Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart faces tough opposition, but anticipates yet more success as it heads into the fourth round of the 2000 FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally of Portugal. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Tommi Makinen leads the series and team-mate Freddy Loix, driving a Mitsubishi Carisma GT, has a fine Portuguese record.

The Rally of Portugal has been a highlight of the international rallying calendar since the 1960's and has been won by most of the sport's great names. Few rallies grip the public imagination to the same degree: wildly enthusiastic spectators in their millions throng the route that twists its way through northern Portugal, applauding, waving banners and sounding klaxons. To the teams, the rally has another significance, because it is the first sprint rally of the year run on loose-surface stages and can therefore be a good guide to the rest of the season. This year s rally has a particularly strong entry, with no fewer than seven factory teams and a host of talented privateers in cars that are in near-factory specification.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Driver / Tommi Makinen (Photo: at Swedish Rally)

Reigning World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen was a comfortable winner in 1997. And with fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki co-driving, he is convinced that he has an excellent chance of repeating that success in the Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution after a satisfactory pre-rally test.

"The start of the season has been quite good and we already have some useful points. Portugal can be quite difficult, because you never know about the weather and some of the stages can be quite rough, but I think it will be good for the Lancer Evolution and I am sure we can win again," Makinen said.

Belgian team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are keenly looking forward to one of the rallies they know best and Loix is quietly confident of a good finish in his Carisma GT.

"It will be nice to drive on a rally I know well, especially after missing it last year. It has changed quite a lot and there are four or five new stages for me, but I am not so bothered, because we make new pace notes so often now. We did some testing in January and the car felt good," Loix stated.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Driver / Freddy Loix (Photo: at Rally Monte Carlo)

"The format of the rally is slightly different, but most of the stages are familiar and it is an event we know to be tough and difficult. The weather in March can be very pleasant or absolutely awful, but we were fortunate to encounter both types in testing and we were able to adjust the car set-up and tyres accordingly. Certainly with the new rear differential, both drivers felt the car was very nice to drive. It should be a good rally for both drivers. Tommi knows how to win it and if he is happy with the car, he will be difficult to beat. Freddy missed it last year thanks to his Safari injuries, but his previous record on the event is very good. It is going to be a challenge though. There are the best part of 20 factory or recent factory cars, which means that just getting in the top six and scoring points won’t be easy," Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short said.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GT’s have won the Group N production car class on all three rounds of the World Championship so far this year and there is every chance of a fourth victory in Portugal. The front runners are likely to include championship leader Manfred Stohl from Austria and the man to beat in Group N, Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles, who has won the title for the past four years for Mitsubishi. There will be plenty of tough opposition though, including the 1999 class winner, Portugal’s Miguel Campos, German star Uwe Nittel, Italy’s Gianluigi Galli and Spanish Champion Jesus Puras, all four in Carisma GTs and the Safari Group N winner Claudio Menzi in a Lancer Evolution.

The rally is based in Portugal’s Second City, Oporto, and runs from March 16-19. It covers 1,646 kilometres, with 23 special stages totaling 398 kilometres. The first leg takes competitors east of Oporto, through a double loop of the renowned Fafe stages and close to Amarante on the River Douro, while the second heads south to Arganil, to some of the most demanding stages in World Championship rallying. The last leg, near the Spanish border north of Oporto, is the shortest, but it will be a real sting in the tail, as the Ponte de Lima stages are some of the roughest in the rally.