Neste Rally Finland 1999
Friday 20 August
COMMUNIQUE 2

MITSUBISHI LANCER DRIVER MAKINEN MAKES
STRONG START TO RALLY FINLAND

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Tommi Makinen is in a fine fifth position, well-placed to take a record sixth win on the Rally Finland, after the first leg of the 10th round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship. Mitsubishis are dominating the Group N production class, with Finn Joukko Puhakka leading in a Carisma GT.

Although there were one or two showers, largely dry, sunny conditions greeted competitors on the first leg through the forests near Jyvaskyla and vast crowds lined the route, travelling from all parts of the world to witness the fastest, most spectacular rally in Europe.

World Rally Championship leader Tommi Makinen and fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki led the rally at first, but loose gravel penalised them as they were running first on the road. And they did well to hold a top-five position in their Michelin-equipped Lancer Evolution after the first leg, with conditions favoured competitors running further back.

"Normally these stages today don’t make such a big difference to the result. Tomorrow’s stages are more important. We have had no problems and I have done my best. I think tomorrow will be better for us. We will be in a good position on the road and the first cars may find it is slippery", said Makinen.

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets were holding 12th place in their Mitsubishi Carisma GT and were pleased with progress on a rally they don’t know as well as many of their rivals. They had a lucky escape when they slid off the road in sixth gear on the fifth stage and took 200 metres to get the car under control.

"To be one second per kilometre behind Tommi is not so bad. The car is going very well and I am learning all the time. I am quite happy apart from when we went off the road", Loix declared.

Mitsubishis are very much in command of the Group N class - the most searching test of production technology. Rising Finn Joukko Puhakka made a blistering start to lead fellow countrymen Juuso Pykalisto and Jani Paasonen, with Austrian Manfred Stohl fourth. World Championship contenders Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles and Hamed Al-Wahaibi of Oman are also very much in contention after the shortest leg of the rally, both holding places in the top six. In fact Mitsubishi has dominated Group N to such an extent that they hold the top 15 places after the first leg.

"I am very happy at the moment. Everything is going well, but of course we are not very far in front and tomorrow is a very long day. Anything can still happen", stated Puhakka.

The second leg is easily the longest and likely to be the hardest of the rally, heading south-west of Jyvaskyla for 10 stages covering 201 kilometres.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 1

Note: Carlos Sainz (Toyota) had a 10 second penalty for jump start on SS 7.