The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets lead the team assault on the Acropolis Rally after the opening leg of competition. The Belgian Mitsubishi Carisma GT crew hold seventh position, while team-mates Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki lie ninth having been hampered running first on the road in their Lancer Evolution.

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

Mitsubishi Motors drivers hold all the leading positions in the Group N production car category however. Argentina’s Gabriel Pozzo is the current leader in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, but Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles is close behind in his Lancer Evolution, and Mitsubishi drivers occupy the top five places.

The largest number of entrants this year - 110 - crossed the start ramp last night in Athens, the ancient Zappion providing a stark contrast to the state-of-the-art machinery fielded in the FIA World Rally Championship. As the crews headed back to Itea, hundreds cheered them through the city, chasing after the rally cars on bikes and mopeds as they returned for today’s opening leg. Clear blue skies and searing heat greeted them this morning and as the temperatures rose to over 37 degrees Centigrade this afternoon, the conditions took their toll. Both registered Peugeots were sidelined; after hitting a rock, Marcus Gronholm was forced out with a holed sump while Didier Auriol retired with clutch failure. For the remaining World Championship contenders, conditions have been far from easy and although the roads are reportedly smoother than in previous years, the dry and dusty mountain stages are littered with stones and rocks and potential disaster looms around every corner.

Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets have driven conservatively to hold seventh position, fifth of the registered crews. With this being the most punishing of the European events, the rate of attrition is normally high and to finish first, first you must finish. Conserving the car and tyres is critical in these conditions and the Belgians have balanced speed and caution to return to Itea in a fighting points position.

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

"We had a bit of a moment in the last stage", said Freddy. "After 13 kilometres we were down in the ruts and I couldn’t avoid a stone in the middle of the road. We hit it quite hard and went about one metre in the air! I had to close my eyes for a second and when we landed we cracked the windscreen. We’re seventh overall - our position is not so bad - but we’re missing a little bit of the top speed. I’m happy though - it could be worse".

As Championship leaders, team-mates Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki have been severely hampered at the front of the field, the Finns sweeping the road of loose gravel for the following cars. Soft suspension in the opening stage and a puncture in the second did little to assist them, but the Finns never give up and have continued to push hard in their Lancer Evolution.

"The last stage was very rough which wasn’t so nice", he said. "I’ve made no mistakes today, the car has been pretty good and tomorrow we have a good position on the road. It will be interesting to see what happens, and the repeated stages will be quite rough for sure. We have to continue pushing, but I don’t think there should be a change in the seeding regulations mid-season. It’s unfair to change things half-way through, it’s better to look at everything and decide what to do for next year, even though I am the one being handicapped by this at the moment".

Adding to their comments, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager George Donaldson said: "It’s not really very different from Cyprus with the first car doing a massive proportion of the road cleaning. We knew it would be the case and have paid the price, but it could have been worse. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow, hopefully with better conditions".

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Gr.N G. Pozzo / D. Stillo