MITSUBISHI WINS MONTE CARLO RALLY
OUTRIGHT AND GROUP N

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart has won the Monte Carlo Rally, the first round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship, thanks to an outstanding performance from World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen of Finland, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. It is the first time that Mitsubishi has won the Monte Carlo Rally.

Huge crowds thronged the final loop through the Alpes-Maritimes on a dry, bright, but cold morning. The ultra-demanding stages that snake through pine forests and tiny villages were if anything even more icy than the night before and Frenchman Gilles Panizzi lost second place after crashing on ice on the first stage of morning.

Makinen and fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki judged the pace in the final leg perfectly in their trouble-free Lancer Evolution, taking no chances in conditions that caught out a number of drivers and making good use of their Michelin tyres. It was a momentous victory: everyone at Mitsubishi has dreamed of winning the Monte Carlo Rally – the oldest and perhaps the most famous rally of all – from the moment they started rallying and it was a great day for Makinen too, for no Finnish driver had won this event since 1986. It was also Mitsubishi’s fifth consecutive victory on a World Championship rally.

"It’s one of the best victories for me. I have led the rally for the past two years and both times something went wrong, so it is nice to win it finally. It’s an excellent feeling," said a delighted Makinen.

"This is the rally that every driver wants to win and the rally that Mitsubishi most wanted to win. Tommi has shown the way from the start, but Monte Carlo is more of a team rally than any other in the championship. We must pay tribute to our mechanics, ice note crews and to Michelin," commented Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Director Andrew Cowan.

It was a dramatic day for the Group N production class drivers too, but there was never any doubt that Mitsubishi would triumph. Belgian ace Marc Duez skidded off on the same Col de Turini bend that eliminated Panizzi, but still made sure of victory in his Mitsubishi Carisma GT, co-driven by Philippe Dupuy, beating Uruguay’s Gustavo Trelles with MItsubishi Lancer Evolution, the Group N World Champion for the last three years for Mitsubishi.

"I’m very happy to win Group N on such a prestigious rally. I was worried for a moment when we went off the road this morning, but the car has been fantastic. This is a very special moment for me," said Duez.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart will be in action again in mid-February on the Swedish Rally, which Makinen won last year.

Leg 4 - Wednesday 20 January