China Rally 1999
Saturday 18 September
COMMUNIQUE 3

DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MAKINEN AS MITSUBISHI FIGHTS
FOR GROUP N AND ASIA-PACIFIC CHAMPIONSHIP SUCCESS

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart driver and World Rally Championship leader Tommi Makinen has retired on the final stage of the second leg of the China rally in wet conditions while challenging for the lead. Mitsubishi Ralliart is bidding to maintain its unbeaten 1999 record in the Group N production category on this the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

The second day of the rally, the latest addition to the World Rally Championship, was if anything more demanding than the first. There was less rain and the mountainous stages north-west of Beijing near Nian Zi were generally less slippery, but the leg was much longer and heavy rain at the end of the afternoon caused all kinds of problems.

Finns Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki had fought back brilliantly from their accident during the first leg to close in on the leaders. Holding third place in their Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution, they were fastest on four of the leg’s first seven stages, only to retire after hitting a rock and damaging the suspension on SS16. Toyota’s Didier Auriol leads the rally by ten seconds from Briton Richard Burns driving a Subaru.

"We had repaired the car after yesterday’s accident and we had no problems at all. These stages are very difficult and very slippery, but we were catching up and I felt confident that we could still win this rally until we hit a rock. It is very disappointing of course", Makinen stated.

Mitsubishi has a superb record worldwide in Group N, the ultimate test of a production car, but even experts such as Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi and triple World Champion Gustavo Trelles have found the China rally very demanding. They have a real fight on their hands this week from Japan’s rising star Toshihiro Arai in his Subaru. Second-placed Al-Wahaibi has made up a lot of time in the second leg, however, and the stage is set for a thrilling battle on the final day.

"I have to remember that we are driving for the championship of course, not just the rally but my Lancer Evolution is going well and it has been much easier today now that the stages are less muddy. Tomorrow’s stages are faster and they should be good for us", Al-Wahaibi predicted

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers are on course for further success in the important Asia-Pacific Rally Championship as well. Japanese ace Katsuhiko Taguchi has already made sure of the Group N title and a good finish will ensure that he takes the championship outright. He is lying fifth in Group N overnight.

"Today has been very good for us. The rally is very tough, but I think we stand a good chance", Taguchi commented.

The final leg is the shortest of the rally, with six stages covering 86 kilometres before the finish at Jin Shan Ling on the Great Wall.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 2