After taking a year out in 2006, Mitsubishi are set to announce a return to the
FIA World Rally Championship in 2007 with a two car team.
Although there has yet to be any official confirmation from Mitsubishi,
rallye-magazin.de reports that Finn
Toni Gardemeister will lead the team in its return to WRC competition, with
Khalid Al Qassimi – the 2005 Middle East Rally champion – stepping up to the WRC as his team-mate. The outfit will be entered as a 'Manufacturer Team', as the 'Manufacturer 2' label will be dropped next year.
Mitsubishi elected to withdraw from WRC competition at the end of 2005 despite some impressive performances at the wheel of the Lancer WRC from both
Gigi Galli and Harri Rovanpera, with the plan appearing to be to return in 2008.
However, some impressive performances from the Lancer in privateer hands – notably in Sweden when Daniel Carlsson and Galli finished third and fourth – appear to have persuaded Mitsubishi to bring its return forward.
The '05 specification Lancer is set to be used for the opening events of the season before the introduction of a new '07 version later in the year. It is also expected that the team will not compete in the four non-European events on the 2007 calendar in Mexico, Argentina, New Zealand and Japan.
