KR05 ZKL - alongside ZKJ - were the two last cars Mitsubishi introduced during their last season in the WRC (the third of the batch, ZKK might not have been finished then/was a spare chassis, that's why it debuted only in 2009!). So, her first event was the Deutschland Rally with Rovanperä. The circumstances were particulary tough for Harri, as this was his first all-tarmac event since Rallye Sanremo back in 2002! They brought home the car, but scored no manufacturer points.
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| 2005 Deutschland Rally (Mitsubishi) |
Her next event was the Tour de Corse, again with Rovanperä. In
ZKJ's story I go into details about what was wrong - with this car, the problems included gearbox and electrical issues. So after all this, another 10th was all they could manage.
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| 2005 Rallye de France - Tour de Corse (Mitsubishi) |
Her final event as a full works car was the Catalunya Rally, still with Harri. This time they faced issues again - including gearshift problems, and discovered a problem with the rear suspension (on bumpy, downhill roads under braking it "lifted" as Harri said). Although they made some progress, she ended her full works career with another 10th place.
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| 2005 Rally Catalunya (Mitsubishi) |
2006
Since she was a relatively young car and only used on tarmac, she was one of the cars that were used at the start of 2006 with Ralliart UK (now MML Sports) entries. After sitting out Monte Carlo, she returned for Rally Sweden with Gigi Galli. Now, don't get me wrong, Gigi's a very talented driver, but very surprisingly snow was the surface he was the most consistent and fastest on - not bad from an Italian! And might I add, this was more than less down to the Lancer WRC, with he just simply clicked on snow. So, in that year's event, two Mitsubishi drivers battled it out for 3rd overall - Daniel Carlsson with
KP54 GXY, and Galli with ZKL. This fight went down to the wire, but eventually Carlsson won - and this would have been the best result for Mitsubishi for a very long time... had they not left.
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| 2006 Rally Sweden (Mitsubishi) |
She was back in action on the Sardinia Rally, but this time with Jussi Välimäki. They had a troublefree three days, ending up in 5th, ahead of the likes of Stohl, Duval and Petter Solberg!
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| 2006 Rally d'Italia Sardinia (Mitsubishi) |
Her final WRC event was the Acropolis Rally, again with Välimäki. This time his inexperience with a WRCar was much more visible, as he admitted that he didn't know how much he can push on the rough parts - and in Greece, there are plenty of them! But they finished, and did so in 9th.
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| 2006 Acropolis Rally (Mitsubishi) |
After that, MML Sports debuted in Hungary for the first time - their second tenure was in 2008-2009, with Csaba Spitzmüller. However, that collaboration dates back to this one, as they formed an alliance -at first- for the OMV Veszprém Rally. But they outright won it - against a 307 WRC, two Focus WRCs, an Octavia and a Fabia WRC!
After that success, they decided to keep the car for the remaining two rounds of the season, of which the first was the Budapest Rallye, held around the capital on tarmac. This time they finished 2nd after punctures slowed them.
The closing round of the championship was to be her last ever as well. They arrived with an outside chance of getting the championship, but all that vanished when they slid into a ditch on SS5. As they were trying to get out with speed, they didn't see a concrete bridge in front of them until it was too late, and hit it very hard. The car was totalled (the front was pushed back to the half point of the bonnet), and they were hurt as well, but after getting surgery and some care, theye were fine, and as you all know, returned and became champions in 2008. But this accident was much like Mark van Eldik's in 2010 with YPP. Neither car has appeared since, and given the fact that it has been over 8 years, I really doubt ZKL will ever return.
Whereabouts
After the accident, she was never seen again; and given that it was over 8 years ago and many more shells to use, it is more than likely she wasn't repaired.
Track record
Starts: 9
Wins: 1 (
OMV Veszprém Rally 2006)
Podiums: 1
Retirements: 1 (
Mecsek Rallye 2006 -
accident)
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