R66 MRE -in contrary to R6 MRE- was everything but a one-off test car. R66 MRE made her debut on the 1998 1000 Lakes (Rally Finland), in the hands of Mäkinen - somewhat strangely, as the double digit in the registration would cite that this should have been Burns' car, but with R6 MRE becoming the test car and R8 MRE was also built for Mäkinen, Burns was using the cars left... But back to the story: Mäkinen had a flawless rally, winning it for the 5th time in a row (after this, his best result until now was a 4th place in 2000...).
Helping Tommi for his 5th and last Finland victory, 1998 (Mitsubishi)
She returned to action on the RAC Rally GB, again with Mäkinen, for the championship showdown against Carlos Sainz. At first, the battle didn't last long, as Mäkinen slid wide on an oil patch left by a historic car, and knocked the right-rear wheel off. He continued, but the police ordered him to stop, forcing his retirement. The rest is history as they say, and Mäkinen became a 3 time world champion despite this.
Ezt a megjegyzést eltávolította a szerző.
VálaszTörlés