Rallye Sanremo 1999
Monday 11 October
COMMUNIQUE 2

MITSUBISHI MAKES GOOD START TO SANREMO RALLY

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart driver Tommi Makinen has made an encouraging start to Italy’s Sanremo Rally, the 12th round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship. He leads championship rival Didier Auriol and holds sixth place after the first leg, with Mitsubishi Carisma GT-driver Freddy Loix close behind. Mitsubishis are also dominating the Group N production category, Italy’s Gianluigi Galli leading the way.

The first leg of the rally has been located in the densely wooded mountains just above Sanremo and has provided a convincing demonstration of the competitiveness of the World Rally Championship. In dry, sunny conditions, fractions of seconds have made all the difference and the top 10 cars are covered by less than a minute after more than 100 kilometres of special stages. Peugeot’s new 206 WRC has dominated the first day and it holds the top three positions. Toyota’s Carlos Sainz has retired on stage six following a heavy crash.

Tommi Makinen, co-driven by fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki, has got steadily quicker as he has adjusted the Michelin-equipped Lancer Evolution’s suspension to suit the twisty asphalt roads and is well placed to extend his championship lead on a rally he won last year.

"The car is getting better now and we aren’t in a bad position. The Peugeots are very fast, but we are leading Didier and tomorrow is a long day when a lot of things could change", said Makinen.

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are putting in one of their best performances of the year. While they are down in 10th place after the first leg, they are only 19 seconds behind their team-mates and stand an excellent chance of improving in the second and third legs.

"I never had so much fun in the Mitsubishi. It’s not because it’s tarmac, but because the team has given me an extra engineer to work with and I can really feel all the changes we are making to the car. We are quite close to the others and that’s very important for me", Loix stated.

Mitsubishi has won in Group N on 10 of the 11 World Championship rallies so far this year and Sanremo looks set to provide an 11th victory, as Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs hold the top seven places. Locals Gianluigi Galli and Mario Stagni are leading the World Championship contenders, holding first and second places with talented Austrian Manfred Stohl in third.

The second leg is the longest and almost certainly the toughest of the rally, with 169 kilometres of stages on narrow, tricky roads north-east of Sanremo near Acqui Terme.

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION AFTER LEG 1