Telstra Rally Australia 1999
Wednesday 3 November
COMMUNIQUE 1

MITSUBISHI’S TOMMI MAKINEN AIMS FOR
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ON TELSTRA RALLY AUSTRALIA

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart driver Tommi Makinen is the one man who can clinch the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship on the penultimate round, the Telstra Rally Australia, and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver intends to put the championship beyond doubt this weekend. He will get strong support from team-mate Freddy Loix in a Mitsubishi Carisma GT and Mitsubishi is also backing both contenders for the Group N World Cup, Gustavo Trelles and Hamed Al-Wahaibi.

The Rally Australia is eagerly awaited by competitors. It is renowned for its high standard of organisation and high temperatures this year add to the appeal. Despite occasional showers, the stages are expected to be very dry and therefore extremely slippery, thanks to the tiny pebbles that coat the forest roads of Western Australia. However, a new system for seeding competitors allows the leader at the end of each leg to pick his starting position, which means that he will not be penalised by "cleaning" the road for his rivals, as in the past.

Makinen and fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki will be World Champions if they finish at least four points in front of Toyota’s Didier Auriol. They regard the Telstra Rally Australia as one of their favourite events and Makinen - who is aiming for an unprecedented fourth consecutive world title - believes that the Lancer Evolution will be better still with its new electronic rear differential.

"We have done very good preparation work: we did one week testing in Britain and three days here, and I feel very good. The car is better under braking now. There are no tactics. Normally here you have to go flat out and that’s it. I want to win the championship here, so I can go to Britain and try to win there as well", Makinen said.

Belgian team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are in good spirits after a successful test in their Michelin-shod Mitsubishi Carisma GT, and believe they could score their best result yet in Australia.

"The car is going very well. The differential mapping is very different compared to the China Rally and I like the handling much more. I hope I can do a little bit better than last year. With this new seeding system, it is very important to be somewhere near the front. For me personally it is better", Loix declared.

In the Group N production category, a Mitsubishi driver is certain of championship victory, but Gustavo Trelles of Uruguay is still under threat from Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi. All told, no fewer than 32 Mitsubishis are contesting the rally.

The rally begins on Thursday night with the thrilling Langley Park super special, in which two cars run side by side, before heading into the forests east of Perth on Friday. The first leg consists of 11 tough stages, covering 134 kilometres.