The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets hold 12th position at the end of the second leg of the 2001 Rally Finland. Team-mates Toni Gardemeister and Paavo Lukander, who are registered by Mitsubishi for points, have climbed up the leaderboard into 14th position and, although they are trailing on the overall leaderboard, the Finnish pair are currently seventh of the registered crews and pushing hard for points in this, the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
F. Loix / S. Smeets
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Mitsubishi Motors drivers are however in complete control of the Group N production category with a thrilling battle developing between Finns Jouni Ampuja and Marko Ipatti, both driving Mitsubishi Carisma GTs. Mitsubishi looks as good as certain to claim its 24th consecutive Group N success at World Championship level, for Mitsubishi Carisma GTs and Lancer Evolutions hold more than 20 of the top places in their class.
As the 125 remaining contenders took the re-start in Jyvaskyla this morning, the clear sky could not have been more deceptive as, 100 kilometres to the southwest in Halli, a horrible foggy morning awaited. However, as the action began, spectators waving flags and banners for a host of drivers from different nations flocked to the stages and service park, undeterred by the weather which took until lunchtime to give way to bright sunshine, blue skies and warm 20 degree conditions. Today’s leg, which is the longest and toughest of the rally, covered 180.55 competitive kilometres and nine special stages, the roads - in contrast to yesterday - much wider, more flowing and with an endless series of back-breaking jumps.
Freddy Loix, who earlier was in the thick of a five-way battle with three Finns and one Briton, has lost time throughout the day with a series of brake locking problems, originally thought to be connected to the centre differential. However, after changing the component for the final three stages, the Belgian continued to suffer, the rear brakes intermittently locking and threatening spins at every corner. At the final 45-minute service, the engineers finally established that the brake balance bar had not been working properly.
"It has been frustrating", commented Freddy. "We were really looking forward to today and thought we could make a bit of an attack. Instead we have been fighting to keep the car on the road as we have spent much of the time sideways and off line because of the intermittently locking brakes. I originally thought it was connected to the centre diff, but even after we changed that, it made no difference. The engineers made a thorough investigation and found that, without us realising, the brake balance has moved by seven turns".
Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Gardemeister / P. Lukander
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The confidence team-mate Toni Gardemeister has in the Mitsubishi Carisma GT has continued to grow today, the car handling more to his liking, and the Finn has put in some impressive times when everything has gone his way. "My times have been better today and I am a lot happier with the balance and feel of the car. In some of the stages everything has really felt good and I’ve been able to push as I would like to. Although it has not worked out exactly, we are still pushing hard because we are now seventh of the registered crews and, if everything goes well tomorrow, we could pick up points for Mitsubishi as we hoped".
Adding to their comments, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Team Manager George Donaldson said: "Toni is still getting used to the car as I think it’s quite different to anything he’s driven before and it obviously takes a bit of getting used to. When things have gone well, we’ve been seeing the performance we expected. Today has not been Freddy’s day and it’s frustrating to find out that something has happened that we can’t really explain and need to get to the bottom of. Otherwise, he has done a good job".
Mitsubishi Carisma GT Gr.N
J. Ampuja / J. Lehtinen
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It has been a dramatic day in Group N, but there is no question that Jouni Ampuja has confirmed his reputation as one of Finland’s rising stars after an assured performance in his Carisma GT.
"Today has been quite a battle, but we have had no problems and we have quite a good lead now. Still, there is a long way to go and we have to work hard again tomorrow", Ampuja said.
Second place belongs to another Finn, reigning British Champion Marko Ipatti, who also drives a Carisma GT and has fought back strongly from delays earlier in the rally.
"We have been taking some time from Ampuja and of course we are going to push tomorrow. I have been second and third here in Jyvaskyla before, so there is nothing to do except try and win!" Ipatti said.
Punctures have played a decisive role, costing Jouko Puhakka a comfortable lead in his Carisma GT and knocking Juha Salo out of contention when he was just two seconds behind Ampuja. However, Puhakka has fought back to third place and could improve in the third leg. But the Finns aren’t the only drivers showing well, for Argentine duo Marcos Ligato and Gabriel Pozzo are fourth and fifth, both in the points, in their Lancer Evolutions, despite their lack of experience of the terrain.
The final leg of Rally Finland starts tomorrow from Jyvaskyla at 07:00 hrs. While only three stages, they nevertheless total 96 competitive kilometres, so there will be no respite for the crews until they return for the finish at 16:24 hrs (local).
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