Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart drivers Freddy Loix/Sven Smeets and Katsuhiko Taguchi/Derek Ringer are fighting hard in the Rally of Cyprus, the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Despite frustrations, the pairings hold sixth and 11th positions respectively with 97 competitive kilometres remaining.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Loix / S. Smeets

Mitsubishi Motors drivers are in total command of the Group N production car category however, with Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles maintaining his comfortable lead in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs filling five of the top six positions in the class behind him.

Of the original 76 starters only 50 took the restart on the seafront in Limassol this morning, yesterday’s rough and rocky conditions taking their toll on the leading contenders, as well as those running further down the field. Blue skies and bright sunshine may have been a welcome sight for the holidaymakers basking on the beach, but the scorching high-30 degree temperatures promised yet another exhausting and physically challenging day for the crews. Today’s 376 kilometre route headed directly north of the coastal host town for eight dry and dusty special stages and 106 competitive kilometres of twisty action in the pine hills of the Troodos Mountains where fans have again descended in their thousands.

Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets started on a charge, however a broken front left drive shaft hampered the Belgian Carisma GT crew and they steadily lost time without the opportunity for service in the first group of four stages. In the same repeated stages this afternoon a balance between speed and tyre wear was called for, but the crew climbed to sixth, despite some transmission problems, and into a potential points-scoring position for Mitsubishi.

"The day has been disappointing", commented Freddy. "After seven kilometres of stage seven we broke a drive-shaft and had to do three more stages before getting to service. We lost about three minutes. We had some transmission problems this afternoon where the front diff was not working very well and the wheels were spinning a lot and eating the tyres, and the rear diff was too aggressive for the twisty stages. However, we’re in the points; I would like to catch a few more places but the gap in front is quite big so we will have to push as hard as possible".

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart K. Taguchi / D. Ringer

Katsuhiko Taguchi, who started from an impressive 13th this morning in his first rally outside Asia, maintained the pace until a broken wheel and steering arm hindered his challenge and he dropped to 16th before repairs could be made. The Japanese driver, partnered by 1995 World Champion co-driver Derek Ringer, powered on after service however and they climbed back to 11th this evening.

"We had an interesting morning! More a case of survival than rallying and we both had to work very hard", commented Katsu. "It was one of the few places in stage eight where there was a straight piece of road and we hit a hole and a rock which damaged the front right corner of the car, breaking the wheel and steering arm. We had to drive for two kilometres to find a wide enough piece of road to change the wheel and then continue another ten kilometres out of the stage before changing the steering arm on the road section. This afternoon has been much better and our times are not so bad, but it’s disappointing to have lost so much time. We try again tomorrow, it’s difficult but it would be nice to get a top 10 finish".

Four-times Group N World Champion Gustavo Trelles has looked on target for yet another victory ever since he raced into the lead during the first leg, and the Lancer Evolution driver shows no sign of relinquishing control.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Gr.N G. Trelles / J. del Buono