Mitsubishi Motors production car drivers are the overwhelming favourites for victory in the Group N class on Italy’s Sanremo Rally, the 11th round of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship. All the leading contenders are in Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Mitsubishi Carisma GTs, giving Mitsubishi every chance of an amazing 26th consecutive victory in the class.

Italy’s round of the World Championship is one of the handful of pure asphalt rallies on the calendar and a tough test of man and machine. Many of the stages are long and while the rally may well be held in warm, pleasant conditions, the weather in the mountains in early October can never be predicted. Rain and fog will make the rally harder still. The uncertainty is all part of the thrill to the legions of fans, who contribute to the carnival atmosphere of this longstanding event.

Competition between the leading drivers is sure to be intense and one of the front runners is sure to be Argentina’s Gabriel Pozzo, who leads the World Championship in his Lancer Evolution.

"I have not done so many tarmac rallies and I don’t know the stages very well. I would like to win of course, but it will be difficult we must also try to finish for the championship", Pozzo said.

One of his main rivals will be fellow Latin American Gustavo Trelles. The vastly experienced Uruguayan has a matchless Group N record and will be eager to score another victory in his Lancer Evolution.

"We still have a chance of winning the World Championship, but it is very important that we win here. I shall be going flat out from the start", Trelles promised.

Argentina’s Marcos Ligato has proved a sensation in his first year of international competition and he is also a potential winner in his Lancer Evolution, although he will be an outsider on his first attempt at the rally.

"I don’t know quite what to expect. I hope we can do well, but we have to try to finish to gain experience", Ligato said.

Other potential front runners include Sweden’s former World Champion Stig Blomqvist and Italian Alfredo de Sanctis, both men driving Carisma GTs.

The rally is divided into three legs and runs from October 4-6. Based in Sanremo, it covers 1,426 kilometres and includes 16 stages, totalling 386 kilometres, all concentrated in the host town’s hinterland. The first leg is fractionally the longest, with six stages offering a fraction over 149 kilometres of flat-out driving. It will certainly be tough, with two stages of more than 43 kilometres over the Colle Langan. The second leg, which also provides 149 stage kilometres, will be fought out a little further to the east, around Rezzo and Triora and it features two runs at the longest of the rally, again of more than 43 kilometres. The final leg runs closer to Sanremo and includes 87 kilometres of stages, but there are just four separate tests and on past form, the outcome may be in doubt until the very last kilometres.