MITSUBISHI AIMS FOR SWEDISH RALLY RECORD WITH
LANCER EVOLUTION AND CARISMA GT

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart goes to the Swedish Rally, the second round of the 1999 FIA World Rally Championship, with high hopes of claiming its sixth victory in as many attempts - a record for a Japanese manufacturer - and its fourth Swedish Rally win in five years. It has a powerful team, consisting of World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and a Mitsubishi Carisma GT for Belgium's Freddy Loix.

The Swedish is a unique challenge in the World Rally Championship. It is usually the coldest rally and the only one on which snow and ice are guaranteed. Temperatures can plunge to minus 30 degrees Celsius, but this does nothing to deter substantial crowds from watching the country's biggest sporting event. They are attracted by a remarkable spectacle, for the Swedish is not only the most slippery rally, but also one of the fastest. Thanks to studded tyres, the top drivers average speeds of up to 110 km/h, drifting their cars sideways metres before bends and sometimes using snowbanks as an additional means of changing direction. It requires a highly specialised technique and it remains the one major rally that has yet to be won by a non-Nordic driver.

Makinen and fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki are bursting with confidence, for they are very much at home in such conditions and Makinen has been a pacesetter in the snow for years. The Lancer Evolution is very much the car to beat and Michelin regularly produces the most competitive tyres. "I enjoy driving on these kind of roads very much. We showed in Monte Carlo that the car is very good and for a Finn, it is always important to try to beat the Swedes!" said Makinen.

Loix and co-driver Sven Smeets are novices in Sweden and know that they face a stern challenge. Loix is eager to learn more about the Carisma GT and the conditions, and intends to play a supporting role on this occasion that boosts Mitsubishi's chances of retaining the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers. "The most important thing for me is to finish the rally and to learn. I have had a good chance to test the car and it helps that it feels so easy to drive, but I know that this will be one of the most difficult rallies for me this year. I think it will be exciting too," Loix declared.

"The car has always gone well in Sweden, as it does on any rally that's slippery. we are reasonably confident: we've done two tests in Lapland and we're happy that the car and the tyres will work well," said Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart Team Manager Phil Short. "Tommi is the favourite, given his past record - he's won the rally twice in the last three years and he was fastest on stage times as well in 1997. It's going to be a harder rally for Freddy, because he's never done this type of rally or driven on these tyres. They play a big role in Sweden. The most difficult part is getting the studs to stay in over long stages with gravel showing through. There is very rarely deep snow: it's generally more of an ice and snow rally."

Mitsubishis are likely to dominate the Group N production category, in which the Lancer Evolution and the Carisma GT reign supreme. Mitsubishi Ralliart Sweden drivers such as Kenneth Backlund are nearly-unbeatable.

As usual, the rally will be based in Karlstad in the Varmland province of central Sweden, but looping close to the Norwegian border. Running from February 12-14, it covers 1,478 kilometres, with 19 special stages timed to a fraction of a second, totalling 384 kilometres. In a subtle change to recent years, the first leg returns to Karlstad for the overnight halt after eight special stages, before the second leg takes crews north east to Borlange via another six stages. The final leg returns south for the ceremonial finish in the middle of Karlstad.

ITINERARY