The Finnish contingent of Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart led the testing programme for the forthcoming Rally Finland (24-26 August) this week. Makinen’s home round of the FIA World Rally Championship is one of the classics, if not ’the’ classic event of the season; speeds averaging 120 kph, stomach-churning jumps, and crests with blind corners all conspire to make it one of the most spectacular rallies in the calendar that not only requires outright speed and accuracy, but also a considerable amount of bravery.

Test driver Lasse Lampi, four-times World Champion Tommi Makinen and Toni Gardemeister, the team’s third driver for Rally Finland and Rally New Zealand, all took their turn at the wheel of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution/Carisma GT. Over the past five days, the objectives have been different for both Tommi and Toni, the former needing time to finalise the car set-up and the latter undertaking a brief familiarisation programme before his first event in the Carisma GT, Finland’s Mantta Rally this weekend.

The trio of drivers completed 1000 kilometres around Saalahti, south of the rally base and Makinen’s home town of Jyvaskyla. "We had a very good mix of conditions", commented Olivier Maroselli, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart’s engineer. "We tested over very fast, wide roads with hard-packed gravel and also narrow, twisty stages with softer gravel, both of which are very typical of what we’ll find in the rally. Because the weather was good all week, we also brought water in with a tanker, wetted the roads and were able to confirm all our settings in these conditions as well. All round it’s been a good week and the drivers are very happy".

Technically, the Rallye de Portugal suspension settings were used as the base from which to make adjustments for the long jumps and fast roads experienced in Finland. More specifically, the engineers were seeking ways in which to improve the efficiency and endurance of the brakes. Having previously experienced some problems in long stages, they investigated various calliper and cooling configurations, as well as different compounds for the pads.

Tommi Makinen, a multiple winner of his home event, was pleased with the outcome. "People always ask what is the key to this event. Flat out, that is what I can say!" joked Tommi. "You cannot make one little single mistake. The lines are very critical and you have to be accurate everywhere - nothing must be wrong here. It is also important to keep the car on the ground as much as possible - in the air you are losing time. The balance between the suspension must be right to have good landings but also keep you on the road for as long as possible. The handling now is very good, much better than last year, so I feel very confident we can do a good rally again".

His registered team-mate in Finland is Toni Gardemeister and, while the Finn had just an afternoon of familiarisation, he will be competing in the Mantta Rally (30 June), using the Finnish event as a warm-up to the World Championship round.

"The car was good to drive, not too difficult, but just different to anything I have driven before", commented Toni. "The steering is harder than other cars and you have to go quite fast to get the balance. To get the most from the car you have to really drive it, then it all comes together very well. The engine felt good, lots of torque and more so than other cars I have driven, so I am very happy actually. We are using the Mantta Rally as a test, it will not be full speed I think, although a top three and even a win is possible for us. Tommi has been great, very helpful and he will be out with the team and following our progress over the weekend. He has already passed on some small tips and for sure anything Tommi can tell me is worth listening to! We will see how the feeling is but I am quite confident we can do a lot".

During the Mantta Rally - his first gravel event since the Rally of Great Britain in November 2000 - Toni acquitted himself in exact accordance with the team strategy, bringing the car home in a fine second place just 3.6 seconds adrift of the winner. "I can drive this car with confidence in Rally Finland", he stated on the finish ramp.

Due to the nature of the stages, experience counts for everything in Finland and in its 50 year history, the ’Jyvaskylan Grand Prix’ has only twice been won by non-Nordic drivers. Tommi Makinen has a quite unprecedented record in his home event and took a record five consecutive victories, four of which were in the Mitsubishi, between 1994 and 1998. While regular team-mate Freddy Loix will be contesting the event in a third team car and hopefully scoring points for himself in the Drivers’ Championship, Mitsubishi is calling on Gardemeister’s local knowledge in its bid to secure the 2001 world title.