MITSUBISHI BIDS TO DEFEND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
LEAD ON ACROPOLIS RALLY IN GREECE

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart is facing one of the toughest tests in rally, the Acropolis Rally, the eighth round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship. The World Championship team has a formidable entry for the Greek event, with Tommi Makinen in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and Freddy Loix in a Mitsubishi Carisma GT.

The Greek round of the World Rally Championship has long been regarded as Europe's roughest rally and cars need to be immensely strong to stand up to the bumpy, abrasive mountain tracks, which are frequently littered with big rocks. It is a rally steeped in tradition: it has long been a test that the world's top car manufacturers seek to conquer and has been won by some of the sport's greatest names.

The Acropolis is one of the few major rallies that triple World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen has yet to win and the Finn, co-driven by fellow countryman Risto Mannisenmaki, is eager to add it to his list of successes. It is an event that should be ideally suited to the rugged, Michelin-equipped Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.

"The rally is always really hard for the car, but I think we can do well. I want to win very much and make up for some our bad luck recently. I want to increase our lead in the World Championship in Greece," Makinen stated.

The Acropolis will be a welcome rallyt for Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets. The Belgian crew are more than familiar with the mountain stages of central Greece and they have a good chance to challenge for a top result.

"It will be good to do a rally I know a little bit. It will be difficult of course with so many good cars and drivers, but the Mitsubishi Carisma is very strong and I think we can get a good result," Loix commented.

"The Acropolis is just as rough and tough as Argentina, our last rally, but it is much hotter, so it's harder on the tyres and harder on the car. It's a rally that hasn't yielded a win for us in the past, but our cars have gone well in previous years and we will also benefit from what we learned in Argentina. An Acropolis car is built with Greek roads in mind, so it has a stronger bodyshell, extra ground clearance and a few other adjustments. We have tested thoroughly with our test driver Lasse Lampi and he will carry out a confirmation test with Michelin to evaluate tyres just before the start.

The Acropolis hasn't been Tommi's best rally, but I'm sure he will be very competitive. Freddy has also contested the rally before, so he won't be at the disadvantage that he has suffered on some other rallies this year," said Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short.

Mitsubishi is the odds-on favourite to win the Group N production class as well. Few events place such demands on near-standard machinery, but Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs have a proven record of success on the rough events. The fact that no fewer than 15 drivers have chosen Mitsubishis is the ultimate proof of the cars' superiority.

The favourite will be triple World Group N Champion and series leader Gustavo Trelles. The Uruguayan is fresh from a handsome class win and top 10 finish in Argentina, but he will have to overcome ferocious opposition. Oman's Hamed Al Wahaibi has been one of the stars of the season and always goes well in rough conditions, but Austrian Manfred Stohl is also a threat.

The rally runs from June 6-9 and has a new base, west of Athens in Agii Theodori. After a super special at Anavissos, near the capital city, the rally is concentrated to the north. The first leg includes 8 stages totalling 466 kilometres, while the second is the longest, with 8 stage and 669 kilometres in different tests. The last leg is the shortest, consisting of a compact, 5 stages, 266 kilometres loop north of Agii Theodori.

ITINERARY