Swedish Rally 2000
Sunday 13 February
COMMUNIQUE 4

MAKINEN SECOND WITH MITSUBISHI LANCER
AND CARISMA GT's TAKE TOP 10 IN GROUP N

The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki finished the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship - the International Swedish Rally - in second position in the Lancer Evolution. Ahead of them, Marcus Gronholm triumphed for Peugeot, notching up his first-ever victory, the maiden win for the 206 WRC and the marque’s first victory in the World Rally Championship since 1986. The Finn has led the event for all but one stage and arrived back in Karlstad this afternoon 6.8 seconds ahead.

While Makinen held a safe second position throughout the day, the battle for the final podium position raged behind him. Former World Champion and Ford pilot Colin McRae diced over mere tenths of a second with former team-mate Thomas Radstrom, who is driving the Toyota Corolla in his home event. McRae lost his third position in the penultimate stage but powered ahead in the final test to not only finish his first rally in ten events but also take the final podium place. The Subarus of Richard Burns and Juha Kankkunen cruised to the finish in fifth and sixth positions respectively with Mitsubishi Carisma GT driver Freddy Loix in a fine eighth.

"It has been the fastest Swedish Rally so far", said Makinen. "There was a lot of snow on the final stage and, although the Michelins have been good, we were sliding a lot for the first five kilometres - it was certainly better for the cars behind. The gap at the start of the stage was too much, and there was a lot of pressure on Marcus to get his and Peugeot’s first win, but we came quite close and still have good points for the Championship. I have a lot of experience but I still make some little mistakes, but I have had a very enjoyable day and am very happy for Marcus".

Team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets, driving the Mitsubishi Carisma GT, have driven an almost faultless Swedish Rally. The Belgian pairing, competing for only the second time, have been in the thick of a battle during the closing leg and drove superbly to overhaul former World Champion and SEAT driver Didier Auriol. Dicing with Toyota’s Markko Martin for eighth place, the duo were split by mere tenths of a second going into the final stage. However Freddy was six seconds faster than his rival in the closing 21.21 kilometre test and took the hard-fought position.

"I am very happy to have won the battle with Markko", said Freddy. "It has been a long time since I have had to fight on the last stage and it has been very exciting. I knew that on the final stage, which is essentially new to the event, his experience was not so important. I said to myself during the stage ’Freddy, be as clean as possible’ and in the middle we were pushing at maximum attack. I found a good rhythm and am very pleased".

Mitsubishi rarely loses Group N on major rallies and Carisma GTs took all the leading places once again.

It was a particularly special occasion for rising Finnish star, 24-year-old Jani Paasonen, who celebrates his first Group N victory at World Championship level. "I have driven carefully today. We didn’t need to take big risks after yesterday and some of the stages have been quite slippery and difficult with this snow falling. The car has been very good and we have had no problems. It’s nice to beat the Swedes on their rally and I’m very pleased", he said. In fact, it is the first time that Finnish drivers have ever finished one-two in the Swedish Rally.

Fellow Finn Juuso Pykalisto, the early leader, was second in the category with a comfortable advantage over Sweden’s Stig-Olov Walfridson, who was convinced he could have won if he had performed better in the second leg. "Both Friday and today we have been in the competition, but yesterday destroyed everything", he said.

Austrian Manfred Stohl took fourth place and thereby extended his lead in the Group N World Championship.

From Europe, the FIA World Rally Championship crews head straight to Kenya for the Safari Rally (25-27 February). The frozen Swedish forests could not be more different to the searing temperatures and vastness of this spectacular event, one of the longest, fastest and roughest in the series.

FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION