SWEDEN SHAKEDOWN/MITSUBISHI MOTORS/2001 WRC

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart will start the Swedish Rally, the second round of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship, in greater strength than ever before with a talented trio of drivers. Tommi Makinen, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, is joined by Thomas Radstrom and Freddy Loix, both in Mitsubishi Carisma GTs. They will give Mitsubishi an excellent chance of scoring its sixth Swedish victory in the last 11 years.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Makinen / R. Mannisenmaki

Mitsubishi drivers will also start as overwhelming favourites in the Group N production car category. Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs have a phenomenal record to uphold, for they have won the group on every World Championship rally since November 1999, and this year there are some big names driving for Mitsubishi, including 1984 World Champion Stig Blomqvist and twice winner of the event Mats Jonsson. In fact, in the history 49 year history of the event, Mitsubishi drivers Makinen, Blomqvist, Jonsson and Radstrom have taken an impressive 26 percent of the Swedish victories.

The Swedish is a unique challenge. It is the one true snow rally in the World Championship and this year’s event looks as though it will take place in the best conditions for a decade. Although there has been a thaw near the rally’s base in Karlstad, recent snowfalls have combined with temperatures as low as -36 degrees Celsius and promise a classic winter rally. It is sure to be hotly fought and a daunting test of driving skill. Despite the slippery surfaces, top rally drivers and the use of studded tyres promise average speeds of up to 120 km/h, making it one of the fastest as well as the coldest rallies in the World Championship.

Three-times winner Tommi Makinen, co-driven by fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki, is eagerly looking forward to the event after an encouraging shakedown test in his Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
T. Radstrom / T. Thorner

"I have a good feeling with the car. It feels very smooth and nice on the bumps and I think we have a good chance. But you never know what happens, because this rally is always very close and a lot will depend on tyres", Makinen said.

Swedes Thomas Radstrom and Tina Thorner are newcomers to the team, but are renowned experts in the conditions and Radstrom reckons he has a good chance of bringing Mitsubishi points in the World Championship for Manufacturers.

"I finished on the podium in 1999 and I shall certainly be trying to be back there. I think the Carisma is a brilliant car. The handling feels very good and I am looking forward to the rally very much", Radstrom commented.

Belgian crew Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are less familiar with the conditions than the Nordic drivers, but Loix has gained useful experience and is in a positive frame of mind. "I can remember some of the stages now, which helps, and I have a good feeling with the car. The new rear suspension certainly makes it easier to drive, but of course there is a lot of tough competition here", Loix stated.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT
Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart
F. Loix / S. Smeets

Swede Kenneth Backlund has become the man to beat in Group N in recent years and he is sure to be one of the pacesetters in his Carisma GT on roads he knows well.

"Of course I am looking forward to the event. We have very nice conditions this year with a lot of snow and snowbanks on some of the stages, and there will be a big fight too, when you look at the opposition", Backlund commented.

One of his greatest rivals is sure to be local man Stig-Olov Walfridsson, who comes from Torsby in the heart of rally territory and also drives a Carisma GT. Duels between the two have regularly been a highlight of past rallies.

"I think we have a good chance this year. There are a lot of drivers in Mitsubishis, like normal, so it will not be easy, but I have a good feeling about this rally and I am looking forward to it", Walfridsson said.

But much of the interest is sure to surround another Swede, 1984 World Champion Stig Blomqvist, who is contesting the Teams Cup, the World Championship’s privateers’ award, in a Carisma GT.

"Our real aim is the Teams Cup more than Group N, but I think we can get quite a good result anyway. For a nearly standard car, the Carisma GT is very quick indeed and it will be fun to drive it on these roads", Blomqvist said.

Other potential front runners include Mats Jonsson, Italy’s Gianluigi Galli and Finn Kristian Sohlberg, all driving Carisma GTs.

The rally starts on the evening of 8 February and covers 1,932 kilometres, but the event begins in earnest with the first stages on 9 February. The first leg could easily prove the toughest, for its six stages total 148 kilometres, a higher proportion than any other leg, and it includes the longest and most northerly stage of the rally, the exceptionally fast 49-kilometre Granberget test.