Friday’s competition on Rally Japan concluded with a trio of short sprint stages, none of which altered the order of the top 10.
Mikko Hirvonen was fastest through the 3.5km Koyka test, trimming 1.1sec off Petter Solberg’s rally lead, although the Norwegian clawed back all but one-tenth of that on the two passes over the Super Special which followed.
Sebastien Loeb was fastest around the Sapporo Dome circuit on the SS9 pass, while Solberg was quickest on the next [SS10] to consolidate an overnight rally lead of 9.4sec.
Overall standings after SS10 - end of Day 2:
| Pos. | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Petter SOLBERG | Citroën C4 WRC | 1h13m31.2s |
| 02 | Mikko HIRVONEN | Ford Focus WRC | +9.4s |
| 03 | Sébastien OGIER | Citroën C4 WRC | +21.3s |
| 04 | Jari-Matti LATVALA | Ford Focus WRC | +22.4s |
| 05 | Dani SORDO | Citroën C4 WRC | +36.5s |
| 06 | Sébastien LOEB | Citroën C4 WRC | +54.5s |
| 07 | Henning SOLBERG | Ford Focus WRC | +1m22.2s |
| 08 | Matthew WILSON | Ford Focus WRC | +3m16.9s |
| 09 | Federico VILLAGRA | Ford Focus WRC | +3m46.5s |
| 10 | Kimi RAIKKONEN | Citroën C4 WRC | +4m03.1s |
| 11 | Jari KETOMAA | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +6m03.9s |
| 12 | Martin PROKOP | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +6m59.2s |
| 13 | Patrik FLODIN | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | +8m18.1s |
| 14 | Bernardo SOUSA | Ford Fiesta S2000 | +8m34.7s |
| 15 | Hayden PADDON | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | +10m18.9s |