2005 Rally Japan


The 2005 Rally Japan was the 13th round of the 2005 [World Rally Championship]. It took place between September 30 and October 2, 2005. Peugeot's Marcus Grönholm won the race after capitalizing on then-leader Petter Solberg's accident after his Subaru hit a rock on the penultimate stage. It was Grönholm's 18th win in the World Rally Championship which he would dedicate to the late Michael Park, who was killed in an accident during the previous round, the 2005 [Wales Rally GB|Wales Rally GB].
Citroën's Sébastien Loeb finished in second place and thus became World Rally Champion in back-to-back seasons. This would prove to be the final World Rally Championship event to be won by a manufacturer other than Citroën or Ford until the 2013 Rally Sweden, 103 races and eight years later.