Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart drivers Tommi Makinen and Freddy Loix are set to play a key role in the most highly charged finale in World Rally Championship history. Driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC, flying Finn Makinen is one of four drivers capable of winning the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship on the 14th and final round, the Rally of Great Britain, while Belgian Freddy Loix is also capable of a strong result.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart T. Makinen / K. Lindstrom

Mitsubishi Motors will also start the Rally of Great Britain aiming for an extraordinary record in the Group N production car class. Victory for a Lancer Evolution or a Carisma GT would give Mitsubishi victory on all 14 rounds of the World Championship for the second year in succession. With drivers like Kenneth Backlund, Stig Blomqvist and Ramon Ferreyros on hand, Mitsubishi has high hopes of success.

The shakedown, the last pre-rally test, took on an unusually important role today, for after mild and dry autumnal weather during the recce, rain made the test road much more slippery. With low cloud and heavy showers racing over the Welsh hills, the teams gratefully seized a precious chance to evaluate different tyres and come to terms with conditions which are likely to prevail during the rally itself. Held 80km west of Cardiff - the capital of Wales - in the heart of the area that will probably decide the rally, there was a keen sense of anticipation as a crowd, well wrapped against the rain and cold, gathered to catch a glimpse of the cars and the star drivers in the shadow of an old coal mine.

Four times World Champion Tommi Makinen is paired with another new co-driver, Kaj Lindstrom, who is standing in for the injured Risto Mannisenmaki. The crew are working well together and Makinen, who is second in the championship table, is quietly confident of a strong finish to the season in the Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution WRC.

"Our test was good and now it is wet enough to try some different tyres. This car is much easier to drive - it’s nice and progressive - but it is difficult to say where we are until we start. I don’t mind being in the shadow a bit behind Richard Burns and Colin McRae because it is their home event, but it should be a good fight", Makinen said.

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

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are also well pleased with the results of the team’s lengthy test in Wales last week and are looking forward to a strong finish to the year in their Lancer Evolution WRC.

"We have done quite a lot of work today on tyres and things, which is useful, because this rally is normally so slippery and this gives us an idea what it is like. We are making some progress with the car now, but you never know what sort of result to expect here", Loix commented.

Swedish Group N expert Kenneth Backlund will be one of the favourites for Group N victory after a number of successful previous forays to Britain in his Carisma GT.

"It is always a tricky, slippery rally and at this time of year, you never know what to expect from the weather. I don’t know if I am the favourite. I think there is a lot of opposition", Backlund said.

No one has more experience of the terrain than Stig Blomqvist. The Swedish veteran won the rally outright in 1971 and 1983, and is hoping for class victory in his Carisma GT.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Gr.N R. Ferreyros / J. Marin