Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish all of you a really merry Christmas! In under one year, more than 3000 of you have visited this blog... That is quite something since not a lot of rally fans are interested this deeply in statistics or stories about cars that were built almost a decade or more ago. So thank you for all the views, and keep sticking around as more and more interesting stuff will be put on! :)

KR53 YPP

After a little break due to my university duties, we can all return to the flow of Lancer WRCs, starting with none other than KR53 YPP! The car that debuted on the 2004 Rally New Zealand (and shortly stopped because of electrical problems), and went out with a bang (that bridge didn't take the collision lightly either...). So, let's get started!
She made her debut as Panizzi's car on the 2004 Rally NZ. Yes, this was the envent where all works Lancer WRCs stopped due to electrical probems after one Super Special Stage. Not the debut someone can dream of...

Problem-free in the morning, embarrassing retirement in the evening, 2004 NZ (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was the hard-hitting Acropolis Rally. Despite Panizzi's limitations on gravel they were in 6th position when the engine started to give out, eventually dropping them down to 10th place.

 Despite the late engine woes, the car started to show some promise, 2004 Greece (Mitsubishi)

Next up was Rally Argentina, where Kristian Sohlberg took over her steering wheel from Panizzi. They worked really well together, and the fast and flowing Argentine stages suited Sohlberg's driving style as well. However, they had to retire due to gearbox problems. At the time they were lying in 5th position.

Another good performance crashed by another mechanical failure, 2004 Argentina (Mitsubishi)

Her final full works rally was the 2004 Rally Catalunya, with Dani Sola. The car started to be more reliable, and that showed in a 6th place, and a bunch of top5 stage times.

En route to 6th place, 2004 Rally Catalunya (Mitsubishi)

2006-2007
And, she disappeared for 2005. Many suspected that with new cars being built already as 2005 spec, she was scrapped. However, it turned out that Kai Kuistila Brought her to RaceRentEurope, and as a semi-works entry, Juho Hänninen drove the car on the 2006 Rally Finland. Even though that was Juho's first time in a WRC, they did reasonably well until they were excluded because Juho's fireproof underwear was not within the rules.

As a RRE car, 2006 Rally Finland (Mitsubishi)

Her next (and last as an RRE car) rally was the 2007 Rally Norway, again with Hänninen. Juho was doing reasonably again, but two trips into the snow walls meant he finished only 17th.

Sporting the classic RRE-silver and the signs of an excursion, 2007 Norway (Mitsubishi)

2009
Once again, as RRE handed their WRCs back to Ralliart/MML, many suspected they were the only Lancer WRCs (besides KN04 WMC, but that is a later story...) - not the other way around!
Well, we had to wait two and a half years before she returned, and again - under very interesting ownership status. Mark van Eldik got the car, but it has never been made clear whether he bought it or rented it or leased it (his service crew was half MML, half his own team on occasions!), just like with RRE (well, afterwards we know they leased the cars). Anyways, their first rally together was the 2009 Hellendoorn Rally, finishing 3rd behind a 2006 Focus WRC and an Impreza S14. (Let's be realistic, the Lancer has never been better than those cars, but we don't have any inso if van Eldik had the 2007 update pack for the car).

Gravel with tarmac tyres? Should be fun! 2009 Hellendoorn Rally (Jan Borger)

Her next event was the Nederland Rally, but this time they landed on the top of the podium with a very dominant drive. Also, this was KR53 YPP's first ever victory!

A dominant performance brought her first win, 2009 Nederland Rally (Jan Borger)

The final event for the MenM Rally Team was sort of a "feel good, drive for fun" type, but in a beautiful place: non other than Tenerife. So, after this and looking up pictures and videos it is clear that by finishing 13th on the Rally Isla de Tenerife they didn't lose their smiles... :)

During Rally Isla de Tenerife, 2009 (Tuerca Sport/MenM Team)

2010
In 2010, van Eldik was driving the car only part-time, and in the meantime, he rented it out to some young and interesting drivers. But to kick off the season, he jumped into the car, and drove it to a 2nd place on the Rally van Haspengouw.

It's always good to start a new year with a podium. 2010 Rally Haspengouw (Juha Bos)

Next up was the TankS rally, and now David Westenbrink drove the car (van Eldik drove his own S14 Impreza but retired). It was his 4th rally ever, his second drive in a 4wd car, and his first ever in a WRC; however, he managed to take 5th place in front of regular WRC drivers and rally veterans!

Cutting their way through the standing water to a 5th place finish, 2010 TankS Rally (Jan Borger)

Her next event was the TAC Rally in Tielt, Belgium, and her driver was once again van Eldik. The Balgian championship was extremely strong that year, and with some problems, they finished 5th behind mainly younger, faster cars.

2010 TAC Rally Tielt (Ronny Baert)

She returned to action on the 3rd round of the Belgian Championship, the Rallye de Wallonie, again with van Eldik. This rally wasn't problem-free again, this time due to gearbox issues, and after that Mark couldn't find his rhytm, so they finished only 6th.

Despite big jumps like this, they weren't really flying this time (Bert Verstraete)

After these outings in Belgium, she returned to the Netherlands for the Paradigit ELE Rally. This time they didn't have any problems, and it was a long-awaited return to the top of the podium (even though the winning margin was only 3.7s!).

After some bad luck they celebrated a victory, 2010 ELE Rally (Jan Borger)

Her next rally was very interesting, because a very talented Belgian female driver, Melissa Debackere drove her on the Exotic Green Rally. However, this new partnership was short as Melissa retired due to an accident.

Melissa Debackere-Cindy Cokelaire, 2010 Exotic Green Rally (Bart Vanpoucke)

Van Eldik didn't return to the car, instead, Timo van der Marel took the steering wheel and drove to a superb 2nd place on the Amsterdam Rallysprint. Before this, the fastest car Timo drove were Gr. N cars, so it has to be said that he adapted to the car very well.

Powersliding to 2nd place, 2010 Amsterdamsprint (Peter Tsang Chung)

Van der Marel did the next round in the Dutch Championship, the Hellendoorn Rally. Despite even winning some stages and regularly posting top5 stage times, various problems meant they finished only 5th.

En route to 5th, 2010 Hellendoorn Rally (Jan Borger)

As the Dutch Championship returned to the East Belgian Rally for its penultimate round, van Eldik was back in YPP's driver seat again. The rally went well until they slid into a ditch and lost over 16 minutes, finishing 43rd overall.

The trip to the ditch took its toll on the car... (TeamCologne)

The Dutch Championship's final round (which turned out to be the YPP's final rally as well) was the Euregio Rally., and van Eldik was still in with a chance for the title. However, after the first day, he was only 5th; on the opening stage of the second day he was the fastest, but on the next one he struck a concrete bridge very hard. The front of the car was destroyed, and it was on fire, but they could put that out quickly.

Just moments after the crash, 2010 Euregio Rally (Jan Borger)

Whereabouts
Well, the car was badly damaged (similar to KR05 ZKL), and there is little to no chance that she will be used ever again.

Track record
Wins: 2 (2009 Nederland Rally & 2010 ELE Rally)
Podiums: 5  
-2009: Hellendoorn Rally & Nederland Rally
-2010: Rally van Haspengouw, ELE Rally & Amsterdam Rallysprint)
Retiremens: 5
-2004 Rally NZ (electrical)
-2004 Rally Argentina (gearbox)
-2006 Rally Finland (excluded)
-2010 Exotic Green Rally (accident)
-2010 Euregio Rally (accident)

KX53 BKO

KX53 BKO was one of the longest-serving Lancer WRC of her kind (I will explain why only 'was'), and made her competitive debut in 2004 with Kristian Sohlberg on the Rally Sweden. That being the 2nd round of the season, the new car was still very green... An already troubled event just turned to be even more frustrating when the transmission gave up on the second day's first stage.

The car was already a bit worn on the first day... (Mitsubishi)

Her second WRC event was the Rally New Zealand, again with Kristian Sohlberg. I can't say how well the event went for the crew, as they had to retire after the first super special stage on thursday evening with an electrical fault that was a bit amateur...

During shakedown everything was fine... (Mitsubishi)

Her final WRC event was the Acropolis Rally, this time with Dani Sola. He was involved in a very well known and bizarre crash: they had a puncture, ans stopped to change it; however, the next car, Roman Kresta, didn't see them through the thick dust, and crashed into the back of the Lancer. Both crews had to retire, but Sola could continue via SupeRally regulations (his times were recorded, but he wasn't included in the overall standings), even posting a couple of top10 stage times on the last day. Not bad!

Wonderful photo from Greece, 2004 (Mitsubishi)

Then, she was put on a shelf for a long time... well, actually for 6.5 years. Everybody thought that she wasn't converted to WRC05 spec, but indeed she was, and made her return at the Eger Rally, which was the opening round for the Hungarian and Slovak Championship; the driver was Jaroslav Melicharek. It wasn't his first event with the car, but the changing weather and a puncture slowed him, and ended the event 8th overally and 3rd in MSR (Slovak Championship).

Sliding to 8th overall, 2011 Eger Rally (Ivo Nesrovnal)

She spent the rest of the season competing in the MSR, clocking 3 podiums (including a win at Tríbeč), and at the very end of the year she was used on some sprint/spectator events by Antonin Tlust'ak (and that included a win at the Rally Show Uherský Brod).

En route to her first win ever, Rally Tríbeč 2011 (Daniel Hlinka)

Rally Show Uherský Brod 2011 (Jaroslav Pančocka)

2012
She was both used in the MSR by Jaroslav Melicharek and in the Czech Rallysprint Championship by Antonin Tlust'ak. In the 3 starts the car was used by Melicharek, he recorded two 2nd and a 3rd place.

On the Rally Prešov 2012, on the way to 2nd place (Farkas Tamás)

In the Czech Rallysprint Championship, the car was successful too: a win at Vsetín and several podium places marked a good season (the only mechanical problem-related retirement of the year was Rally Jeseníky). Tlust'ak missed the podium at the end of the year by only one point, and the second place by 5 points.

On Rally Vsetín (Jíri Zapletal)

She was also used at some show events at the end of the year, such as Auto Show Slovakia ring or Rajd Barbórka.

A nice powerslide with Szymon Ruta, 2012 Rajd Barbórka (Marcin Snopkowski)

2013
In 2013, the big news came that Antoine l'Estage will bring a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC to the Rally America series. This car happened to be KX53 BKO, and their first event together was the Oregon Trail Rally. The car went through some modifications, such as leaving out the paddle shift gearchange (thus using the transmission in classic sequential mode). The rally didn't end well, as Estage totalled the car, ending the long and eventful life of KX53 BKO. (John Easton, the MML boss said himself that the chassis is beyond repair. Note: they may use the KX53 BKO on a new chassis, but since they still have plenty on the shelf, I don't expect that.

Before the crash... (rallyworldnews.com)

...and after.

Track record:
Starts: 29
Wins: 3 (Rally Tríbeč 2011, Rally Uhersky Brod 2011 & Rally Vsetín 2012)
Podiums: 11
Retirements: 8

KX53 BKU

KX53 BKU is quite a sad story (like T22 MMR or Y5 MMR), as she was used only twice in the WRC and at all. Her first event was the 2004 Rally Sweden with Gilles Panizzi. If Gilles is not at home on gravel... well, you could imagine snow. But he didn't have to struggle too long, as the gearbox gave up on the 4th stage of the rally.

Not too much before the gearbox broke, 2004 Sweden (Mitsubishi)

Her second and final appearance came at the 2004 Deutschland Rally, this time with Dani Sola. The rally started well, as the tarmac ace clocked in a 3rd fastest time on the opening stage, but on the next the changing conditions caught him out: he braked too late before a wet corner, and hit a tree very hard, and with new chassis being built, she was not used anymore/scrapped.

The 2004 Deutschland Rally started well, but ended ugly (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
Either the chassis is put on a shelf, or it was scrapped. The latter is almost certain.

Update 2018: Well, it looks like the car was re-used for show purposes later, as a WRC05 car:

As a WRC05 show car (www.geocities.jp/piaa6158191)

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Retirements: 2 (2004 Rally Sweden & Deutschland Rally)

KX53 BKV

KX53 BKV was present at the new Lancer WRC's debut at the 2004 Rallye Monte Carlo, being driven by Gigi Galli. They did a good job that included a 4th stage time, but Gigi's inexprience on the Monte cost him dearly: they slid just a bit too wide, and the car got stuck in a ditch. Game over.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators awaited the debut of the Lancer WRC (Mitsubishi)

Just like KX53 BKY, she made the trip Mexico for WRC's Round 3, and her driver was once again Gigi Galli. This event didn't fare better for the pairing, as a broken suspension (this time it was a material-related problem, not Galli's mistake) forced them into retirement on the second day's first stage.

The Mexican stages proved to be too rough for the new car (Mitsubishi)

Then she disappeared for 4 years before returning as a 2005 spec car at the Rallijs Cesis 2007 with Ivars Vasaraudzis, who piloted her to her first victory!

En route to her first win, 2007 Rallijs Cesis (Janis Asaris)

Up next was the Otepää Rally (Estonian Championship) with Urmo Aava, who also took her to the top step of the podium with a dominant performance!

Sliding to her 2nd victory in a row, 2007 Otepää Rally (foto.urmo.ee)

Her final event until now was the 2007 Rally Finland, with RRE/Ralliart Finland boss Kai Kuistila. The new pairing did well, and finished the rally in 13th position.

Jumping to 13th on the 2007 Rally Finland (Mitsubishi)

The car also did Rallyday with Gwyndaf Evans and MML Sports.

At the 2007 Rallyday with Gwyndaf Evans (David Cooper)

Whereabouts
The car survived the Ralliart UK->MML transition and was even converted to 2005 spec, so it is very likely that the chassis still exists, although not being used nowadays.
Update 2014:  Chassis #4 (which I don't know if still has the BKV plate) was put up for sale in 2014. September, alongside KR53 YPO. So it seems she is owned by Bob de Jong. It was stated that the car is still in 05 spec, as opposed to YPO, which has been converted to 07 spec. The price is 135.000 Euros. ;)

Pic from the ad, 2014. September

Update 2015: Dick de Graf put up an ad with the chassis on the picture above, but now built up into a 07 spec WRC. What's interesting is that the car is carrying KP54 GXY numberplates, which should belong to C014. I'll try to get info on this ASAP.

The supposed C004 with C014's numberplates

Update 2019:
Thanks to the information from Tristan Bailey, it seems like that C004 has found its way to Japan, and the previous DDG ad was a typo. So as Tristan found, this car was on display and driven around for some donuts as well. So a big thank you to Tristan for the infos, and he has some more interesting things up his sleeve. ;)

Megaweb Festival 2011 Tokyo (JDM Clips facebook)

Megaweb Festival 2011 Tokyo (JDM Clips)

Megaweb Festival 2011 Tokyo (JDM Clips)

Update 2023:

The car was displayed at the 2023 Rally Japan WRC service park in Mitsubishi's lineup. The people there were told that the car was a test car in Japan, and is now at the Okazaki R&D centre.

At the 2023 WRC Rally Japan service park (Rei Nakajima)

At the 2023 WRC Rally Japan service park (Rei Nakajima)

Track record
Starts: 5
Wins: 2 (2007 Rally Otepää & Rallijs Cesis)
Podiums: 2
Retirements: 2 (2004 Rallye Monte Carlo & Rally Mexico)

KX53 BKY

KX53 BKY -alongside KX53 BKV- had the pleasure to debut the string of Mitsubishi's new, unique-looking and heavily modified WRCars on the 2004 edition of the Rallye Monte Carlo. And her driver was also a big sensation: after a decade, Gilles Panizzi left Peugeot for a full-time ride in a Lancer WRC. We must note that the cars were still at the early stages of development, thus having a H-pattern gearbox (yes, that's true! The last time that configuration was used by a manufactirer team was 1999...), and no active diffs. Contrary to that, Panizzi led the very green car to a 6th place finish. Not bad for a debut!

This car didn't look like any of the road going Lancers... (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was a new one, Rallye Mexico, but again with Panizzi. It is no secret that there were very few (Loeb, Bugalski, Delecour) who were on the level of Gilles' tarmac driving, but on gravel he wasn't at home at all. Despite that and a new car, he salvaged an 8th place finish, the only problem was the time difference: over 11 minutes behind the winner...

The new event surprised many teams and competitors,
but the Panizzis held their ground (Mitsubishi)

Next up was the roughest rally of the calendar, the Cyprus Rally, with Kristian Sohlberg. The car was still in an erly developmental state, and that had its effects: Sohlberg opened with an 8th time on the first stage, but after a lost sumpguard and a slipping clutch cost him time. He didn't have a chance on the second day, as an ALS-related problem killed the engine.

The gravel roads in Cyprus proved to be too rough for the new car (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was Rally Turkey with the italian daredevil, Gigi Galli (that usually didn't mean too good of a treatment for the cars, as Gigi usually crashed them). This time, it wasn't his fault that a watersplash (that caused half the manufacturer cars to retire or lose a lot of time) damaged the turbo and the radiator's ventillators. After losing 10 minutes, he managed to stay in the rally, and eventually climbed back to 10th place to score manufacturer points.

This time the watersplash was stronger... (ewrc.cz)

Her final WRC event as a fully works car was the 2004 Rally Finland. Her driver was Sohlberg again, but this pairing wasn't deemed to be successful: after some very promising stage times on the morning of the 2nd day, he pushed too hard and crashed out.

The car finally showed some promise, 2004 Finland (Mitsubishi)

She didn't appear anywhere after 2004 Finland, and since Mitsubishi pulled out, many suspected that she was scrapped. However, that is not the case, as she returned with Ivars Vasaraudzis on the Kurzeme Rally in 2007, and immediately bagged a win!

En route to her first win, 2007 Rally Kurzeme (Janis Asaris)

This was her final event, contrary to the popular belief that Kai Kuistila ran this car on the Neste Rally Finland in 2007; that car was KX53 BKV, and the mistake comes from the fact that on the british numberplates the letters 'Y' and 'V' look a lot alike...

Whereabouts
Since she survived Ralliart UK's transformation into MML, and was even converted to 2005 specification, I think she is still with MML, just haven't been used since there are a lot less worn chassis in their workshop.

Track record
Starts: 6
Wins: 1 (2007 Rally Kurzeme)
Podiums: 1
Retirements: 2 (2004 Cyprus Rally & Rally Finland)