COMMUNIQUE 5
28 August 2005 LEG 3 RELEASE

MITSUBISHI WRC TEAM FINISHES 5TH IN RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND
Both Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05s run faultlessly on first true asphalt event of season
Lancer WRC05 driver Galli claims his best FIA WRC result
Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05
"Gigi" Galli / Guido D’Amore

The Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 crew of "Gigi" Galli and Guido d’Amore claimed a personal best in the FIA World Rally Championship today when they finished Rallye Deutschland, the first true asphalt event of the season, in fifth position. The Italians also registered a fastest stage time today in only their second outing on Tarmac in a Mitsubishi world rally car. Team-mates Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen finished 10th in their first sealed surface event since Sanremo in 2002.

Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05
"Gigi" Galli / Guido D’Amore
"This result is almost the same as my best-case scenario, which was to finish and get manufacturer points with both cars", said Isao Torii, Head of Mitsubishi Motor Sports. "For Gigi to finish fifth is very good and although Harri was just outside the points, we take great confidence from the fact that the cars had no technical problems over the three days. Gigi’s fight today was exciting and to then record a fastest time was fantastic; he has now regained his confidence. Everyone in the team did a great job and it is a teamwork result. Now it is maximum attack for Rally GB and Japan!"

Sunday’s closing day of competition took the crews to the wider and more flowing roads in the Saarland region for five stages before returning to St. Wendel for the climax of the event at the 6.24 kilometer spectator stage. Warm sunshine and dry weather were again a welcome sight and while this made conditions marginally easier, the stages were still treacherous and all too ready to catch out the unwary.

Gigi Galli has enjoyed a great battle today, although the Italian was adamant that experience of the stages and completing the rally would always over-ride a fast and furious fight to the finish. He started the day in sixth, and fifth and then two third-fastest times brought the fight to Roman Kresta with the rivals jostling for position. At the mid-leg service, the pair were split by just six-tenths of a second. This afternoon, however, the Lancer WRC05 driver recorded his first fastest time of the event to overhaul Kresta, and then backed it up with second fastest in the proceeding stage to extend his advantage. In the climax stage, Gigi again finished ahead of the Czech driver and claimed fifth overall by 8.7 seconds.

Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05
Harri Rovanperä / Risto Pietiläinen
"A very interesting day….!" said Galli at the finish. "I can’t really believe it because our goal was to do well but not push hard and go off the road. Everyone in the team worked really well and at lunchtime I felt great support and that gave me real confidence this afternoon. Today, we made no mistakes at all and that makes a difference. It was a very tricky rally and we have made another step forward with the team and also our career. I am really surprised to have done that on this rally!"

Team-mate Harri Rovanperä had also been fighting with Škoda’s Jan Kopecky but the Czech driver was forced into retirement after taking the rear left wheel off two kilometers from the end of stage 16. Following this, and "Dani" Solà going off the road and getting stuck in a ditch, the Finn moved up into ninth position. However, this afternoon he slipped back to tenth in the penultimate stage and lost out to Xavier Pons by just 2.4 seconds.

"All the stages in this rally have effectively been new to me and I have only been listening to the notes and trying to stay on the road; I have no preview memories of this event", said Harri Rovanperä. "I am happy our car ran without problems and we reached the finish. We’ve stalled a couple of times today due to a problem with the handbrake and that’s why we lost position, but okay, we have learned a lot and the next two asphalt rallies will be better I think".

Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05
Harri Rovanperä / Risto Pietiläinen
Adding to the drivers’ comments, Roger Estrada, Principal Rally Engineer said: "I’m very pleased because today we showed the car’s performance can be very good. We had no technical problems throughout the event on either car and we have reason to have confidence for the future".

The 12th round of the FIA World Rally Championship takes the teams to Great Britain for Wales Rally GB (September 15-18). Harri Rovanperä and Gigi Galli will again pilot the team’s two Lancer WRC05s and the event is also a qualifying round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship.

News from our rivals

Citroën notched up its first one-two of the season today with Sébastien Loeb claiming his eighth victory of the season and extending his lead at the head of the Drivers’ Championship to 32 points with five events remaining. It is also the Frenchman’s fourth consecutive win in Germany. Team-mate François Duval repaid the team’s faith by claiming second, 37.4 seconds adrift of the reigning World Champion. Marcus Grönholm, winner of his home event in Finland, finished on the podium in third to retain second in the series.

FINAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
  Driver / Co-driver Nat. Car Gr/Cl Total Time Difference
1   Sébastien LOEB / Daniel Elena F/MC  CITROEN Xsara WRC A8 M 3.27.13.2   
2   François DUVAL / Sven Smeets B  CITROEN Xsara WRC A8 M 3.27.50.6  37.4 
3   Marcus GRONHOLM / Timo Rautiainen FIN  PEUGEOT 307 WRC A8 M 3.29.18.0  2.04.8 
4   Markko MARTIN / Michael Park EE/GB  PEUGEOT 307 WRC A8 M 3.31.22.6  4.09.4 
5   "Gigi" GALLI / Guido D’Amore I  MITSUBISHI Lancer WRC05 A8 M 3.32.16.8  5.03.6 
6   Roman KRESTA / Jan Tománek CZ  FORD Focus RS WRC 04 A8 M 3.32.25.5  5.12.3 
7   Petter SOLBERG / Phil Mills N/GB  SUBARU Impreza WRC 05 A8 M 3.35.01.3  7.48.1 
8   Stéphane SARRAZIN / Denis Giraudet F  SUBARU Impreza WRC 05 A8 M 3.35.47.3  8.34.1 
9   Xavier PONS / Carlos del Barrio E  CITROEN Xsara WRC A8 3.36.22.4  9.09.2 
10   Harri ROVANPERA / Risto Pietiläinen FIN  MITSUBISHI Lancer WRC05 A8 M 3.36.24.8  9.11.6 
11   Christopher ATKINSON / Glenn Macneall AUS  SUBARU Impreza WRC 05 A8 3.37.46.2  10.33.0 
12   Daniel SOLA / Xavier Amigo E  FORD Focus RS WRC 04 A8 3.43.56.3  16.43.1 
13   Daniel SORDO / Marc Marti E  CITROEN C2 A6 J 3.46.59.3  19.46.1 
14   Kris MEEKE / Chris Patterson GB  CITROEN C2 A6 J 3.48.24.2  21.11.0 
15   Guy WILKS / Phil Pugh GB  SUZUKI Swift A6 J 3.50.53.9  23.40.7 
16   Per-Gunnar ANDERSSON / Jonas Andersson S  SUZUKI Swift A6 J 3.51.44.1  24.30.9 
17   Toni GARDEMEISTER / Jakke Honkanen FIN  FORD Focus RS WRC 04 A8 M 3.52.50.2  25.37.0 
18   Hermann GASSNER / Karin Thannhäuser D  MITSUBISHI Lancer Evolution N4 3.53.06.9  25.53.7 
19   Kosti KATAJAMAKI / Timo Alanne FIN  SUZUKI Ignis A6 J 3.53.07.7  25.54.5 
20   Luca BETTI / Giovanni Agnese I  RENAULT Clio A6 J 3.57.20.3  30.07.1 
21   Jari-Matti LATVALA / Miikka Anttila FIN  SUBARU Impreza N4 3.58.21.7  31.08.5 
.../...
29   Maik STEUDTEN / Thomas Fuchs D  MITSUBISHI Lancer Evolution N4 4.18.50.4  51.37.2 
31   Quirin MUELLER / Peter Müller D/A  MITSUBISHI Lancer Evolution N4 4.27.06.1  59.52.9 
32   Toto WOLFF / Gerald Pöschl A  MITSUBISHI Lancer Evolution N4 4.30.55.1  1.03.41.9 
33   Jasper VAN DEN HEUVEL / Martine Kolman NL  MITSUBISHI Lancer Evolution N4 4.38.22.1  1.11.08.9 
34   Henk VOSSEN / Johan Findhammer NL  MITSUBISHI Lancer Evolution N4 4.40.34.8  1.13.21.6 
Nationalities: A=Austria/ AUS=Australia/ B=Belgium/ CZ=Czech Republic/ D=Germany/ E=Spain/ EE=Estonia/ F=France/ FIN=Finland/ GB=Great Britain/ H=Hungary/ I=Italy/ MC=Monte Carlo/ N=Norway/ NL=The Netherlands/ S=Sweden/
M: drivers nominated in the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
J: drivers eligible for FIA Junior World Rally Championship points




© 2005 Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. All rights reserved.