Rallye Monte Carlo 2000
Saturday 22 January
COMMUNIQUE 4

MITSUBISHI LANCER DRIVER TOMMI MAKINEN
WINS 20TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP RALLY WHILE
LANCERS AND CARISMAS ALSO SWEEP THE BOARD IN GROUP N

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart has made a superb start to the 2000 FIA World Rally Championship with a decisive victory on the Monte Carlo Rally, thanks to Tommi Makinen and his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Team-mate Freddy Loix scored his best Monte Carlo result yet, taking sixth place in his Carisma GT, and Mitsubishi took all the leading places in the Group N production class.

The final day of the rally began before dawn in Gap and competitors had to negotiate ultra-demanding, ice-covered stages high in the Alps as well as near-dry asphalt stages closer to Monte Carlo and the Mediterranean. Thousands of spectators flocked to the rally as usual, many of them waving banners and sounding klaxons as they cheered on their favourites. SEAT driver Didier Auriol and Ford’s Colin McRae were the main retirements, both suffering engine failure.

Tommi Makinen and fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki began the defence of their World Championship in the best possible way with a repeat of their 1999 Monte Carlo success. They were under little pressure after three flawless days in their Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution and Makinen could afford to slow to the same speed as his pursuers as he clinched his 20th win at World Championship level.

"It’s excellent, I’m very happy!", said a delighted Tommi. "The pressure was off after the various retirements, and the weather conditions have made things easier, but even so it is a good start to what is going to be a very hard season. We made some very good tyre decisions from the information we received from the Michelin engineers and our ice crew, and this helped us a lot. Now I’m looking forward to going to Sweden where we have also taken victory in the last two years".

Belgian crew Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets made a solid start to their World Championship campaign. The Carisma GT ran perfectly and a faultless drive earned them a useful sixth place against tough opposition.

"This is always a difficult rally and although it has been mainly dry, there has been some ice as well and that meant we could never relax. The important thing was to finish and learn these stages. We have done that and it is good to start the year with World Championship points as well", Loix stated.

Adding to the drivers’ comments, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Team Director, Andrew Cowan, said: "The Monte is the one to win because all the team is involved. We have a lot of people on this event, including weather, ice and collection crews, and it’s a fantastic boost for the team to start the season with twelve manufacturers’ points".

A new year and a new team brought good news for Austrian Manfred Stohl, who took a comfortable victory in Group N in his Carisma GT. Mitsubishis completely dominated the production class once again, with Italian Gianluigi Galli second and Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles third. In the end, Mitsubishis took the top seven positions.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart will be in action again in under three weeks time on the second round of the World Rally Championship, the Swedish Rally.

FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION