The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki finished third in Telstra Rally Australia in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution at the end of the second day of competition. At the conclusion of the last stage, the Finns were in fact leading the event, however they incurred a late 10 second penalty for jumping the start of stage 16 by a mere five-tenths of a second. In yet another twist of fate, which this time worked in their favour, Makinen and Mannisenmaki will now start tomorrow deciding leg in a more favourable position behind Championship rivals Marcus Gronholm and Richard Burns.

Mitsubishi Motors drivers also lead Group N and fill eight of the top 10 places in the category. A storming drive from Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has given him a commanding lead with one day of the tough 1,283 kilometre rally to go.

Clear skies and warm conditions greeted the 66 remaining contenders who took the start in the City of Perth early this morning. Temperatures soon soared up to 30 degrees as the crews headed south for seven special stages in the Stirling forests around the towns of Harvey and Collie.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki

Competition has been fierce but, from their overnight third position, Tommi and Risto immediately began to close the gap to the leading Subaru of Richard Burns. They powered their Lancer Evolution up into second position after stage 13 but, like all the leading contenders, were again put in the tactical situation of trying to juggle their position on stage 16, the penultimate stage where tomorrow’s starting order was again decided. Following the exclusion of Carlos Sainz last night - after the Spaniard breached regulations by stopping his Focus too close to the flying finish on yesterday’s ’tactical’ stage - crews knew they would be under pressure.

But, tactics in this stage were critical. With Juha Kankkunen running first on the road today, Makinen would have been aware of his rival's time in this stage and hence able to adjust his own pace accordingly to keep behind the Finn tomorrow. However, when Kankkunen went off the road and retired his Subaru, the Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart driver was left just seconds to anticipate Francois Delecour's stage time. Also, by running ahead of Championship rivals Richard Burns (Subaru) and Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot), Tommi was in an impossible situation of trying to judge the times they might take. As a consequence, he was left in what is, strangely, an unenviable position of leading the rally. However, late this evening, the Stewards adjudged that Makinen had jumped the start of stage 16, which dropped him down the order into third.

"It’s a very strange and disappointing situation that the first two days have been so tactical. It’s been very fast until the penultimate stages, but the planning stops now and we go on full attack, flat out", said Tommi, before he was aware of the penalty. "The whole day I feel we have driven very well and the speed has been good. For sure our position tomorrow will be a disadvantage, especially against the top two guys in the Championship, but there is no point to keep talking about this, we just have to drive with everything we have".

Trelles has won the Group N World Championship for the past four years for Mitsubishi and has delivered a performance that might just bring him a record-breaking fifth consecutive title in his Lancer Evolution.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Gr.N G. Trelles / J. del Buono