The 37th Rallye Catalunya/Costa Brava reached a nail-biting finale and both the Marlboro Mitsubishi
Ralliart crews of Tommi Makinen/Risto Mannisenmaki and Freddy Loix/Sven Smeets finished in points scoring positions. The
Finnish Lancer Evolution driver was on the podium in third position, with team-mate Freddy Loix in a fine fourth after a
titanic battle to the end.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki
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Didier Auriol won for Peugeot, notching up not only his first points this year, but also his first victory since the China
Rally in 1999. However, Tommi Makinen’s four points are enough to extend his lead in the Drivers’ Championship
and, with Freddy Loix scoring points as well, Mitsubishi has also pulled out its lead in the Manufacturers’
Championship to 18 points going into the fifth round of the series.
Mitsubishi Motors drivers extended Mitsubishi’s winning run in the Group N production category to an amazing 18th consecutive victory. Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs dominated the leaderboard, taking nine of the first 10 places, with Argentina’s Gabriel Pozzo scoring his first victory of the year in his Lancer Evolution.
Of the original 74 entrants, only 40 crews started today’s final leg that took them to the northwest of Lloret de Mar for six stages and 118 competitive kilometres. Conditions were again clear and temperatures rose to about 22 degrees during the day, adding to the fantastic atmosphere for the thousands of spectators who poured to some of the rally’s most famous stages.
Throughout the morning, the leaderboard turned on its head. Overnight leader Philippe Bugalski lost time and incurred penalties with clutch problems, dropping him to fourth and out of all contention for a Citroen debut victory. Piero Liatti was the first retirement of the day, brakes forcing out the Italian Hyundai driver, and Markko Martin was to follow shortly when he ran out of time in the service park as the Subaru technicians changed the gearbox.
In contrast, Tommi Makinen has had a trouble-free run today and, despite moving up to third as Bugalski’s penalty was imposed, the Finn simply ran out kilometres to mount an assault on second-placed Gilles Panizzi. Top stage times nevertheless underline the potency of the revised Lancer Evolution on asphalt, and the team can leave Spain satisfied with its performance on what has been four differing surfaces so far this season.
"Finally the result was alright for us", commented Tommi. "I’m a little bit disappointed we couldn’t find the perfect speed of the cars in front, and we have to work to improve the speed and also ourselves. I’m very happy to have increased my lead in the championship on the last Tarmac rally with this car. We’ll see what the new one in Sanremo brings".
Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
F. Loix / S. Smeets
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Team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are demonstrating a true return to form and have acquitted themselves superbly in the
Carisma GT. The Belgians have fought on a level-playing field with former world champion Carlos Sainz, and Ford team-mate
Francois Delecour, overhauling both to claim fifth in a duel to the end, but was elevated to fourth when Philippe Bugalski
(Citroen) incurred a further 2 min. penalty at the start of stage 15. On no fewer than three stages today they were also
faster than Makinen, and richly deserve their second points of the season.
"It’s been a very good rally for me this time", said Freddy. "The start was good, the second day we had some small problems, but today we attacked and took Carlos and Francois. The next rallies are on gravel and we know our car is quicker than the cars in front on that surface, so hopefully things are looking quite good".
Adding to their comments, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager George Donaldson said: "Both drivers have performed superbly amid very strong competition and it is good to have both crews in the points. We have plenty to be pleased about, but that’s not to say we can rest on our laurels - we’ve still got work to do".
In Group N, Gabriel Pozzo underlined that he is a talent to watch in future by recording his first win at World Championship level on asphalt, pulling clear of his pursuers to make certain of a clear victory in his Lancer Evolution.
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Gr.N
G. Pozzo / D. Stillo
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"This is a fantastic result for us. When we went off the road yesterday, I thought our chances were finished, but we kept fighting and when Gustavo hit trouble today, we got the lead. This is just what we wanted before going back to Argentina," Pozzo stated.
Second place went to another Lancer Evolution driver, Lebanon’s Roger Feghali, who battled home to finish only one place behind Pozzo on his very first World Championship rally.
"I am really very pleased. The car was new to me, the rally was new to me and I have a new co-driver, so I was here mainly to learn. To finish second is like a dream come true," Feghali said.
Stig Blomqvist, the 1984 World Champion, was third in Group N in his Carisma GT, delivering a flawless performance on his first rally in Spain, in a career of more than 30 years. "We have had a good rally - no problems at all. It’s been interesting for us and nice to do a rally in another country. I’m quite happy with this," Blomqvist commented.
Russia’s Stanislav Griazine was fourth in a Carisma GT, with Spaniard Joan Font fifth in a similar car. Overnight leader Gustavo Trelles retired with suspension damage.
The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now move away from Europe and head to the South American continent for Rally Argentina (3-6 May). Tommi Makinen scored a hat-trick of wins in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution between 1996 and 1998 and team-mate Freddy Loix finished a points-scoring fifth last year.
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