Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart A. McRae / D. Senior

Alister McRae and David Senior claimed their first points of the year for themselves and Mitsubishi by finishing the Swedish Rally, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship, in fifth position. Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team-mates Jani Paasonen/Arto Kapanen and François Delecour/Daniel Grataloup brought their Lancer Evolution WRCs home in 14th and 34th positions respectively after losing time earlier in the event.

In the FIA World Rally Championship, Marcus Gronholm’s victory has elevated him to top slot with 12 points, two ahead of Tommi Mäkinen who retired his Subaru. And, in the Manufacturers’ Championship, maximum points for Peugeot also sees it head its rivals by four points, Ford and Subaru its nearest challengers.

Fifty-nine of the original 75 crews left Karlstad this morning, heading north to Hagfors for a scheduled five special stages and 128 competitive kilometres. However, unseasonably mild weather and five degree temperatures forced the organisers to cancel stage 13, the big thaw leaving too much gravel and mud showing through. With 23 competitive kilometres slashed from the route, it certainly made it harder for those fighting to get into the top six leaderboard, Alister McRae included, but the action nevertheless went down to the wire, the final stage - at 40 kilometres - leaving many of the leading drivers with everything to fight for.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart J. Paasonen / A. Kapanen

McRae and Senior were locked in a battle during the final day of competition and powered ahead of Janne Tuohino into seventh after the first stage. They were then caught and passed again but maintained their seventh position after the retirement of Hyundai’s Freddy Loix. Going into the final stage of the rally - the long 39.85 kilometre Hagfors test - they had a huge job on their hands not only to overhaul Tuohino, but defend their position in a brotherly duel against Colin. Undoubtedly the biggest mental battle was the one against Colin, and Alister hung onto his lead finishing the event a mere three-tenths of a second ahead. Janne Tuohino ultimately checked out of the final service late, incurring a 10 second penalty that dropped him to seventh behind both McRaes.

"The conditions today have again been really tricky - changing quickly with different levels of grip all the time", said Alister. "I’ve gone as fast as I could and got the result I wanted. The last stage was in terrible condition, maybe 30% full gravel and the rest was just icy gravel at best. It’s been a good event and it’s great to get points on the board in only our second event with the team. I’ve learned a lot more about the car... and now we’ve also got a good base set-up for gravel!"

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart F. Delecour / D. Grataloup

Jani Paasonen and Arto Kapanen were on course for a top finish in their debut outing for Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart until losing time when a wheel came off the Lancer Evolution WRC yesterday. They have continued to push, their focus on finishing the rally, but their 14th position belies what was initially a very promising performance.

"I’m very happy to make it to the finish", said Jani. "I was trying hard today but the times didn’t seem to come - maybe I was trying too hard. I’ve enjoyed this event and working with the team, a great experience and I’ve learned a lot. I’m also pleased with my performance against a lot of other drivers, especially when this is only my third event in a world rally car."

Team-mates François Delecour and Daniel Grataloup have simply driven to finish the rally and gain more experience of the Lancer Evolution WRC after losing time off the road in the opening leg. "Overall it’s obviously not a good result for me, having lost so much time in the first leg", commented François. "However I’ve been able to develop a much better feeling for the car and I have a much greater understanding of how the engine works best".

Adding to their comments, Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Derek Dauncey said: "We put in consistently good times during the first leg when the conditions were good. Leg two was difficult and today was simply not Sweden with up to four inches of mud in places. Alister showed a lot of persistence and we’re pleased he beat Colin. We’re delighted with Jani. In his first event in some of the worst conditions we’ve ever seen in Sweden he put in some very competitive times. Having lost time, François used the event to gain experience in the way the car behaves and of course, getting all three crews to the finish shows the strength and reliability of the car".

Meanwhile...

Mitsubishi Carisma GT Gr.N D. Carlsson / M. Andersson

Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot) won the rally having dominated from the outset. The Finn set fastest time in no fewer than six of the 15 stages and took his second Swedish victory by nearly a minute and a half. It was a Peugeot one-two with team-mate and 2001 winner Harri Rovanperä finishing second ahead of Carlos Sainz (Ford), the Spaniard forced to defend his position from a charging Richard Burns (Peugeot). Freddy Loix (Hyundai) has been the revelation of the rally, the Belgian running as high as fourth before dropping behind reigning World Champion Richard Burns and ultimately retiring with broken suspension in stage 14. Kenneth Eriksson, on course to finish fifth, retired in the last stage when the Skoda overheated, leaving Tuohino (Ford) and Alister McRae to take the final top six positions. However, Tuohino then checked out of the final service one minute late, incurring an additional 10 second penalty, elevating Alister to fifth and brother Colin to sixth. Armin Schwarz (Hyundai) was the only other leading retirement of the day, the German out with transmission problems.

Coming next...

The third round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the contenders to the tiny Mediterranean island of Corsica and the tight and twisty asphalt roads of the Tour de Corse (8-10 March).

Mitsubishi Motors drivers stormed to victory in Group N and also in the 2002 FIA Production Car World Rally Championship classification on the first round, the Swedish Rally. A thrilling battle between Swede Daniel Carlsson and Finland’s Juha Kangas, both driving Mitsubishi Carisma GTs, proved one of the highlights of the rally, resulting in a narrow victory for Carlsson. Kenneth Bäcklund took third and Mitsubishi drivers held eight of the top 10 positions.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT Gr.N D. Carlsson / M. Andersson Winners of group N

The Swedish Rally can be held in temperatures of -20 Celsius or colder, but the final leg of the rally was fought out in unusually warm conditions, of four or five degrees Celsius. Many of the stages had turned to water and gravel and one stage had to be cancelled as a result. It did nothing to diminish the ferocity of the battle for supremacy however.

Daniel Carlsson stormed back in the last leg in his Carisma GT to start the last 40-kilometre stage just one second behind Kangas. A brilliant time gave him victory by just 10 seconds after three days of flat-out driving.

"It’s a fantastic feeling to win at home. I was afraid the last stage would be too fast to suit my car, but although it was very tricky everything went well. I’m very happy", Carlsson said.

Kangas made the running for much of the rally and took a highly creditable result in his Carisma GT. "I’m naturally disappointed, but we tried everything we could. It’s been an incredibly tough battle with Daniel", Kangas said.

Mitsubishi Carisma GT Gr.N K. Sohlberg / J. Aho First in the Production Car World Rally Championship

Local hero Kenneth Bäcklund made sure of third in class in his Carisma GT, fighting back strongly from earlier delays.

In the Production Car World Rally Championship, Kristian Sohlberg - who finished fourth overall in the category - took the honours in his Carisma GT, leading the title race from the outset.

"We set out with a plan to score maximum points and not to take unnecessary risks. We bent the steering when we hit a rock and we were a bit lucky, but everything else has been perfect", Sohlberg said.

Finnish Mitsubishi driver Marko Ipatti finished strongly, just beating former Production Car World Champion Alex Fiorio to be third of the Championship contenders.

The Production Car World Rally Championship resumes in very different conditions in March, on the tarmac roads of the Tour de Corse.