TOUR DE CORSE SHAKEDOWN/MITSUBISHI MOTORS/2001 WRC

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart will start the Tour de Corse, the 12th round of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship, determined to extract the potential of its new car and press home its world title challenge. Both World Championship leader Tommi Makinen and team-mate Freddy Loix will drive the latest Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki

Mitsubishi Motors drivers are the overwhelming favourites for victory in the Group N production car category. It promises to be a duel between Europe and America, with Corsican Jean-Marie Santoni driving a Mitsubishi Carisma GT pitted against Uruguayan Gustavo Trelles in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, but there will be a host of drivers vying for supremacy.

In October, bad weather is always a possibility in the mountains of the Mediterranean island of Corsica, but at today’s shakedown test hot sunshine made it seem more like summer than autumn. Having completed their recce of the stages, competitors got a chance to make last-minute adjustments to their cars, with healthy crowds of onlookers seeking a glimpse of the world’s ultimate rally cars and begging for autographs from the visiting stars. Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart made full use of the time available, concentrating its efforts on setting up new suspension parts for its World Rally Car for what will be the final asphalt rally of the year - and the last Tour de Corse in the autumn for the immediate future, as it returns to spring next year.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki

Corsica is one of the few major rallies that Finns Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki have yet to win and Makinen is determined to make amends for his Sanremo accident with the revised, Michelin-equipped Lancer WRC, which will be taking part in its second rally.

"There are quite a lot of differences compared to Sanremo. We have new suspension parts and harder springs. It feels better, but the shakedown road is quite rough and dirty, so it is hard to be completely sure. Anyway, I am very motivated and determined to have a better result than Sanremo!" Makinen said.

Belgian crew Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are also looking forward to trying the latest modifications to their World Rally Car, and are keen to play their part in Mitsubishi’s challenge for the World Championship for Manufacturers.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
F. Loix / S. Smeets

"We have been working flat out. The car certainly feels better now and we are quite hopeful, but of course we don’t really know where we are until Friday when the rally starts", Loix commented.

If there is a favourite in Group N, it is probably four-times World Champion Gustavo Trelles. A former Group N winner in Corsica, he will be driving his well-proven Lancer Evolution.

"I know this rally quite well and like the stages, so it is a good opportunity for us. It is our last chance this year, so I want it to be a good result", Trelles commented.

Local school teacher Jean-Marie Santoni is likely to be his closest rival. He lives practically on the route and has a brand new Carisma GT at his disposal, but this is now the one rally he contests each year and he is therefore a little short of practice.

"We will have to start flat out and hope we have a good run. There is plenty of tough opposition, so it is hard to know what sort of result to expect", Santoni said.

Other potential front runners include Corsican veteran Jean-Pierre Manzagol, Monte Carlo expert Jean-Paul Ayme, Philippe Rognoni and Italy’s Giovanni Manfrinato, all driving Carisma GTs.

The three-day rally begins from Ajaccio’s harbourside on 19 October with a compact loop in the mountains on the eastern side of the island. It will be the shortest of the 45 Tour de Corse, but with five stages totalling 126 kilometres, it promises to be a tough test.