The FIA World Rally Championship now heads to Argentina (15-19 May) for the only round of the series to visit the Americas and the second of five consecutive gravel rallies. Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart will be fielding two Lancer Evolution WRCs for regular crews François Delecour/Daniel Grataloup and Alister McRae/David Senior in this, the sixth round of the 2001 World Championship.

Rally Argentina is one of the most popular events in the calendar; the locals are passionate about motorsport, a warm welcome is always guaranteed and the beef is some of the best the world has to offer. This year the rally is based around the tourist resort of Carlos Paz, near the bustling industrial city of Cordoba some 700 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires but, despite the route being heavily revised, the stages are still some of the highest in the World Championship at around 2000 metres. Weather conditions vary considerably at this time of year and, while crews could be scraping ice from the windscreens early in the morning, temperatures can rise to as high as 25 degrees during the afternoons. As a consequence, the Argentinean rock-strewn stages can be anything from dry and dusty roads to wet and muddy, with fog often shrouding the high mountain peaks.

The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup have contested Rally Argentina only twice before and finished just outside the points in seventh position last year. Their strength this year however will be in the Lancer Evolution WRC, one of the strongest and most reliable Championship challengers.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Delecour / D. Grataloup (Photo Rd.5 2002 Cyprus Rally)

"I don’t have so much experience of Argentina having only been there twice before, but the people love the rally and their spirit is one of the unique features of the event", said François. "It’s not such an easy event, quite a strange one and you have to adapt your style and get the right speed in every one of the stages as they vary from being very slow to very fast, wet, dry and sometimes with fog at the top. I think it’s an event where a lot of experience helps, especially in the fast sections".

Team-mates Alister McRae and David Senior first contested the event in 1998 in the Formula 2 category, but their two world rally car outings netted seventh in 2000 and ninth overall last year.

"It’s another rough gravel rally, but faster than it was in Cyprus", commented Alister. "It’s quite tight and twisty up in the hills and the weather changes the character of the road considerably if it’s wet - and there’s always rain at some point. The watersplashes are quite a feature in Argentina as well, and the information we get from our gravel crew can be vital because spectators have a habit of damming up the streams to make it more spectacular! Obviously the altitude can have an effect on car performance, but the engineers program the mapping to get the best out of the engine".

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart A. McRae / D. Senior (Photo Rd.5 2002 Cyprus Rally)

Mitsubishi Motors drivers will be aiming to tighten their grip on the 2002 FIA Production Car World Rally Championship on the fourth round, the Rally of Argentina. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Mitsubishi Carisma GT drivers feature strongly on the entry list and their battle for supremacy promises to be electrifying.

In South America, Latin American drivers are almost as hard to beat as Scandinavians in northern Europe and one of the pacesetters is sure to be local hero Marcos Ligato, driving a Lancer Evolution.

"Of course I hope to do well in front of my home fans and I like the rally very much. We need points too as we didn’t finish in Cyprus, but there will be a lot of tough opposition and it won’t be easy", Ligato said.

One of his main rivals is likely to be Peru’s Ramon Ferreyros, who is one of three drivers sharing the lead in the hotly fought Production Car World Championship. He also drives a Lancer Evolution.

"It will be difficult to beat the Argentine drivers, but we will naturally try to do our best and we have a good chance to take the lead in the World Championship I think", Ferreyros commented.

Like all the Production class contenders, Ferreyros will be keeping a close eye on Uruguay’s four-times World Champion Gustavo Trelles, who will be driving one of the latest Lancer Evolutions.

"I know this rally well and it has some nice stages. My co-driver Jorge Del Buono is Argentine, so it is a bit like being at home, but it’s going to be a very fast, tough rally and it will be a big challenge", Trelles predicted.

Other potential front runners include local man Claudio Menzi and another Argentine, the sensation of the Cyprus Rally, Luis Perez Companc. Both will drive Lancer Evolutions. Spurred on by the prospect of World Championship points and the 5,000,000 yen on offer to the victor of the Mitsubishi Trophy at the end of the season, the entry also includes Italians Giovanni Manfrinato and Luca Baldini, as well as Czech Pavel Valousek. All three will be at the wheel of Lancer Evolutions.