NEW ZEALAND PRE EVENT RELEASE/MITSUBISHI MOTORS/2001 WRC

MAP

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart heads for the Rally of New Zealand, the 10th round of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship with a powerful three-car team consisting of two Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions for four-times World Champion Tommi Makinen and registered tema-mate Toni Gardemeister, and a Mitsubishi Carisma GT for Belgian Freddy Loix. The situation could hardly be more tense, as Mitsubishi shares the World Championship for Manufacturers’ lead and Makinen is fighting off strong opposition in the drivers’ title race. Mitsubishi will also bid for further success in the Group N production car class.

New Zealand is the most southerly round of the World Championship, a land of rolling green countryside and beautiful coastlines, the stags threading their way through lush farmland and ancient forests. It will be a rally with a difference this year, for it is being run in September for the first time and that brings the prospect of better weather at the start of the southern hemisphere’s spring, although the weather remains unpredictable. In some respects, it resembles the previous round of the World Championship in Finland, for both are renowned as driver’s rallies, held on superb loose-surface roads. New Zealand is a searching test of chassis design as well as driving skill and it is invariably one of the rallies that drivers look forward to most keenly.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki
(Photo Rd.9 2001 Rally Finland)

Tommi Makinen romped to victory with Risto Mannisenmaki in New Zealand in 1999 and he is determined to make amends for leaving the road in Finland. He is sure that his Michelin-equipped Lancer Evolution is capable of another victory.

"New Zealand is always a good rally to drive and I am sure we can do well. The car handles so well now and it is important that we get a good result this time", Makinen said.

Fellow Finns Toni Gardemeister and Paavo Lukander had an unlucky accident on the final stage in Finland, their second rally with Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart, but they had already demonstrated their potential in the Carisma GT and Gardemeister is more than familiar with the New Zealand roads.

"We were third here in 1999, so I have some good memories of New Zealand. The stages are quite tricky and fast in places, but I think it should be a good rally for the car. I hope we can score some good points for the team", Gardemeister commented.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
F. Loix / S. Smeets
(Photo Rd.9 2001 Rally Finland)

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are no strangers to the Carisma GT or to New Zealand and hope to build on a series of steadily improving results this year.

"New Zealand is a nice rally, but not so easy if you don’t know it well. We don’t have any pressure, so I am looking forward just to doing my best for the team", Loix stated.

Mitsubishi Motors drivers face a stern test of their supremacy in the Group N production car category on the Rally of New Zealand, but Mitsubishi has not been beaten in Group N for almost two years and with drivers like Gabriel Pozzo, Gustavo Trelles and Manfred Stohl, it remains clear favourite for success. There will be no fewer than 18 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Mitsubishi Carisma GTs taking part in Group N.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Gardemeister / P. Lukander
(Photo Rd.9 2001 Rally Finland)

Rally New Zealand is ideal territory for Group N cars, in which drivers can concentrate on making the most of their cars’ performance. It is a popular rally with the fans too, as easy access and spectacular views are guaranteed.

Argentina’s Gabriel Pozzo has proved the man to beat this year in his Lancer Evolution and although there are plenty of drivers who know the roads better, he could well take another victory in New Zealand.

"I liked this rally very much last year and I hope with more experience this time, I can get a better result. It is a nice rally to drive in a Group N car as well", Pozzo enthused.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
From left: S. Smeets, P. Lukander,
F. Loix, R. Mannisenmaki,
T. Makinen & T. Gardemeister

The championship leader has a fight on his hands though if he wants to beat reigning Group N World Champion Manfred Stohl, for the Austrian was the Group N victor last year in a Carisma GT.

"It will be good to be driving a Mitsubishi again. New Zealand is always a good rally and maybe the weather will be better this year in September", Stohl commented.

Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles is sure to be one of the leading contenders. The four-times World Champion has a superb record in New Zealand and won Group N in 1999 in his Lancer Evolution.

"We need to win here if we are to have any chance in the World Championship this year, so I shall be trying hard. It won’t be easy with so much opposition though", Trelles said.

There are plenty of potential winners in the Mitsubishi ranks. 1984 World Champion Stig Blomqvist drives a Carisma GT, while the men to watch in Lancer Evolutions include rising Argentine Marcos Ligato, who triumphed in Group N in Finland, local heroes Reece Jones, Andrew Hawkeswood and Stumpy Holmes, and Japan’s Fumio Nutahara.

Based in Auckland once more, the rally runs from September 20-23 and is divided into three legs. The first leg uses challenging yet familiar roads near Raglan, south of Auckland, with six stages totalling 113 kilometres. The second is by far the longest, including no fewer than 180 kilometres of stages north of Auckland, near Ruawai. Three of the stages are new in whole or in part and one of them, Parahi/Ararua, is the longest of the championship season at 59 kilometres. The survivors will face another nine stages in the last leg, concentrated in Maramarua Forest south of Auckland and covering 87 kilometres. All told, the rally covers 1,690 kilometres.