MITSUBISHI BIDS FOR SIXTH SWEDISH RALLY VICTORY

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart is confident of maintaining its superb record on the International Swedish Rally, the second round of the 2000 FIA World Rally Championship. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver Tommi Makinen is the clear favourite after his crushing Monte Carlo Rally success, and team-mate Freddy Loix should also be a contender in his Mitsubishi Carisma GT.

The Swedish Rally is a unique test, the only round of the World Rally Championship on which snow and ice are virtually guaranteed. Competitors may have to cope with temperatures as low as -30 degrees Celsius. And yet special studded tyres make it one of the fastest rallies in the World Championship, with average speeds in excess of 110 km/h. The conditions are ideally suited to Finns and Swedes, and it is the one major rally that has never been won by a non-Nordic driver.

Tommi Makinen has already won the event three times and, co-driven by fellow Finn Risto Mannisenmaki, he is looking forward to extending his World Championship lead on one of his favourite rallies. In recent years, the Michelin-equipped Lancer Evolution has consistently been the car to beat in Sweden.

"We have had an excellent start to the season and we did some very good testing for Sweden. It's hard work of course, but the car has always been competitive in these conditions and, for a Finn, it is always good to have a chance of beating the Swedes!" Makinen said.

Belgians Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets have far less experience of the Swedish than Makinen, as they took part for the first time last year. The Carisma GT crew know that it will be extremely difficult to match Makinen's pace, but they have become consistent points scorers and the Carisma GT's reliability could help them maintain their encouraging rate of progress.

"This is one of the most difficult rallies for me this year, but I have done quite a lot of testing and the car is very nice to drive. In any case, it is fun to drive on snow and I will be very happy if we can score points again," Loix commented

"The car has always worked well in Sweden," added Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart team manager Phil Short. "We have won the rally in the past with Kenneth Eriksson as well, and Tommi's record on the event is excellent. We will have to be on top form to win again, but Tommi was particularly pleased after our test in Lapland and we feel we've made real progress with the electronic rear differential. The work carried out between the team and our tyre partner Michelin is also particularly important on this rally, but we are confident that all the elements are in place for a top result".

"We also gave Freddy an extended test and he had an extra three days in Lapland to familiarise himself with the car in winter conditions. He's certainly more at ease now. We go to Sweden full of confidence and it's especially positive off the back of a good result in Monte Carlo," he added.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions and Carisma GTs dominate the Group N production car class worldwide and they figure prominently in the entry list in Sweden, where their power and traction makes them the most popular car on the entry list. The Swedes will be hard to beat on home ground, but while Stig-Olov Walfridsson and Kenneth Backlund are the favourites. They face a stern challenge from Finns Jouko Puhakka, Juuso Pykalisto and Jani Paasonen, not to mention Germany's Uwe Nittel and the leader of the Group N World Championship, Austrian Manfred Stohl. All of them drive Lancer Evolutions or Carisma GTs.

The rally runs from February 10-13 and covers 1,729 kilometres, with 20 stages covering 399 kilometres. Unusually, all three legs will start and finish in the host town, Karlstad, but many of the stages will be well to the north-east, near Falun and Borlange. The first leg provides 150 kilometres of stages in a compact loop north and west of Karlstad and includes one of the longest stages of the rally, the 33-kilometre Hamra test. The second leg heads north-east and is marginally longer in terms of stage distance, with 153 kilometres, but that includes the notorious 47-kilometre Jutbo stage, which is often decisive. The third and final leg is the shortest, with 96 stage kilometres, but it will be no surprise if the result remains in doubt until the very last stage at Hagfors.