Rally Argentina 1999
Friday 21 May
COMMUNIQUE 1

MITSUBISHI LANCER AND CARISMA WELL PREPARED
FOR TOUGH RALLY ARGENTINA

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart is confident of maintaining Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Tommi Makinen’s superb record on the seventh round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally Argentina. Makinen, who has never lost in Argentina, is teamed with Freddy Loix in a Mitsubishi Carisma GT.

The only South American round of the World Rally Championship is notoriously demanding and this year’s rally is likely to be one of the toughest yet. Torrential rain and dense fog during the recce made it hard to make accurate pace notes of the special stages and sometimes difficult even to get through the mud. River crossings have long been a feature of the stages around Cordoba, 700 km north-west of Buenos Aires, and there are plenty of extra ones this year.

Tommi Makinen and fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki have a phenomenal run of success to uphold, as Makinen has won the rally for the past three years. The latest improvements to the transmission and shock absorbers of the Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution give them every chance of remaining unbeaten.

"I am sure that it is better for me and the car that it is a little bit more slippery than usual. The car feels good, but it will be tough. The most difficult stages are in the first leg", Makinen predicted.

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets have never been to Argentina and the atrocious weather during the recce, coupled to just two practice runs per stage, will make it difficult for the talented Carisma GT crew to match the leaders.

"I don’t know what to expect. It was difficult to make notes in these conditions and these stages are hard anyway. I will try my best and hope to get some points", Loix commented.

"The car and the tyres work well here, but I don’t see us having a big advantage. It will help Tommi running first in the first leg, because I am sure that a lot of rocks will be dislodged, but the second leg will be hard too. There could be sections with good grip feeding into sections with very poor grip. If it does get dry, the muddy places will become deeply rutted, which will be hard on the suspension. Freddy is going to find it hard and we will be pleased if he scores points", said Marlboro Mitsubishi team manager Phil Short.

Mitsubishi anticipates yet more success in the Group N production class. Gustavo Trelles, Uruguay’s triple World Champion, is naturally the favourite, but rivals include former winner and Argentina hero Jorge Recalde, Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi, as well as Austria’s Manfred Stohl, all of them driving Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions or Carisma GTs.

The first leg of the 1,535-kilometre rally includes eight stages, covering 136 kilometres. It starts on Saturday with a crowd-pleasing super special in which three cars start simultaneously.