The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team move from one Mediterranean island to another for the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Corsica Rally - Tour de Corse. Drivers Tommi Makinen, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and Freddy Loix, driving a Mitsubishi Carisma GT, face a daunting challenge against strong opposition on one of the few major rallies the team has yet to win.

The French round of the Championship, held entirely on ashpalt, presents a total contrast to the previous gravel round, the Cyprus Rally. Corsica's winding, often bumpy tarmac roads will test brakes and the team's Michelin tyres to the limit. Winning demands absolute precision and detailed knowledge of the stages, and the event fully deserves its nickname, the rally of 10,000 corners. Since it was first held in 1956, only six non-French drivers have won. An extra element of unpredictability is added this year, when the rally is held in the autumn for the first time since 1980.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Driver / Tommi Makinen (farther on) Co-Driver / Rist Mannisenmaki (Photo: '00 Rd.10 Cyprus Rally)

Finns Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki lead Mitsubishi's assault in their Lancer Evolution. Makinen is motivated after an encouraging if slightly frustrating run on the Cyprus Rally, when the result didn't truly reflect his turn of speed.

"It was good to be competitive again in Cyprus and it showed that the Lancer Evolution is still a good car, but tarmac is a different question completely. We did various testing in France and in my opinion we found some good things with the suspension and transmission. If everything works well, I don't see why we can't do well,'' Makinen said.

Belgian crew Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets who have set two fastest stage times with the Carisma GT in Cyprus keep their best shape, but Loix, despite his reputation as a tarmac expert, sounded a note of caution, well aware that Corsica poses a stern challenge.

"For sure we did some good testing, but it's clear that it will be difficult for us in Corsica. We have a lot of opposition and we will really have to fight to do well. It will be interesting to see how we compare,'' Loix commented.

"This will be the first time we use the revised cars on tarmac and clearly the use of the new front crossmember helps so far as the geometry and the weight distribution is concerned, so I would expect some performance improvement. We also will be using the new high capacity differentials and controls. We are encouraged by the fact that in Cyprus the car was a lot more competitive. In legs two and three, Tommi was the quickest car overall and we had a total of six fastest times with Tommi and Freddy together and never had a stage where one of our cars wasn't in the first three. I know that you can't relate Cyprus to Corsica, but I feel that we shall be in the hunt there,'' said Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Driver / Freddy Loix (Photo: '00 Rd.10 Cyprus Rally)

"The weather can be quite changeable in Corsica which makes it very easy to choose the wrong tyres, on occasions. We will be relying on the critical information from the weather crews. The roads are very abrasive and if it's a little bit warmer than it is in spring, the tyre wear will be critical. I feel that leg two, the Corte stages, will be the mose difficult,'' he added.

A strong Group N entry is dominated by Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs with World Championship leader Manfred Stohl of Austria leading the way.

Manfred Stohl is a former Group N winner in Corsica - no mean feat against formidable local opposition - and the talented Carisma GT driver therefore knows exactly what to expect. A good result is essential if he is to defend his hard-earned championship lead.

"Corsica is one of the hardest rallies. It is not rough like Cyprus or the Acropolis, but still you need look after the car as well as drive fast. Now we have a real battle for the championship with Gustavo Trelles, so we need a good result," he said.

Uruguay's Gustavo Trelles has been the Group N World Champion for the past four years and his unrivalled experience makes him a potential winner anywhere in his Lancer Evolution. Like Stohl he is a past Group N victor in Corsica.

"Winning in Cyprus was a very nice experience and very important too. Now we have a real chance of catching Manfred again and I think this could be one of the biggest battles of the season," he predicted.

As usual, there is a strong Latin American flavour to the entry. Other likely front runners include Argentine newcomers Gabriel Pozzo and Claudio Menzi. While they are both previous winners of Group N this season, they have relatively limited experience on asphalt. Peru's Ramon Ferreyros and Uruguayan Gabriel Mendez will drive Lancer Evolutions as well. Italian Gianluigi Galli is likely to be a man to watch in his Carisma GT, while local hero and former Group N winner Jean-Marie Santoni will also be at the wheel of a Carisma GT. No fewer than 23 Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs have been entered - further proof of Mitsubishi's unrivalled popularity with professional and amateur drivers alike.

The rally is held from September 29-October 1, starting and finishing in the island's capital, Ajaccio, which also hosts both the overnight halts. The first and last of the three legs are virtually identical, including six special stages looping into the mountains in the south-west of the island. Both legs comprise 128 kilometres of stages. The second leg will be fought out in the centre of the island around Corte, with a further six stages, including the longest of the rally, the 31.9-kilometre Morosaglia-Campile test, totalling 131 kilometres. In total, the event covers 1126 kilometres.