Mitsubishi drivers face Corsica with conviction.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart will start the Tour de Corse, the 12th round of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship, determined to extract the potential of its new car and press home its world title challenge. World Championship leader Tommi Makinen and team-mate Freddy Loix will both drive the latest Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC, and Mitsubishi is also hoping for more success in the Group N production car class.

In October, bad weather is always a possibility in the mountains of the Mediterranean island of Corsica, but at today's shakedown test hot sunshine made it seem more like summer than autumn. Having completed their recce of the stages, competitors got a chance to make last-minute adjustments to their cars, with healthy crowds of onlookers seeking a glimpse of the world's ultimate rally cars and begging for autographs from the visiting stars. Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart made full use of the time available, concentrating its efforts on setting up new suspension parts for its World Rally Car for what will be the final asphalt rally of the year - and the last Tour de Corse in the autumn for the immediate future, as it returns to spring next year.

Corsica is one of the few major rallies that Finns Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki have yet to win and Makinen is determined to make amends for his Sanremo accident with the revised, Michelin-equipped Lancer WRC, which will be taking part in its second rally.

"There are quite a lot of differences compared to Sanremo. We have new suspension parts and harder springs. It feels better, but the shakedown road is quite rough and dirty, so it is hard to be completely sure. Anyway, I am very motivated and determined to have a better result than Sanremo!" Makinen said.

Belgian crew Freddy Loix and Sven Smeets are also looking forward to trying the latest modifications to their World Rally Car, and are keen to play their part in Mitsubishi's challenge for the World Championship for Manufacturers.

"We have been working flat out. The car certainly feels better now and we are quite hopeful, but of course we don't really know where we are until Friday when the rally starts," Loix commented.

The three-day rally begins from Ajaccio's harbourside on 19 October with a compact loop in the mountains on the eastern side of the island. It will be the shortest of the 45 Tour de Corse, but with five stages totalling 126 kilometres, it promises to be a tough test.