Mitsubishi's WRCars: augusztus 2016

2016. augusztus 25., csütörtök

L6 MRE

L6 MRE made her debut on the 1994 Rally New Zealand, with Armin Schwarz and Klaus Wicha. The event counted towards the WRC and the APRC among others - so specialist drivers were also present to try to throw a wrench into the regulars' business. Schwarz was not baffled by them though, and finished 3rd, right in front of his more experienced team-mate Kenneth Eriksson.

Rally New Zealand 1994 (en.response.jp)

Rally New Zealand 1994 (KiwiRallyFan)

Her next event was the Hong Kong - Beijing Rally. No info on who drove the car or what the finish was, and pictures... no-no.

1996
She returned on the 1996 1000 Lakes Rally, with Ralliart test driver Lasse Lampi (this could indicate that at that time L6 MRE was a test car), and as an Evo III. They did what they could, and ended up 8th overall against very-very strong opposition.

1000 Lakes Rally 1996 (mattsoumi)

Whereabouts
She made it to 1996, albeit most likely as a test car; this could indicate that she was scrapped later on, but just as well she might be still around, although not likely.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

1994 Rally New Zealand - Schwarz/Wicha

Retirements: 0

2016. augusztus 17., szerda

L5 MRE

L5 MRE made her debut as an Evo I at the 1994 Rallye Monte-Carlo with Armin Schwarz and Klaus Wicha. They had a great showing, winning a lot of stages, but a mistake cost them 4 minutes, and eventually they finished 7th.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1994 (forum-auto.com)

Her next event was the Rally New Zealand (which was part of the WRC and APRC as well), this time with Eriksson. By this time the car was converted to Evo II spec (most notable difference from the outside is the different front sumpguard and bumper). Surprisingly, Schwarz finished 3rd, while Eriksson managed 4th in the car.

Rally New Zealand 1994 (internet / KiwiRallyFan)

Her next event was 1994 Hong Kong - Beijing Rally. At the moment I don1t know who her driver was (most likely Eriksson), and what the result was. Here's a picture though, supposedly of L5 MRE.

Hong Kong - Beijing Rally 1994 (www.scalemodellink.com)

Whereabouts
Since there's very little info on the APRC rounds of 1993-94-95, I can not fully say that this car had only two starts (ot this numberplate even). The car might have competed on the 1994 Rally of Malaysia and Thailand, as well as being used again as an Evo III...

Track record (most likely incomplete)
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Retirements: 0

2016. augusztus 15., hétfő

L4 MRE

L4 MRE made her debut on the 1994 Rallye Monte-Carlo (alongside sister car L5 MRE) with Eriksson and Parmander. Together with their team-mates, they won 11 of the 22 stages, but due to various problems, they finished 5th.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1994 (mulpix.com)

From the ice and cold mountains around Monte-Carlo to the humid and hot rainforests of Indonesia: this sums up the journey that took L4 MRE from the opening round of the WRC to the opening round of the increasingly important APRC, the 19th Bank Utamaa Rally Indonesia. Now converted to Evo II spec, Eriksson remained her driver, and the pairing proved to be successful on gravel, winning the event by over 2 minutes. Shinozuka in the Japanese works car (KNY70-HA7863, article of it later) finished 3rd.

Bank Utamaa Rally Indonesia 1994 (en.response.jp)

Her next event was the Rally Australia (at least that's what I have any proof for; in between, she could have appeared on the Malaysian Rally). There was a big fight between McRae and Kankkunen, but Eriksson didn't have a say in that; he finished 3rd, almost 4 minutes behind McRae.

Rally Australia 1994 (en.response.jp)

1995
She made her return on the 1995 1000 Lakes Rally, which wasn't a part of the WRC in that year, with Tommi Mäkinen. After winning in 1994 (and putting himself in the spotlight) with a Ford Escort, Tommi won again. At this point, the car was converted to Evo III spec, and had a one-off yellow livery.

1000 Lakes Rally 1995 (itsbrucemclaren.tumblr.com)

1000 Lakes Rally 1995 (Rainer Nyberg twitter)

Whereabouts
She made it to 1995, but wasn't used in 1996. With many new chassis built (supposedly...), she is either in a collector's hands or was destroyed.

Track record (most likely incomplete)
Starts: 4
Wins: 2

1994 Rally Indonesia - Eriksson/Parmander
1995 1000 Lakes Rally - Mäkinen/Harjanne

Podiums: 3

1994 Rally Indonesia - Eriksson/Parmander
1994 Rally Australia - Eriksson/Parmander
1995 1000 Lakes Rally - Mäkinen/Harjanne

Retirements: 0

2016. augusztus 14., vasárnap

M8 MRE

M8 MRE debuted alongside sister car M7 MRE on the 1995 Rally Indonesia, and was piloted by Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne. They finished 3rd, behind Colin McRae's Subaru and their team-mate Eriksson.

Her next (known for me) event was the Telstra Rally Australia, again with Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne. They were running in 3rd for most of the event, but in the end slipped back to 4th after clipping a bank and almost losing the left-front wheel. While the event did not count towards the WRC (just the APRC), Eriksson's win and this 4th place kept Mitsubishi in the title race in the Asia-Pacific standings. (Ps. This is the only picture I could get of the car so far... sorry for the big logo.)

Rally Australia 1995 (www.mcklein-imagedatabase.com)

Whereabouts
More than likely this car was used in pair with M7 MRE during 1995 (although I can not say that for sure, so far I couldn't find any pictures or videos), if that is true, it was used at least on one more event, the Rally of Malaysia (where Mäkinen finished 2nd behind Eriksson and M7). I'll try to get info on these events somehow...

Track record (incomplete)
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

1995 Rally Indonesia - 3rd

Retirements: 0

2016. augusztus 10., szerda

M10 MRE

M10 MRE -alongside sister car M9 MRE- made her debut on the 1995 Rally New Zealand, with Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne on board. They made a good start to the event, leading it after the first day. But like on many events back then, Tommi was pushing the envelope a bit far, and they crashed out on SS10.

Rally New Zealand 1995 PET (kiwirallyfan.com)

Rally New Zealand 1995 (itsbrucemclaren.tumblr.com)

She returned on the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally with an other Finn, this time with Ari Vatanen. They had one task: help team mate Eriksson in the APRC Drivers' Championship, and also to bring good points for Mitsubishi in their close fight with Subaru. They achieved both, with arriving to Beijing in 2nd, right behind Eriksson. (No photo yet, it is very difficult to get one of these old APRC events...)

Whereabouts
Just like M9 MRE, this numberplate has never returned to the stages, although it's more than likely that the chassis of both cars have been used if they were new builds; if not, it's possibly that this was their final showing.

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

1995 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally

Retirements: 1

Rally New Zealand 1995 - accident

M9 MRE

M9 MRE's -and sister car M10 MRE's- story is not that unusual for works Lancers. Both cars debuted on the 1995 Rally New Zealand, with Kenneth Eriksson and Staffan Parmander assigned to drive M9 MRE. Eriksson was fast, but not fast enough, and finished 5th behind McRae and the three factory Toyotas.

Rally New Zealand 1995 (en.response.jp)

Rally New Zealand 1995 (forocoches.com)

She returned to competition on the 1995 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally, again with Eriksson and Parmander. The event was always one of the most difficult on the APRC calendar, and there was pressure: Eriksson could get a big lead in the championship standings, also, Mitsubishi could get a jump on rivals Subaru. In the end, Eriksson won, with stand-in teammate Ari Vatanen coming home in 2nd for the double win.

Hong Kong-Beijing Rally 1995 (Classic_Rally instagram)

Whereabouts
The M9 MRE numberplate has never returned to competition, but I don't necessarily think that the car was scrapped; it might have been reused with a different numberplate...

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 1

1995 Hong Kong-Beijing Rally

Podiums: 1
Retirements: 0

2016. augusztus 9., kedd

M7 MRE

M7 MRE is a car that first appeared during 1995 - but with uncertainty over the fact when (to me at least, there are very few pictures and videos). Her first event seems to be the 1995 Rally of Indonesia, with Eriksson and Parmander. They finished 2nd, a bit more than 2 minutes behind winner Colin McRae.

Next up was the 1995 Petronas Rally of Malaysia, with Kenneth Eriksson and Staffan Parmander. They won the rally, in front of their team-mates Mäkinen and Harjanne.

Petronas Rally of Malaysia 1995 (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was the 1995 Rally Australia, again with Kenneth Eriksson and Staffan Parmander as her crew. The event (which wasn't part of the WRC that year, only the APRC) couldn't have gone better, as they collected maximum points following their win!

Rally Australia 1995 (web-rally.blogspot.com)

Rally Australia 1995 (Martin Holmes / rallylife.cz)

1996
M7 MRE made her return very late into the Evo III era, reappearing on the 1996 San Remo Rally with the team's guest star, Didier Auriol. This was the charismatic French driver's first drive in the car, jumping into the team in the last minute. Accordingly, most of the time he was getting used to the car, and he eventually finished 8th, and kept Ralliart in contention for the Manufacturers' Title.

San Remo Rally 1996 (internet)

Originally, the plan was that Auriol would drive the car in Spain as well, but Mäkinen crashed his own car during the previous round, and so Burns got to drive M7, whereas Tommi got Burns' car (though with M5 MRE numberplates, which were likely swapped from the crashed car). The new car didn't bring Richard any success as they had to retire.