"Although we have just finished the Portugal Rally, our cars and drivers are already ready to give their best on this event. One centralised service point per day makes the planning easier for the team, but it also means the drivers have to tackle more stages without service. That plus the fact that the rally is being held slightly earlier than usual could give us some headaches on tyre choice if the weather is changeable. At this time of year, it could be cold in the mornings though and we could have damp or every frosty roads. The second day looks the hardest as it includes the largest proportion of the total stage distance", said Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Mitsubishi Carisma GT are the dominant force in rallying's Group N production category and Mitsubishi Motors drivers will be aiming to maintain their unbeaten record in the 2000 FIA World Rally Championship with another victory on the fifth round, Spain's Catalunya Rally. With stars like Austria's Manfred Stohl and Uruguay's four-times World Group N Champion Gustavo Trelles taking part, Mitsubishi will be very much the favourite.

Competition is bound to be fierce, as the rally - the first all-tarmac event of the World Championship campaign - brings together the winners from every round this season. The favourite is perhaps Austrian Manfred Stohl, who is leading the Group N World Championship in a Carisma GT with co-driver Peter Muller. Stohl's past successes include Group N wins on the Monte Carlo Rally and the Tour de Corse and he already has a victory and two second places to his credit this season.

"Catalunya is a difficult rally, because some of the stages are very long, which is tough for a production car, but the Carisma GT is so good that we can push very hard. I want to win of course, but it is important to finish and score points for the championship", Stohl emphasised.

"Manfred looks difficult to beat this year, but I have spent many years rallying in Spain and I think we just need some luck", Trelles said.

Apart from Trelles, who drives a Lancer Evolution, the potential winners include Germany' s Uwe Nittel, Peru's Ramon Ferreyros, who finished third in group on the recent Rally of Portugal, and the Finn Jani Paasonen and Portugal's Miguel Campos, the winners in Sweden and Portugal respectively.

Other likely front runners include Spaniards Oriol Gomez - who has played a starring role on the rally in the past - and Manuel Muniente, along with Belgian David Loix and Argentina's emerging star Claudio Menzi, although the latter has limited experience of rallying on tarmac.

All told, no fewer than 28 crews will contest the rally in Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs - a wonderful testimony to the performance and reliability of Mitsubishi cars. As on most World Championship rallies, they make up a substantial proportion of the entry.

The rally is based on the coastal resort of Lloret de Mar, north-east of Barcelona, and takes place from March 30-April 2. Divided into three legs, it has an exceptionally compact route, covering 1,874 kilometres, with 15 special stages - an unusually small number - totalling 383 kilometres. The first leg is held in the mountains around Vic and includes just three different stages, each of them attempted twice. It is the shortest of the three, with 91 kilometres of stages. The second leg heads south-west to fast, abrasive stages of the Tarragona region. It offers another six stages, including two runs at the formidable, 45-kilometre Gratallops stage and a total competitive distance of 181 kilometres. The third and final consists of a double loop of the roads between Lloret and Vic, but while there are just four stages, there will be plenty to fight for, as they cover 110 kilometres.