Neste Rally Finland 1999
Wednesday 18 August
COMMUNIQUE 1

MITSUBISHI AND MAKINEN AIM
FOR RALLY FINLAND RECORD

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart is well placed to score a record-breaking fifth successive win on the Rally Finland, the 10th round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship with a strong team consisting of Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Tommi Makinen and team-mate Freddy Loix in a Mitsubishi Carisma GT. Mitsubishi is also bidding for its 10th Group N production class win of the year.

Finland’s biggest sports event is widely regarded as the most difficult in the World Rally Championship, for although the forest roads are rarely rough, they are extremely fast and a daunting test of driving skill. Finns have dominated the rally since the outset and have been beaten just seven times in its 48-year history and spectators flock to the stages in their hundreds of thousands, even though the weather is often unpredictable at the end of the Finnish summer.

Victory for Tommi Makinen and fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki would not only extend their commanding World Rally Championship lead, but give Makinen an unprecedented sixth successive home win - a record in which Mitsubishi’s performance and durability have played a key role.

"We did a good test just before the Rally of New Zealand and the car is excellent. The suspension is really good and we have had no reason to change the car at all. I don’t feel under any more pressure with this record. I know how to win here", said Makinen.

Belgian team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are looking forward to their third Rally Finland after a useful two-day test in Finland in their Michelin-equipped Mitsubishi Carisma GT last week.

"It was good to be driving the car a lot and getting used to the high speeds and the jumps here. It is a different style for rallies like this one, Sweden and New Zealand. I still don’t know the rally well enough to remember the stages and it will be difficult to beat all the Scandinavian drivers, but for sure I have a lot more confidence now", stated Loix.

Mitsubishis are the likely pacesetters in Group N, but predicting the victor is near-impossible. Finns Jouko Puhakka and Juuso Pykalisto face tough opposition from triple World Group N Champion Gustavo Trelles of Uruguay, arch-rival Hamed Al-Wahaibi from Oman and Swede Kenneth Backlund.

"I know this is a difficult rally, but I will try my best to beat all Scandinavian drivers. I have already won group N twice here and I am confident. This event is very important for the group N title", said Trelles.

The rally covers 1218 kilometres and runs from August 20-22. The first leg consists of seven stages totalling 82 kilometres in a clockwise loop around Jyvaskyla.