The second day of Rally Hokkaido has moved its stage to the area around Rikubetsu, north of Obihiro. Under the thick layer of clouds, the Leg 2 started. The course was set to start from Rikubetsucho Undo Koen (Sports activity park of Rikubetsu town) and though the Stages in the woods to overview the great landscapes of Oakandake and Meakandake mountains and return to the spectators stage in the Rikubetsu Off Road Course. First session takes place in the morning and the second in the afternoon. The road condition worsened with the heavy rain that took place during the night.
Possum Bourne on Impreza WRX Gr. A who took the steady lead of 17.5 seconds at Leg 1, started as the Front Runner. On Leg 6, Norihiko Katsuta who retired the day before, but was relieved from the APRC regulation scored the fastest time. On SS 7 and SS 8, Bourne got away with the fastest. SS 9 was on the off-road course in front of many spectators. Here, Bourne again suppressed the muddy road with fascinating technique, and scored more than 4 seconds margin to Katsuhiko Taguchi (Mitsubishi) to follow. However, after eight cars from the top goaled, the competition was interrupted due to unexpected bad condition of the track. The time scored by the 8 cars finished was saved, and for the cars who didn't, the time scored by the least fastest car finished was adapted. The fastest time was scored by Bourne.
After the morning session, the rain began to fall around the Rikubetsu Service Park. The afternoon session was expected to go in the rain, but the rain stopped in about an hour, and the temperature began to rise. Bourne, who expects to expand his lead, was full of spirit to start from the Service. However, on SS 10 and SS 11, unlike the previous sessions, his time did not improve. The co-driver Mark Stacey spoke over on the radio that the "tires do not grip". On SS 13, the layout was altered from the morning. Here, Bourne scored the fastest time, and maintained his position as the rally leader with 8.5 seconds ahead of Taguchi in 2nd.
After returning the final Service, Possum Bourne quoted, "Today, I was front start and I could drive quite smoothly in the morning before the condition went down. But it was our mistake to choose the same tire for the afternoon as we thought the weather is as bad as the morning. The tires were too soft, and we lost so much time. But the car has no problems, and is not broken anywhere. I don't expect any problems tomorrow. I am confident we can get away with victory"
For the other Impreza, Hiroshi Yanagisawa promoted his position to 5th, whereas Mitsuo Ayabe who started from 9th had retired from the problem with the turbo charger.
