MITSUBISHI BIDS TO CONTINUE WINNING RUN IN ARGENTINA

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart has a phenomenal record on the Rally of Argentina, the seventh round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship: it has never lost. Three successive wins were key elements in Tommi Makinen's trio of World Championship titles and the Finn, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, is naturally the favourite this year. He will be supported by Belgium's Freddy Loix in a Mitsubishi Carisma GT.

Argentina presents a very different challenge to May's previous round of the World Championship, the Tour de Corse. It is the only round of the series held in South America and all the stages are on loose surfaces, in the plains and mountains around Cordoba. One of the highest rallies in the World Championship, it includes stages at up to 2,000 metres. It is an area steeped in motorsport history, for many of the stages were used on the great town to town races of the 1940s in which drivers like Juan Manuel Fangio and Onofre Marimon learnt their craft and it attracts spectators in their millions.

Tommi Makinen took instantly to Argentina and the World Championship leader, co-driven by Risto Mannisenmaki, is eagerly looking forward to tackling stages that might have been made for a Finnish driver in a Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution.

"I don't know why Argentina is so good for us, but it always seems to be excellent. It is like a mixture of Portugal and the Acropolis, with some twisty and narrow and rocky stages, and some faster ones. Tyre wear is not too bad, so you can attack," Makinen stated.

Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are contesting the rally for the first time, which will make it hard for them to challenge the leaders, especially as the organisers are permitting just two practice runs per stage instead of the usual three. However, the Carisma GT's strength and speed give the Belgian duo a fighting chance. "I don't know what to expect, because I have never even seen the rally, so I won't predict a result. Finishing is the best way to learn the route and if I can also score some points for Mitsubishi I will be very happy," Loix promised.

"We go to Argentina with a 100% success rate. It seems to be a rally that suits the car, suits Tommi and suits the tyres. It's partly the nature of the roads that helps us, particularly with our shock absorbers, and the stages also seem to favour Tommi's style, because a lot of them are fast and flowing. We would certainly expect to be in with a good chance of a win, but the other teams had closed the gap a little last year and I'm sure it's going to be a hard fight," predicted Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short." The shortened recce won't help Freddy. The World Rally Championship is so competitive these days that it's difficult for a driver competing for the first time to make an impact. We will be pleased if he finishes and scores some points," he stated.

Argentina is practically home ground for the triple World Group N Champion Gustavo Trelles, who comes from Uruguay and is co-driven by Argentina's Martin Christie, who lives near Cordoba. Fresh from a resounding Group N victory in Corsica, the Lancer Evolution crew will be the favourites for another victory in the production category that Mitsubishi invariably dominates. However, they face plenty of strong opposition, including their main championship rivals, Hamed Al-Wahaibi, from Oman along with Manfred Stohl and Kris Rosenberger from Austria. Jorge, Recalde, the only Argentine driver to have won the rally, will also pose a strong threat.

As usual, the rally is based in Cordoba, the centre of Argentina's motor industry, and starts on May 22 with a run at a spectator stage on the outskirts of the city, which competitors tackle three at a time. The first leg is the longest, re-starting on May 23 with eight more stages, totalling 139 kilometres west of Cordoba. The second leg is concentrated to the north on the edge of the pampas, with eight stages comprising 124 kilometres, while the last leg promises to be an even tougher test, as the six stages around Santa Rosa de Calamuchita total 132 kilometres. All told, the rally lasts 1,521 kilometres.

ITINERARY