SAFARI PRE EVENT RELEASE/MITSUBISHI MOTORS/2001 WRC

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Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart is preparing for its toughest test of the season, the Safari Rally. The Kenyan event is the eighth round of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship, and both World Championship leader Tommi Makinen, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and Freddy Loix, driving a Mitsubishi Carisma GT, are well aware that it is the longest and roughest event on the calendar. Mitsubishi is also hoping to extend its remarkable winning run in the Group N production car category.

Africa’s only World Championship rally offers a challenge like no other. The one round still fought out on roads open to other traffic, much like the town to town races at the dawn of the motoring age, it is an epic contest fought out against the breathtaking backdrop of the Kenyan countryside. Few events are hotter, none are faster, none reach greater altitude - and none are less predictable. Cars race across dusty plains at speeds in excess of 200 km/h, climb the 3,000-metre heights of the Mau Escarpment in the Rift Valley and pick their way over tracks so rocky that no ordinary car would get through. Sometimes, they cover as many kilometres in a day as they would in an entire rally anywhere else. Drivers must constantly be on the alert for stray animals, which could spring from the bush at any time. Not all drivers like it, but it is a rally that every driver loves to win. World famous, it is naturally Kenya’s biggest sports event and huge crowds of eager fans line the streets of Nairobi, but crowds gather in moments no matter how remote the location. The rally fascinates young and old alike. This year’s rally will be somewhat different, for it is being run in July for the first time, which could mean lower temperatures than usual and possibly some rain, but the winner is sure to require a full measure of skill, persistence and stamina whatever the conditions.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki
(Photo Rd.7 2001 Acropolis Rally)

Makinen, co-driven by fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki, is a former winner of the event, but he knows all too well that the Safari can be cruelly disappointing and that a good result in his Michelin-equipped Lancer Evolution will be vital this year.

"The Safari has been good for us in the past and I think our new rear suspension will be good here. You have to drive a bit differently, because the rally is so long, but we will have to go fast anyway when there are so many good cars and drivers", Makinen predicted.

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets have consistently scored well this season in their Carisma GT and look well placed to score another strong result in Kenya. To give them a better chance, former Safari winner and Kenyan Champion Ian Duncan will help them prepare for the event.

"The Safari is the hardest rally to score points. You have to change your style a little bit, because it is so long. I don’t really know what to expect this year, but I am sure Ian Duncan will be a big help", Loix said.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
F. Loix / S. Smeets
(Photo Rd.7 2001 Acropolis Rally)

"We’ve been testing near Kajiado, not far from Nairobi, with both drivers and it looks as though it’s going to be tough. It seems to be a lot rougher this year, because they had good rains in the spring and it’s just washed everything away. You can never be sure what’s going to happen on the Safari, but I think we’ve got a great chance. Tommi has won before of course and he’s competitive everywhere, but this should be a good event for Freddy as well. He’s proved his ability to understand the conditions and I think he’ll go there with the right attitude", Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Team Manager George Donaldson said.

Mitsubishi Motors drivers are the clear favourites to maintain their phenomenal winning run in the Group N production car category on the Safari Rally. Argentina’s Gabriel Pozzo has amassed a useful lead in the Group N World Championship with a series of brilliant drives and on current form, the promising newcomer will take a lot of beating on the Safari.

"The Safari is tougher than any other rally and you have to be careful all the time. Still, it is a bit like the Acropolis, so I hope we can do well again and extend our championship lead", Pozzo said.

His main rival could well be former World Champion Stig Blomqvist, driving a Carisma GT. Although he has never won the rally, the veteran Swede is vastly experienced and a formidable competitor with a string of good results behind him.

"We haven’t had so much luck lately, but anything can happen on the Safari and I am looking forward to it. The Carisma is very strong for a near-standard car", Blomqvist said.

Pozzo’s fellow countryman Marcos Ligato is in his first season outside his homeland, but he has already made a strong impression in his Lancer Evolution and is also a potential victor.

"The Safari is completely new to me, so I don’t know what to expect. I think I will have to drive a bit slower than usual, but it will be a real experience and I am looking forward to it", Ligato commented.

Austrian Rudi Stohl, father of Group N World Champion Manfred, is a renowned Safari driver and could also go well in a Carisma GT, while local man Anwar Sidi is driving a Lancer Evolution and could also figure strongly.

The rally, which runs from July 20-22, is based in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and covers 2,926 kilometres. It broadly resembles last year’s route, with two near-identical legs on the plains south of Nairobi to begin and end the rally, and a longer loop to the north-west in the middle. The first and last legs each include four competitive sections, totalling 350 kilometres, with one section run in the opposite direction to the 2000 rally. The second leg heads across the Rift Valley and north across the Equator towards the hills near Eldoret. It provides five competitive sections, covering 420 kilometres. Although the second is the longest, the last leg could easily be the hardest, because it will be even rougher after the first run and the cars will have absorbed so much punishment.