2006 WRC | MITSUBISHI MOTORS

FIA PRODUCTION CAR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 5: RALLY JAPAN

MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION DRIVERS READY FOR BATTLE TO RECOMMENCE

28 AUGUST 2006

PRE-EVENT RELEASE

Mirco Baldacci / Giovanni Agnese
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Acropolis Rally, Greece

Nutahara Fumio / Daniel Barritt
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Rally Mexico

Marcos Ligato / Ruben Garcia
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Acropolis Rally, Greece

Katsuhiko Taguchi / Mark Stacey
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Test in Hokkaido, Japan

After a long absence from the stages of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, the all-Group N series returns to the pinnacle of the sport at Rally Japan. It’s been three months since the competitors were last in action, on the Acropolis Rally in Greece, but the fastest Mitsubishi drivers on the globe will soon be back up to speed when the fifth round of the calendar kicks off with the Ceremonial start in Obihiro on the evening of Thursday August 31.

Rally Japan is always one of the most popular rounds of the series, with the Hokkaido locals providing a warm welcome and the roads on Japan’s northern-most island providing ample entertainment for the crews. This year’s rally begins, as usual, with a colorful ceremonial start in central Obihiro. From there on, it’s three days of flat-out driving through 27 gravel stages and 1,586 kilometers in some of the most beautiful scenery Japan has to offer. With the rally falling in the middle of the typhoon season, the weather on this event is usually changeable, with baking warm and sunny days just as likely as periods of prolonged rain.

Mitsubishi honor will be upheld by Argentina’s Tango Rally Team members Marcos Ligato/Ruben Garcia, Sebastian Beltran/Ricardo Rojas and Gabriel Pozzo/Daniel Stillo. These three crews have to be among the unluckiest in the sport. All of them have shown well on the three events they have contested so far this season, but to date, Pozzo’s second on the Acropolis Rally is the best result from the season until now.

San Marino’s Mirco Baldacci and co-driver Giovanni Agnese have made plenty of progress since their switch from the Junior World Rally Championship to a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution-based Production Car campaign at the start of this season. Baldacci came close to winning in Greece. Unfortunately for Baldacci, he lost valuable time while being held up by a slower competitor on the rocky European roads and is, therefore, still searching for his first victory in this ultra-competitive category.

One man who is certainly not searching for his first win is Japanese rally hero Fumio Nutahara, who has considerable experience of the Hokkaido roads having competed in the event since 2002 when he finished a highly credible second overall. In that year the event ran as a round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.

Nutahara hasn’t fared quite so well since the rally’s elevation to WRC status having retired in 2004 and finishing third in Group N last year. This time, however, he returns with a fine Monte Carlo Rally Production Car World Rally Championship win under his belt and a new co-driver, Britain’s Daniel Barritt.

"This is the first time I've competed in the PWRC since the second round, Rally Mexico" said Nutahara, "During that time I’ve been aiming to achieve my eighth win on the All Japan Rally Championship. In July I competed in Rally Hokkaido, the third round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and also a round of the all Japan Rally Championship. Right now, I rank top in the series. Since Hokkaido is my home ground, I intend to give it all I have to gain victory."

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is the most popular choice of the competitors at Rally Japan with 40 examples taking the start. Outside the ranks of the Production Car series, Japan’s Katsuhiko Taguchi is one of the stars. With Australian co-driver Mark Stacey, Taguchi steered his Lancer Evolution to a confident victory in Group N when this event made its debut in the World Rally Championship in 2005. Taguchi may not be eligible for PWRC points, but he is highly likely to challenge for outright Group N honors. Former Asia-Pacific Rally Champion, Katsuhiko Taguchi said: "This year's machine will be a Lancer Evolution IX. I feel there’s been steady progress especially on the engine's torque. It's a lot easier to handle on the Japan stages. I think it will work to my advantage. In addition, the Mitsubishi Motors Corporation dealer mechanics will be working on the machine so I feel the system is in place for a very potent competition this year. Last year I was running top in my class, but unfortunately I was forced to retire. This year I think of it as revenge and definitely aim to finish. With that mind set I think good results will automatically follow. "

Rally Japan starts on Friday 1st September and 27 special stages taking place on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. With a total route covering 1586.52kms, of which 345.72km are competitive, including 5 super special stages next to the Aikoku service park. This year’s Rally Japan should once again provide one of the most attractive challenges in the 16-round of 2006 World Rally Championship

ENTRIES
No.	Driver Co-Driver	Nat	Vehicle	Grp Cls
1 M1	Sebastien Loeb Daniel Elena	F MC	Citroen Xsara WRC	A 8
2 M1	Daniel Sordo Marc Marti	E E	Citroen Xsara WRC	A 8
3 M1	Marcus Gronholm Timo Rautiainen	FIN FIN	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	A 8
4 M1	Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen	FIN FIN	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	A 8
5 M1	Petter Solberg Phil Mills	N GB	Subaru Impreza WRC 2006	A 8
6 M1	Chris Atkinson Glenn Macneall	AUS AUS	Subaru Impreza WRC 2006	A 8
7	Manfred Stohl Ilka Minor	A A	Peugeot 307 WRC	A 8
9 M2	Matthew Wilson Michael Orr	GB GB	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	A 8
10 M2	Luis Perez Companc Jose Maria Volta	RA RA	Ford Focus RS WRC 06	A 8
11	Xavier Pons Carlos Del Barrio	E E	Citroen Xsara WRC	A 8
12	Gareth MacHale Paul Nagle	IRL IRL	Ford Focus RS WRC 04	A 8
14	Arai Toshihiro Tony Sircombe	J NZ	Subaru Impreza WRC 2006	A 8
32 P	Marcos Ligato Ruben Garcia	RA RA	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
33 P	Fumio Nutahara Daniel Barritt	J GB	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
34 P	Sebastian Beltran Ricardo Rojas	RA CHL	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
35 P	Gabriel Pozzo Daniel Stillo	RA RA	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
36 P	Mirco Baldacci Giovanni Agnese	RSM I	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
37 P	Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila	FIN FIN	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	N 4
38 P	Leszek Kuzaj Maciek Szczepaniak	POL POL	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	N 4
40 P	Stefano Marrini Tiziana Sandroni	I I	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
42 P	Sergey Uspenskiy Dmitry Eremeev	RUS RUS	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	N 4
45 P	Aki Teiskonen Miika Teiskonen	FIN FIN	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	N 4
46 P	Nigel Heath Steve Lancaster	GB GB	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	N 4
../
61	Katsuhiko Taguchi Mark Stacey	J AUS	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
65	Seiichiro Taguchi Sachiko Hirota	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
66	Eiichi Iwashita Akihiko Takahashi	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
68	Atushi Masumura Kouji Watanabe	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
69	Shinsuke Arai Hiroyuki Sakaki	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
70	Daisuke Yamada Takumi Takahashi	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
71	Masayuki Ishida Sadatoshi Andou	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
72	Seisuke Ohba Hiroko Takahashi	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
73	Osamu Fukunaga Hisatsugu Okumura	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
74	Hideaki Miyoshi Satoshi Hayashi	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
75	Gento Nagayoshi Tatsuro Yoshimochi	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
76	Hiromichi Niwa Teruaki Yasue	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
77	Tetsuji Sakaue Nobuyoshi Hara	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
78	Kyosuke Kamata Chieko Kamata	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
80	Yukihiro Taguchi Tadayoshi Sato	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
81	Yukihiro Kudo Sanae Otsuka	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
82	Haruo Oshima Tatsuya Ideue	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
83	Keisuke Amou Hideki Takeyabu	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
86	Ryuji Horikawa Tsuyoshi Kajiyama	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI	N 4
87	Yozo Watanabe Shigeru Ikeda	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
88	Hisatoshi Yoshitani Kenji Yamakita	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
90	Shinya Yamauchi Kouhei Kusaka	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
92	Yoshikazu Mitani Masakazu Arai	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
93	Mitsuhiro Aoki Fumika Aoki	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
94	Mitsugu Nakamura Yoshitaka Fujishima	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
95	Aritoshi Mitsukuri Michiko hasegawa	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
97	Tatsuru Saito Akira Endo	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
98	Hideaki Namba Takashi Sekiguchi	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII	N 4
99	Eiichi Nakamura Hiroaki Miyabe	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
100	Yuji Nakata	J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI	N 4
102	Dosskoi Mizuno Naoko Satake	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
103	Koji Baba Mitsuhiro Onaya	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX	N 4
105	Tamotsu Minamino Paulanthony Santo	J NZ	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
108	Masamichi Fukumoto Hideki Umeno	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI	N 4
126	Yoko Fukuzawa Takako Akaba	J J	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII	N 4
M1 = FIA WRC MANUFACTURERS 1 / M2 = FIA WRC MANUFACTURERS 2 P = FIA PWRC