Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart heads to Spain for Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (21-24 March) buoyed by points on Corsica in the first full asphalt event of the season. The French crew of François Delecour/Daniel Grataloup and team-mates Alister McRae/David Senior will both be back behind the wheel of the ever-improving Lancer Evolution WRC, hoping to build on the knowledge and experience gained on the Mediterranean island.

Although Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava only entered the World Rally Championship in 1991, it is viewed as one of the benchmarks for organisation and, for this reason, is favoured by many of the leading crews. The smooth, fast asphalt stages that twist their way through the mountains around Girona, Barcelona and Tarragona in north-east Spain are the nearest rallying gets to racing but, with the event held in the Mediterranean’s early springtime, weather conditions can still play an enormous role in the outcome. It is also one of the most popular rallies in the calendar with the spectators; for the Spanish it is one of the flagship events in the country, national hero Carlos Sainz held in almost god-like status. Many more are attracted from other European countries by the warm weather and holiday atmosphere in the coastal resort of Lloret de Mar and, last year, more than 1.2 million people flocked to the stages.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Delecour / D. Grataloup (Photo Rd.3 2002 Tour de Corse)

The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup are no strangers to Spain, the duo having competed there together on eight occasions and taken outright victory in 1993.

"We have a test scheduled before the start of the rally, but as it’s so close to Corsica it will be difficult to make too many changes", commented François. "The stages are a bit fastest than on Corsica with wider roads which are not so bumpy, so we’ll be looking for the optimum set-up for these type of conditions. It was good to get points for Mitsubishi on Corsica and hopefully we can build on this and also score points in the drivers’ championship as well".

Team-mates Alister McRae and David Senior have only contested Rallye Catalunya four times. "We made progress with the set-up of the car on Corsica, which was heartening, and obviously the team will now be looking to continue that development into Spain", said the Scot. "I enjoy the asphalt events, but having said that I think the car will prove to be more competitive once we get into the gravel rallies".

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart A. McRae / D. Senior (Photo Rd.3 2002 Tour de Corse)

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Derek Dauncey added: "The format in Spain has changed slightly this year, in that the first day is based around Tarragona, whereas the second and third legs are run in the regions of Manlleu and Vic. We’ll be testing in both areas as each features slightly different types of surfaces, and obviously look to continue the progress we made on Corsica. The aim again is to score more points and continue pushing the performance of the car forward".

Rallye Catalunya kicks off on Thursday 21 March with a ceremonial start in the centre of Lloret de Mar, however the competition will be fought out over a largely different route from 2001 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The first leg takes the contenders to the west of Tarragona for six stages, three repeated and each of which has not been used in some format since 1998 (SS2/SS5) or 1999 (SS1/SS4 and SS3/SS6). The second leg is based around the traditional service park of Manlleu to the northwest of Lloret de Mar and takes the crews over another three stages, each repeated, and all used last year. The final day of competition, again based around Manlleu, covers another six stages, SS13/SS16 used last year, but with the remaining stages incorporating different configurations to previous events. In total, the route covers 18 stages over 1,948.95 kilometres, of which 394.98 kilometres is competitive.