Tap Rallye de Portugal 2000
Saturday 18 March
COMMUNIQUE 4

LOIX BATTLES HARD FOR MARLBORO MITSUBISHI RALLIART
BUT MITSUBISHI IS IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN IN GROUP N

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart driver Freddy Loix has battled hard throughout the second leg of the Rally of Portugal to claim his overnight seventh position in the Carisma GT. The Belgian and co-driver Sven Smeets are however fifth of the 2000 FIA World Rally Championship contenders and on course to pick up points in the series for Manufacturers.

Basking in hot Iberian weather, the crowds have been larger than ever, waving flags and banners and cheering the cars every metre of the way. On such demanding terrain, even finishing the rally will be an achievement and all the drivers have been greeted like heroes. In contrast to yesterday’s soft and sandy stages, today’s roads to the south of Porto have been strewn with stones and big rocks and, like many of the leading competitors, Freddy has not been without problems.

With Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart’s hopes now resting on his shoulders however, the Belgian rose to the challenge, setting fourth fastest time on the opening stage to slip into 10th position, in spite of brake problems. And, with two further stages to drive before the service halt, he still climbed up the order to eighth, losing less time than his rivals as they too experienced difficulties.

Holding station with a 13 second advantage going into stage 15, the Mitsubishi Carisma GT pairing were however shunted back down the leaderboard to 11th when a stone went into the wheel and knocked the brake pipe loose, draining the fluid from the front left brakes. It was a bitter blow for the Belgians, who knew they could challenge for seventh after Toyota driver Markko Martin had incurred a 40 second penalty ahead of them.

However, having replaced the pipe and topped up the fluid during the liaison section before the 14.27 kilometre Arganil stage, Freddy went on to set fourth fastest time - with three punctures - to regain ninth and be within one second of overhauling Armin Schwarz. But, he then lost precious seconds in heavy dust as he caught and passed Peugeot driver Adruzilo Lopes, who was driving slowly through stage 17 with shock absorber problems. Despite this, he set a time 14 seconds quicker than Schwarz in the Skoda to regain eighth position.

"We had it all in the middle group of stages!" said Freddy. "Because we were running eleventh on the road, the cars in front have been kicking out large stones and the conditions have been very rough. It’s a very up and down rally for me, and when the car is performing well my times are up there with the leading cars. There have been a lot of retirements and many drivers have problems, so there is everything still to fight for and we will push hard again tomorrow to hopefully climb higher still".

Following the retirement of Ford’s ’junior’ driver Petter Solberg from fourth position in the penultimate stage of the day, Freddy and Sven were elevated to an overnight seventh overall with just three stages of the 2000 Rally of Portugal remaining.

Mitsubishi drivers however continue to dominate the leaderboard in the Group N production category with Portuguese star Miguel Campos looking set to repeat his 1999 Group N victory in his Mitsubishi Carisma GT.

The dominant Mitsubishis took an immediate grip on Group N from the outset of the rally and now hold the top five places, but no one has been able to challenge Miguel Campos. The Portuguese driver was ready to maintain the same pace he set in the first leg, but the roads have been so rough that he has concentrated on preserving the car, and the opposition acknowledges that he is uncatchable. "It has been very hard today", he said. "There is so much dust, even inside the car, that sometimes it is hard to see anything. Today I didn’t attack, but the car has been very good considering how bad the roads are. We just want to keep going at a safe speed tomorrow".

Austria’s Manfred Stohl, the Group N World Championship leader, looks secure in second place and is likely to maintain his series lead if he can hold station and keep out of trouble in tomorrow’s final three stages. "The stages are so hard and Campos is too far ahead now. It is better to finish and score some points," Stohl said. Argentina’s Claudio Menzi has confirmed the good impression he made in winning the class on the Safari Rally by climbing to third in his Lancer Evolution ­ no mean feat on his first rally in Europe.

Fellow countryman Gabriel Pozzo holds fourth and just needs to maintain his pace to finish the Rally of Portugal in this position, such is the gap between himself and Menzi. Peruvian driver Ramon Ferreyros, who won the Group N category on last year’s Rally of Great Britain, rounds off an excellent showing for Mitsubishi in this category.

Reigning World Champion Gustavo Trelles and Germany Uwe Nittel were forced into retirement with mechanical failure, while Pedro Leal rolled in stage 13.

The last leg of the rally is the shortest, but still capable of springing a surprise, with three long and probably rough stages, covering 60.30 kilometres, before the finish in Oporto on Sunday lunchtime.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 2