N7 MRE

N7 MRE was the twin car of N6 MRE - therefore she began her career in 1996 in Argentina as well, just she was piloted by the up-and-coming British driver, Richard Burns. The event was a first for everyone - the team, Tommi, and Richard. Despite that, Mäkinen won - and Burns arrived at the finish in 4th overall. Not bad at all!


Her second event was the Rally Australia, again with Burns. Despite having very small experience of the event, they finished 5th, and almost beat Colin McRae, the outgoing World Champion.

1996 Rally Australia (McKlein)

1997
In 1997, Mitsubishi was still using the trick that only Mäkinen was doing all the events, while Burns was on deployment in the APRC, and on selected WRC rounds. When the 2nd factory car was not present, Uwe Nittel, the 1996 Gr. N champion was nominated as point scorer in a Ralliart Germany Lancer, to be exact, N7 MRE. The season started well in Monte-Carlo, with them finishing 5th, despite having to change a wheel on day 3.

1997 Rallye Monte-Carlo (Mitsubishi)

Next up was the Rally Sweden, a quite harsh learning ground for any non-Nordic driver. Nittel was doing according to this, and almost had a decent result, but two stages before the end they went off and hit a tree.

1997 Rally Sweden (Mitsubishi)

They returned to action in Spain, the first real tarmac rally of the season. Nittel was driving very carefully, but he had a chance to get 6th on the final stage. He went off though, and had to complete the rally with one suspension missing, and only finished 8th.

1997 Rally Catalunya (Mitsubishi)

As was the tradition for many years, shortly after Spain was the Tour de Corse. They had quite a disadvantage here with the old Evo III against the Kit Cars and the WRCs, and so it showed. They made stage times in the 5th-10th zone, and ended up 8th after encountering some transmission problems.

1997 Tour de Corse (Mitsubishi)

For Greece, Nittel was carrying #10 as this was the first time three works cars were present at the same rally. Interestingly though, they finished 6th, their second points scoring finish after Monte-Carlo. Unfortunately, so far I wasn't able to find a picture of them.

After missing New Zealand, they returned on Rally Finland. Again, not an easy rally, but they kept themselves together, and finished 7th - not bad considering they were the fastest of the non-Finnish drivers!

1997 Rally Finland (Mitsubishi)

Their last WRC event of the season was the Sanremo Rally. They were doing quite well against the better cars, and even had a pair of 2nd-fastest stage times, but went off on SS16 and had to retire.

1997 Sanremo Rally (Mitsubishi)

To close the season, they entered the Golden Tulip Rally (now called Hellendoorn Rally), part of the ERC. However, this didn't turn out to be a good occasion, as they crashed out.

Cropped from a video, the only sight I have found of them - 1997 Golden Tulip Rally

Whereabouts
The car wasn't seen after 1997, but since it was at Ralliart Germany, it could have survived, but crashing on its last known rally might not have helped. I have no info on this matter. So, if You have any, please contact me!

Track record
Starts: 10
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best result: 4th - 1996 Rally Argentina
Retirements: 2

• 1997 Sanremo Rally - accident
• 1997 Golden Tulip Rally - accident

P4 MRE

P4 MRE has a very intersting story... quite like T22 MMR or X33 MMR, and yet not really. She made her debut with Mäkinen in Argentina 1997, and the pairing was immediately successful, as they won the rally.

1997 Rally Argentina (Mitsubishi)

Her next event turned out to be her last one: the Smokefree Rally New Zealand, again with Mäkinen. He had tough luck in NZ at that time, and unfortunately 1997 didn't turn out to be different: in heavy rain, he crashed so badly that the car was like a hatchback after it...

Still in one piece on the first day, 1997 Rally NZ (Mitsubishi)

And after the crash, Rally New Zealand 1997 (Classic Rally instagram)

1998
For 1998, Ralliart Germany got a new/another chassis with P4 MRE numberplates (I think it's impossible that they rebuilt a badly crashed Evo IV for a subsidiary team when the V was already almost debuting...) for Uwe Nittel's second WRC campaign in factory machinery.
They started the program in Monte-Carlo, and spent most of the time getting Nittel accustomed to the car. In the end, they finished 7th - not in the points, but still decent.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 1998 (Mitsubishi)

Next up was the Swedish Rally, which wasn't Nittel's strongest one. Despite this, he and Didier Auriol fought until the last stage to decide 6th place; Nittel lost, but it was still an encouraging performance on a very difficult event.

Rally Sweden 1998 (Mitsubishi)

They missed the Safari Rally (quite understandably), and returned on the Rally de Portugal. They were 11th after the first day, but had to give up any hopes of a strong result when a stone broke the engine mounting, forcing them into retirement.

Rally de Portugal 1998 (Mitsubishi)

Next up was a trip to Spain's Costa Brava - Rally Catalunya. The car's appearance has changed slightly, as the previous red parts were now purple. They faced a very strong opposition - not just from the WRCs, but from the increasingly faster Ki Cars as well. In the end, they did what they could with a car not so well suited for tarmac, and finished 9th - behind 6 WRCs and 3 Kit Cars.

Rally Catalunya - Costa Brava 1998 (Mitsubishi)

They missed the next two rounds - Corsica and Argentina -, and returned on the Acropolis Rally. They were 8th after the first day, and could have climbed higher on the second day, but a transmission failure forced them to retire.

Acropolis Rally 1998 (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
The car was likely never rebuilt after the crash in NZ, the one that Ralliart Germany got was more than likely a different chassis with the P4 numberplate. After the Acropolis, the team got an Evo V -R44 MRE- to use. This car could have been scrapped, but hopefully it is sitting in a collection somewhere.

Track record
Starts: 7
Wins: 1  

• 1997 Rally Argentina

Podiums: 1

• 1997 Rally Argentina

Retirements: 3 

• 1998 Acropolis Rally - transmission
• 1998 Rally de Portugal - engine mounting
• 1997 Rally New Zealand

R44 MRE

R44 MRE's (factory) story is the shortest alongside R6 MRE's (more on that later). She debuted on the 1998 Acropolis Rally, driven by Richard Burns. Tactics were heavily involved during the event, and that meant Burns had to sweep the road on the second day. He was catching back the time he lost on the third, but the suspension couldn't bear the heavy punishment, and the crew had to retire.

After leading on the first day, everything went wrong (Mitsubishi)

As I got to know now, the car was transferred to Ralliart Germany for Uwe Nittel's remaining programme of 1998. Their first event together was the ADAC Deutschland Rallye, where they finished 2nd, 4 seconds behind Matthias Kahle's Corolla WRC.

ADAC Rallye Deutschland 1998 (automobilposter.de)

ADAC Rallye Deutschland 1998 (MKTV PL)

ADAC Rallye Deutschland 1998 (MKTV PL)

Next up was the AvD Hunsrück Rallye. This one ended pretty fast, as Nittel cut a corner, a stone hit the suspension and they had to retire.

AvD Hunsrück Rallye 1998 (Misi S)

Next up was the Mänttä 200 Ralli, a then-popular rally that was used as a test by many works teams as preparation before the big one - Rally Finland. Nittel and the team took part in 1998, with an unknown result.

Mänttä 200 Ralli 1998 (personal.inet.fi)

Her final recorded event was the Rally Finland. They started the rally well, lurking around the top10 with a new car in bad conditions, but disaster struck on SS7 Kuohu, as they crashed and had to retire.

Neste Rally Finland 1998 (Petr Fitz / ewrc.cz)

Whereabouts
And that was it, the plate R44 MRE was never used again (at least I don't know about it). Depending on how badly crashed the car was and if it was brought back to Rugby, this car can very well be alive still today... just with some upgrades.

Track record (not complete)
Starts: 5
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1

• 1998 ADAC Deutschland Rallye - Nittel/Thörner

Retirements: 3

• 1998 Rally Finland - accident
• 1998 AvD Hunsrück Rallye - puncture/suspension
• 1998 Acropolis Rally -