Thomas Radstrom and Tina Thorner, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart’s Swedish Rally experts, have powered their Carisma GT into third position in a textbook start to the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Tommi Makinen, three-times winner of the event, holds a fine fifth overall while Freddy Loix, who is not nominated for this rally, is 23rd after a frustrating opening day.
Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Radstrom / T. Thorner
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Mitsubishi Motors drivers have also taken instant control of the Group N production car category. Swede Stig-Olov Walfridsson leads the way in his Mitsubishi Carisma GT, with arch-rival Kenneth Backlund close behind in another Carisma GT, and yet another Swede, former World Champion Stig Blomqvist, third in his Carisma GT. Mitsubishi drivers hold all ten of the leading positions.
After last night’s wet ceremonial start in Karlstad’s town square, the 75 competing crews were greeted with clear blue skies and sunshine this morning, an overnight fall of snow also adding to some of the best rally conditions in recent history. Despite temperatures dipping to 11 degrees below freezing, spectators have not been deterred and thousands have poured into the stages, building fires to keep warm in the white and wintry forests around Torsby, to the north of the rally base.
Thomas Radstrom, competing for the first time for Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart, set the pace from the outset, taking the lead after stage 3 and maintaining it until the final stage of the day when he dropped back to third. The 1997 Swedish Rally Champion saw little benefit to being first car on the road tomorrow and now starts behind overnight leader, Ford’s Carlos Sainz, and Harri Rovanpera in the Peugeot.
"It’s been a very good day, but I’m a bit surprised to be so close to the top with only a few kilometres in the car before the rally", said Thomas. "I haven’t done a rally since Portugal last year so it’s difficult to judge the speed. Tomorrow we’ll just try and stay on the road as it’s very easy to make mistakes".
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki
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Tommi Makinen, three times winner of the Swedish Rally, has had a trouble-free run in the Lancer Evolution and is just over 35 seconds adrift of the lead after 148 competitive kilometres. The Finn and co-driver Risto Mannisenmaki lost time in two of today’s stages when they were forced to slow for spectators and have also acted as road-sweepers, clearing the stages of loose snow for the cars behind. "I think we probably expected to be a bit closer to the lead but we have lost time here and there which has been a bit frustrating", commented Tommi. "But, if conditions stay the same, I think we will be much better off further down the field tomorrow".
Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets, competing in the Mitsubishi Carisma GT, have had a frustrating day. Like many contenders, the Belgians have been off the road more than once and this, coupled with a lack of turbo boost in stage 3, has dropped them down the leaderboard amid heated competition from a host of local drivers. "We’ve had a fairly bad day, made some mistakes and had a broken turbo as well, so we must start tomorrow with renewed enthusiasm and confidence", said Freddy.
Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
F. Loix / S. Smeets
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"Given today’s conditions, we’re very satisfied that Tommi’s only 35 seconds behind and I think he’ll now benefit for tomorrow, off-setting today’s loss", added George Donaldson, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager. "Thomas has been a bit cautious, being that he is still discovering how the car reacts in certain circumstances, but he’s running comfortably and not stretching himself at all".
Group N contender Stig-Olov Walfridsson comes from Torsby and he has used his local knowledge to superb effect to build up a narrow lead in his Carisma GT, running under the Mitsubishi Ralliart Sweden banner.
"So far, so good. It’s good to start well and I know Kenneth so well now it’s important to get a gap in front, because if he gets ahead, he is so difficult to beat. At the moment, the car and tyres are working very well," Walfridsson said.
Mitsubishi Carisma GT Gr.N
S.O. Walfridson / L. Backman
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Backlund is no stranger to Group N victory in Sweden, but he admitted that he wasn’t completely at ease with his Carisma GT’s handling at first and that he had picked the wrong tyres for stage 4, the longest of the rally.
"I did not have a really good balance with the car at first and I should have stayed on the original tyres, but this evening has gone well for us and I think tomorrow can be very exciting," Backlund commented.
Stig Blomqvist is contesting the Swedish for the 32nd time and as befits a driver of his vast experience, he has swiftly adapted to the Carisma GT, getting ahead of Mats Jonsson, another past winner of the Swedish Rally driving a Carisma GT. "We didn’t know quite what to expect this morning, but the car seems good and we have no problems at all. We will see if we can challenge these younger guys tomorrow," Blomqvist said.
The second leg of the International Swedish Rally starts from Karlstad tomorrow at 07:00 hrs for a further six special stages totalling 133 competitive kilometres to the northeast of the rally base.
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