first time in their career.

Last year Rally Japan saw the Stobart team debut their 2006 specification Ford Focus RS WRC, the car being used for the team's entire 2007 challenge. This year's event takes on a similar guise to 2006 with the rally base in Obihiro, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, remaining unchanged.

Introduced to the WRC in 2004, Rally Japan is seen as one of the most colourful and exciting events on the calendar. In its first year over 50,000 spectators flocked to the ceremonial start to catch a glimpse of the world's most powerful rally cars.

The fast, gravel roads of Japan are notoriously tricky when sections of the surface become slippery, especially within narrow forestry areas. The event also sees the return of the Super Special stage after two rallies without one. The 1.35-kilometre Obihiro test is a delight for the massive spectatorship, being run four times, before a final dash on Sunday afternoon completes the 350 kilometres of total competitive distance.

Now back on his preferred loose surface, Solberg has been raring to go after two tarmac events which he had to take very cautiously due to his inexperience on the surface. While it is his first time to Japan, the similarity to New Zealand and GB will help the Norwegian enjoy this rally... along with his healthy appetite for Japan's famous culinary delight, sushi!

2006 was a fine year for Latvala dually-shown through his performance in Japan. Coming into the final leg the young Finn was heading the Production WRC field by well over a minute and an incredible eleventh overall. Unfortunately retirement three stages from the end dampened the effort, but the experience of stages gained will be a huge bonus heading into the event this year.