Tour de Corse - Rallye de France 1999
Saturday 8 May
COMMUNIQUE 3

MITSUBISHI DRIVERS MAKINEN AND LOIX
MOVE UP ON CORSICA RALLY

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart drivers Tommi Makinen, at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and Freddy Loix, driving a Mitsubishi Carisma GT, are promising to fight back on the last, decisive leg after two frustrating days on the Tour de Corse, the sixth round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship. Mitsubishis remain in control of the Group N production class, holding the top seven places.

The second leg took crews into the Castagniccia region of northern Corsica, on twisty, mountainous roads winding between small villages with baroque churches. It provided cooler, cloudier conditions than the first leg, with heavy rain in the afternoon as well. The weather did nothing to take the heat out of the battle for the lead, with seven manufacturers vying for supremacy. While Citroen continued to lead, mechanical problems slowed the Peugeots.

Triple World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen, co-driven by fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki, set some excellent times in his Michelin-equipped Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, but bad luck in previous years meant that most of the stages were new to him and he lost more time as the rain got heavier. He still climbed to eighth place, which gives Mitsubishi a good chance of scoring points.

"We are trying very hard, but it is difficult when you don’t know the stages so well. Tomorrow we are mainly doing stages we have driven already, so I hope we can improve more", he stated.

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets have minimal experience of Corsican roads that many rivals know by heart and although their Mitsubishi Carisma GT performed faultlessly, they were restricted to 10th place.

"My times are not bad compared to Tommi’s, but we have been attacking like hell and still we are not fast all the time. I don’t know why", Loix observed.

"We are doing better than for the past two years and we've got manufacturers’ points in sight, with other cars not far in front. Our drivers don’t know the stages that well and Tommi in particular feels he cannot commit himself as he would like. We hope to improve tomorrow and make things lively for our opponents", Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short said.

Mitsubishis are unrivalled in Group N, with Austria’s Manfred Stohl on course for a second successive victory, with triple World rally Champion Gustavo Trelles and Oman’s Hamed Al-Wahaibi in hot pursuit.

The rally reaches a climax with Sunday’s final leg, the shortest of the three. It consists of five stages, spanning 109 kilometres and for the first time, a stage televised live with extra World Championship points for the three fastest drivers.