World Rally News

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution WRC made its long-awaited competition debut today in Rallye Sanremo, the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, however the Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart drivers were hampered by an electrical component fault in the opening stages of the event.

Round eleven of the 2001 World Rally Championship started from the Italian coastal town of Sanremo last night, when all 73 competitors crossed the ramp at a starting ceremony close to the town's old Port.

Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart begins a new chapter in its involvement in motorsport on Italy's Sanremo Rally, the 11th round of the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship, and both Tommi Makinen and Freddy Loix are eager to be part of it.

A fourteen date World Rally Championship calendar was today issued by the World Motor Sports Council in Cologne on behalf of the FIA.

Participating in the World Rally Championship can never be described as relaxed - but by comparison with the next two months, the pace to date has been relatively manageable.

Natalie Barratt will be aiming to score points for the third consecutive time in the FIA Teams' Cup when she heads for the north-west corner of Italy and the San Remo Rally on 4-7 October.

The Peugeot Sport team will leave New Zealand with distinctly mixed feelings. Although the French marque brought home all three cars in the points, they feel they could - and should - have won the event.

Hyundai's Kenneth Eriksson, ecstatic to be leading overnight, was set a more difficult challenge on the second leg of Rally New Zealand by placing himself first on the road, and dropping down the order as a result, to end the day in 11th position.

Francois Delecour looked to have the ideal starting position this morning in eighth but his hopes were ruined when he rolled 12km from the start of the first test. The Frenchman now sits in 12th heading into the final day.

The Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart crew of Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki continue to suffer for leading the 2001 FIA World Rally Championship.

SS8 - Manukau Super 2 (2.10kms): The final stage of day one falls to Sainz by 0.5secs from Solberg, but Eriksson's still comfortably in control with a 16.5sec advantage; Auriol fourth on stage one place ahead of second overall Gronholm; Loix lead Mitsubishi in sixth on stage and overall;

Tommi Makinen and Risto Mannisenmaki, leaders in the FIA World Rally Championship, have been seriously hampered in the opening leg of the Rally New Zealand. Running first on the road, the Finns have swept the stages clean of loose gravel and, as a consequence, hold 14th position overnight.

When you think about a crash helmet, you could be forgiven for thinking that it is no more than a piece of safety equipment. But that's not the case for the world's top rally drivers who treat this piece of driving equipment as if it was a work of art.

Stephane Prevot, the 32-year-old co-driver of Bruno Thiry in the Skoda Motorsport team is recovering rapidly from the injuries sustained during the Safari Rally and aims to be back beside Thiry at the start of the San Remo Rally, re-uniting a rally crew which has been together for 11 years.

Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe has announced two new appointments at its headquarters in Rugby, England, which are set to restructure the team's management following the departures of Team Manger George Donaldson and PR Manager Adrian Atkinson to rivals Subaru.

Australian pop princess Vanessa Amorosi and rock legend Jimmy Barnes will be the headline acts at Telstra Rally Australia's Langley Park superstage, it has been revealed.

During a recent foray to Europe to compete in the Neste Rally Finland, Saladin Mazlan (pictured in his Ford Puma)was offered an opportunity to test a World Rally Car in the UK.

The Subaru World Rally Team has announced the arrival of George Donaldson as sporting director, as it seeks to close the gap on championship leaders Mitsubishi and Ford.

Technical excellence is a pre-requisite in motorsport, such is the level of competition and investment made by the competing manufacturers. How each of the manufacturers' achieves this is, in essence, probably very similar - a dynamic combination of brain and computer power.

Peugeot 206 WRC driver Marcus Gr?nholm has won the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally Finland. Gr?nholm and navigator Timo Rautiainen repeated their success of 12 months ago to spray the champagne on the finish ramp in the centre of host town Jyvaskyla.

The fourth Stage of the Rally Finland has been delayed due to a spectator having been bitten by a snake: The delay will enable medical assistance to reach the scene as soon as possible.

Stig Blomqvist and his co-driver Ana Goni will be lining up alongside Armin Schwarz/Manfred Hiemer and Bruno Thiry/Georges Biar in the Skoda Octavia WRC

The 9th round of the 2001 World Rally Championship will take place this weekend with the Rally Finland. It is the fastest special stage rally in the series, held on wide, hard packed, undulating sandy roads. Categorised by teams as a smooth gravel rally.

After three extremely punishing rallies in a row(Cyprus, Acropolis, Safari), Finland marks the beginning of a fresh phase of the 2001 World Rally Championship.