KX05 AUR is one of the last cars Mitsubishi built during their WRC tenure, competing on only 3 rallies in factory colors. She began her career as a gravel car, and except for a stint on Irish tarmac competition, she's still a gravel car, used in the French Gravel Championship.
So, her first rally was the Sardinia Rally, with Rovanperä. They were 4th after the first and 3rd after the second day, and looked to be getting the better of Grönholm in the fight for 3rd, but then hit a rock and broke the right front suspension, and they had to retire.
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| 2005 Sardinia Rally (Mitsubishi) |
Her next event was the Acropolis Rally, again with Rovanperä. After a drama-free run, they finished 6th, although 3m44s off the winner.
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| 2005 Acropolis Rally (Mitsubishi) |
Her third and final full works appearance was Mitsubishi's home event, the Rally Japan. The rally was overshadowed by the recent tragic death of Michael Park, but it was still a very important showing for the team. Rovanperä drove her again, and this time, they finished 5th, and took some stage wins along the way.
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| 2005 Rally Japan (Mitsubishi) |
2006
After Mitsubishi's withdrawal from the WRC, she was at Monte Carlo for 2006's season opener, with ex-works driver Gigi Galli. So, what happened? Well, Mitsubishi UK, Ralliart Italy and Galli's sponsors put togerther the money and effort, and it was a good decision: he was very fast until a broken gearbox forced him to retire.
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| 2006 Rallye Monte Carlo (Petr Lusk / ewrc.cz) |
After this, her path took a very interesting turn: Daniel Carlsson appeared with her on the Rally Ireland, which was a WRC candidate event (and joined the WRC in 2007 for a short time). Now, this start is interesting as what the motive behind it might have been. Either Ralliart UK (later MML) hoped that Mitsubishi might turn their decision around after the strong start to the 2006 season, and went there as a preparation for 2007, or they wanted to rent/sell cars out to Ireland, as it was -and still is- a huge survival island for the WRCs, new and old. Either way, the entry to the Irish scene went decent, as Carlsson finished 3rd.
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| 2006 Rally Ireland (Patrick Hegarty Photography) |
After this, Andrew Nesbitt, a multiple time Irish Tarmac Champion drove her on the Donegal International Rally and the Cork International Rally - both legendary Irish events. He won in Donegal (in front of Mark Higgins and KN04 WMC), but retired in Cork. After this, she was put on the shelf and wasn't seen in competition until the April of 2014...
2014
In the spring of 2014 came the news that Cyrille Féraud -with support from MML Sports- will run a Lancer WRC in the French Gravel Championship. It was said that he bought WMC and AUR, but so far, he has only used AUR (although it's hard to judge, as in France there are no numberplates on rallycars during events). The reality might be that he only bought AUR. Anyways, their first event together, the Terre des Causses, didn't go well, as he slid wide, and hit a tree, and as a result had to retire.
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| 2014 Rallye Terre des Causses |
They entered the Terre de Langres next, and this event went much better: although still relatively new to the car, Cyrille finished 5th behind a C4, a Xsara, a Fiesta and a 207 S2000. Not bad at all!
Next up was the Terre de l'Auxerrois, their third rally together, and the improvement was visible, as they finished 4th, but more importantly, only much better cars finished ahead of them (a Fiesta WRC and 2x C4).
For the next event, she was back on tarmac for the first time in 8 years. Cyrille has never driven a Lancer WRC on tarmac, so this was a learning event. They finished 4th after little hiccups, missing out on the podium by just 4.3 seconds.
Their penultimate rally of the season was the Terre des Cardabelles. They finished 5th after a couple of problems (e.g. puncture), but were competitive, even setting top3 stage times.
The last event of the French Gravel Championship was the Rally du Vaucluse. The conditions were trecherous, as days of rain made the stages really muddy with a lot of standing water. Cyrille did really well, but two punctures and a stall meant he had to settle for 4th. Still not bad!
2015
The car returned to action with Cyrille on the Rallye National du Pays de Fayence. They had a good event and eventually won in a close fight with Anthony Puppo's Fabia S2000.
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| 2015 Rallye National du Pays de Fayence (Jean-Marie Caranta / rallye-sport.fr) |
2016
She returned with Cyrille on the Rally Terre des Causses
. Unfortunately, they were excluded because the homologation of the seats have expired.
Their unlucky start to the season didn't end on the Rallye Terre du Diois. They had a huge competition from WRCs and R5s alike. They were 11th after five stages and on the move up, but they crashed out on the next stage.
Whereabouts
As of 2014, Cyrille Féraud uses the car, mainly in the French Gravel Championship. It is unclear if he bought the car or he's leasing it, either way, currently he plans no change for 2015.
Track record
Starts: 15
Wins: 2
Podiums: 2
- 2006 Donegal International Rally
- 2006 Rally Ireland
- 2015 Rallye National du Pays de Fayence
Retirements: 6
- 2016 Rallye Terre du Diois (accident)
- 2016 Rallye Terre des Causses (excluded)
- 2014 Rallye Terre des Causses (accident)
- 2006 Cork International Rally
- 2006 Rallye Monte-Carlo (gearbox)
- 2005 Rally Italia Sardinia (suspension)
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