Rally New Zealand 1999
Friday 16 July
COMMUNIQUE 3

MAKINEN AND MITSUBISHI LANCER
LEAD RALLY NEW ZEALAND

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart driver Tommi Makinen has a commanding lead after the first leg of the Rally of New Zealand, the ninth round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship, while Mitsubishi also dominate the Group N production category.

Competitors faced atrocious conditions in the first leg in the Waikato district south of Auckland. Heavy rain made the classic stages near Raglan exceptionally muddy and slippery. The challenge has already proved too tough for some, retirements including Ford driver Colin McRae and Subaru’s Richard Burns.

World Championship leader Tommi Makinen and co-driver Risto Mannisenmaki took the lead on the morning’s first stage and a scintillating performance in the Michelin-shod Lancer Evolution put the Finnish duo well over a minute ahead of their rivals.

"It’s very good. We are in a fantastic position. It seems my luck is changing on this rally. I don’t need to make any more fastest times now, but of course we still have to go quickly. There has been so much mud and water that sometimes there is no grip at all", said Makinen.

Belgian team-mates Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets want to finish the rally at all costs, but they cannot expect to match the leaders given their lack of experience in New Zealand. They lost over four minutes on stage nine when their Carisma GT’s windscreen wipers stopped working, leaving them without vision.

"I am enjoying New Zealand but it’s difficult. The notes are OK, but I need to do more driving in these conditions. The stages are quite like Finland but it is hard to find real speed coming here for the first time", Loix declared.

Uruguay’s triple World Group N Champion Gustavo Trelles is leading the production class in his Lancer Evolution and holds an amazing ninth place overall. Mitsubishi drivers hold the top five places in the class, with Trelles’s main challenger Hamed Al-Wahaibi second and Asia-Pacific Group N pacesetter Katsuhiko Taguchi third.

"It has been a good day. The roads are very nice and the car has been perfect. I have not been driving at maximum speed today and will continue at the same pace tomorrow", Trelles said.

"Gustavo has been really flying today and it is difficult to keep up without his knowledge and experience of this rally. My car has been very good anyway and I am looking forward to tomorrow", Al Wahaibi stated.

The second leg is the longest of the rally, heading north of Auckland. It includes 10 stages totalling 174 kilometres.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 1