The penultimate round of this year's World Rally Championship marks an important occasion for Suzuki, as it is the first time that the SX4 WRC will be seen on its home territory. The rally takes place on Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, more than a thousand kilometres away from Suzuki's headquarters in Hamamatsu. But the event is still a source of great national pride for the Japanese team, and drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson will be cheered on by hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Japanese fans.

The event first joined the World Rally Championship in 2005, but this is the first year that it is based in the Olympic city of Sapporo, which hosted the winter games in 1972. The city is famous all over the world for its Dome - used in the 2002 World Cup - while Japan's challenging gravel stages are best-known for their speed and complexity. The roads, which are all-new for this year, tend to be narrow and are often characterised by fast straights leading into tight corners. With trees and ditches close to the side of the road, there is little room for error.

The braking areas are particularly complex, as the drivers tend to arrive at high speed with little idea about the levels of grip and traction that they might encounter. The surfaces consist of soft gravel that can become muddy, a little bit like Argentina or Great Britain. The weather has a huge impact, with rain and cold conditions not an uncommon occurrence in Hokkaido, which is at the same latitude as Siberia in Russia.

The Rally Japan is due to get underway with a ceremonial start in Sapporo on Thursday evening before the teams go on to tackle 29 gravel stages totalling 343.69 competitive kilometres. The finish takes place back in Sapporo on Sunday afternoon.

Published by: girlracer.co.uk