Atkinson started the day in fourth place, ahead of his team-mate, Petter Solberg, but the Norwegian set the fastest time on the first stage of the day, moving ahead of the Australian.
With no major changes in positions as the day wore on, Atkinson has maintained fifth place with three short stages remaining on Day 2.
“The car was not right yesterday morning so we lost a lot of time, but it was much better in the afternoon and we were able to make up time,” Atkinson said. “It’s now enjoyable to drive. Okay, the times are still not where we want them, but I was making up some of the time lost.”
The weather was much milder today, and whilst muddy, the stages were dry and there was no snow to be seen.
“The times have been okay today, but we did suffer quite a bit of oversteer on the morning stages,” the Gold Coast driver added.
“For some reason I didn’t have the same balance in the car as I did yesterday. It’s strange because we didn’t change the set-up at all.”
Road conditions also became an issue as stages were used a second time.
“The ruts are very deep and you’ve got to be very careful, you could easily roll the car,” Atkinson said.
“Rally Japan has traditionally been a rally of attrition, and we’ve seen that this remains true despite the change of location,” Subaru World Rally Team Principal, David Richards, said.
“We’ve also seen some very tricky conditions, despite which, Petter and Chris have kept their heads and are in solid positions.”
At the head of the field, Ford pair Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala continue to hold first and second places, but Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb remains on track to win his fifth consecutive World Rally Championship. The Frenchman is third, ahead of the Subarus of Solberg and Atkinson.
Rally Japan will conclude tomorrow with a further nine special stages totalling over 96 kilometres of competitive driving. Two runs through the 27.76 kilometre Sikot stage will give crews their toughest test, while a fifth run through the Super Special Stage at the Sapporo Dome will give the thousands of enthusiastic spectators plenty to cheer about.
Rally Japan, results after stage 17:
1. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford Focus RS WRC, 2h12m40.4s
2. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford Focus RS WRC, +19.9s (diff. to leader)
3. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen C4 WRC, +54.6s
4. Petter Solberg, Subaru Impreza WRC2008, +1m19.0s
5. Chris Atkinson, Subaru Impreza WRC2008, +1m57.2s
6. Henning Solberg, Ford Focus RS WRC, +4m07.3s
7. Matthew Wilson, Ford Focus RS WRC, +4m21.5s
8. Toni Gardemeister, Suzuki SX4 WRC, +4m33.0s
9. Per-Gunnar Andersson, Suzuki SX4 WRC, +5m07.6s
10. Frederico Villagra, Ford Focus RS WRC, 9m04.6s
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