Well, all is good if the ending is good, and so is the series of the Evo WRCars. Just a very much typical Ralliart story: while KN52 XBB had a short and sad career, KN52 XBC, in contrary, is still doing well, and is the most successful Evo WRC ever, and also the only one existing that never ever wore the Marlboro livery. But let's just start from the beginning.
She was built alongside KN52 XBB, and after they were only completed after the team decided they was going for a testing year, she was used to test components for the new car. And just like her sister, she was entered to the 2003 Deutschland Rallye, her driver being Kristian Sohlberg. Nothing really exciting, as the crew finished 17th.
A Flying Finn flying the car, 2003 Deutschland Rallye (Petr Lusk)
Whereabouts
She returned to action in 2007 after she was bought by Ramon Apalantza. He had tremendous success with the car, using it only on tarmac rallysprints, and basically never finishing out of the top4. He stopped rallying her in 2009 when he started using a Group N Evo IX, but he still has the car, which is displayed in a museum.
Update: just realised that her last start so far was in 2010, on the Rallysprint Villa de Fitero, where they finished 5th.
Awaiting the start
In 2009
Before scrutineering
Possibly Rallyesprint de Karrantza 2007
In 2009, during her last full competitive season so far
Rallye Balcon de Bizkaia 2009
Rallysprint de Azkoitia 2007
Track record
Starts: 22
Wins: 2 (Rallye Balcon de Bizkaia 2009 & Rallysprint de Azkoitia 2007)
Podiums: 14 (6x 2nd, 8x 3rd)
Retirements: 3 (Rallysprint de Azkoitia 2007, Rallysprint de Azpeitia - Ikasberri 2008, Rallysprint de Azpeitia - Ikasberri 2008)
Maybe the saddest story of all these cars goes to this gal, KN52 XBB. She was a pure test car, and never saw competition in 2002 as she was finished after Rally GB. So in 2003, she was used to test parts for the new, completely redesigned (that's a bit illogical to test components in a car for an other that has no similarities to the older one except the wheelbase and the base engine, but OK), but was finally entered to the 2003 Deutschland Rallye, with Jani Paasonen. They were way off the pace, and on the rain-soaked event, they went straight on a corner, landing in the forest; the car was basically written off, and as no need for her, she was just scrapped after the event.
On her first event, the 2003 Dautschland Rallye (Petr Lusk)
2014 Update: It caught my attention that Jari Tuuri (whose team is running KP51 RWO for Ari Vihavainen) aquired/built a new Lancer WRC, and used it as a course car on the ABC Ralli this year.
Album of the car's rebuild: http://septech.fi/albumi/mitsubishiwrcstep2projekti/
He entered the Neste Rally Finland with this car -this was the first appearance of a Lancer Evo WRC on the event since 2002!-, and finished 3rd in his category!
On the Rally Finland podium, 2014 (Oke Tuuri)
Their latest event was the Toivakka Ralli, where they finished 11th.
On Octorber 4th, they participated on the Kattasora Rallisprint in Laukaa. Thanks for the pics again! :)
2014 Kattasora Sprint (Tuuri)
Same. Looking splendid!
Also, they found and bought a lot of spares for their cars, so the dreaded parts shortage won't hit these old ladies in the future. Also, here's a video, XBB appears at 0:27.
There were othr starts, but until I can confirm which these were, I won't write about them. 2015
Her first event of the year was the Lipposen-OP Talvirallisprint, driven by Antti Matikainen (and possibly by Jari Tuuri as well, I will have to get info on that).
The car returned to actionon the SM Itäralli, again with Antti Matikainen. Given the fact that he hasn't driven the car in competition since the winter, their 13th place finish is not that bad.
SM Itäralli 2015 (Itäralli facebook)
Jari Tuuri returned to the car for the Orimattila 150v. Juhlaralli, where they finished 5th. Unfortunately, so far I couldn't find any photos, so if you have any links or own pics, just let me know!
Tuuri also drove her on the 4vetomies 2015 event, and finished 4th overall!
4vetomies 2015 (4vetomies Twitter)
The car returned on the Pirelli Ralli Tampere, but this time with Antti Matikainen. They were around 10th overall, but just like the other Lancer WRC with Ari Vihavainen, they didn't get far from SS8, as they retired in the finish of the stage; it is not quite clear why though.
2016
The car returned on the 2016 FRC season opener, the Arctic Rally, with Mikko Eskelinen, who was competing with co-driver (and Ralliart works team veteran) Arto Kapanen, who returned to this car for the first time after the 2003 Deutschland Rallye! Well, back to the actual event: they did well, and finished 3rd (although only because Nikara retired from the lead on the final stage). Not a bad debut with the car!
They returned on the second round of the Finnish Championship, the SM Vaakuna Ralli. They struggled a bit in the dark, but on the final day moved up the leaderboard, and finished 6th overall and 4th in SM1 class.
The third round of the FRC was the Tahko Ralli. Just like the sister car (KP51 RWO), they had a pretty uneventful start, but as the day progressed, they climbedhigher and higher, eventually reaching the finish in 3rd overall, meaning that this is the first time in years that two Lancer WRCs of any kind have graced the final podium at the same time!
During scrutineering, SM Tahko Ralli 2016 (Ralli SM)
Next up was the Enset Oy SM-Ralli. They hoped for a good result given the stage characteristics, but that didn't come to fruition. They finished 6th overall and 5th in SM1 class, and were a minute behind the trio fighting for 3rd place. However, these were still good point for the championship, where they have a chance for the podium.
The penultimate round of the 2016 Finnish Championship was held in Turku, with a very strong entry list - although OC Veiby was missing from the frontrunners. Eskelinen and Kapanen couldn't take advantage of the Mitsubishi's strong engine as exactly this failed and they had to retire.
The last round of the 2016 Finnish Championship was as usual the Pirelli Ralli, held in Tampere. They prepared with a good test for the event, and they were in the fight for the podium when they lost 22s on SS6, then retired in checkpoint 7B with a blown engine, likely caused by an electrical problem. Hopefully they can sort out the reliability issues that plagued them in the end, and get good results with the car next year.
2017
The car was refurbished before the season, and also got a brand new livery, dominated by Mad Croc Orange. They started the year well, finishing 10th on the Arctic Rally against much younger and faster cars.
2018
She has returned to action on the Rally Finland with Mikko Eskelinen again, as part of the Vetomies event. The rally started well, as they won the first stage, but had to retire on the penultimate one with a transmission problem.
2019
She returned to the stages on the Arctic Rally, with the usual Eskelinen-Kapanen crew aboard. They started well, going around 10th place, but unfortunately a sensor broke and they had to retire. They returned under SR rules, and after setting a good time on the first SS of day 2, they were forced to retire again due to mechanical problems.
2020
She was back in action after a year of absence with Eskelinen&Kapanen on board, rocking a brand new livery as well. For the first time after 2017, they finished the rally, 14th overall and 10th in the SM1 class. Good to see the car still rocking!
Interestingly, the three KR02 DL-cars' chassis numbers are the opposite direction as the alphabet goes (DLZ - C012, DLX - C015). Well, to say the least, I don't have to keep a long story short, as she had only three rallies during her entire career, and was unlucky enough not to finish any of them; not exactly a fairy tale...
She debuted as an asphalt car for Alister McRae on the 2002 Deutschland Rallye, but was forced to retire after the turbo blew up.
It is not the best when you have something like this coming out of the exhaust... (Petr Fitz)
Her next event was Rally Sanremo, but McRae had injured himself prior to th event. In fact, his problems were worse than they thought, and had to withdraw him from the event.
As the glowing brakedisc shows, you have to tackle a lot of corners in Sanremo (motorsport.com)
It is just a mere irony that Jani Paasonen, the substitution driver for McRae in GB got to drive her, but after being really off the pace, he crashed the car really badly, ending the season and the car on a low, too.
Her first gravel rally was her last one - ever... (motorsport.com)
Whereabouts
She was crashed on the last event before Mitsu went for a holiday season, and a new car was in the works, so it's safe to say she wasn't repaired, instead, fed to the grim reaper.
Paasonen never made half work...
Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Retirements: 3
I wrote that KR02 DLZ might be the most used chassis of the Evo WRCs; well, yes, it is the one that is in the worst shape, but not the most used: this title goes to KR02 DLY, because she was entered 30 times (as of 2013. september) into rallies around the world! It is not typical to these cars, to say the least... Also, she is Chassis number 14, but technically the 13th Lancer WRC built... yes, they thought it was better to step over (un)lucky 13 (maybe they were right?).
She started her life as a pure asphalt car, debuting on the 2002 Deutschland Rallye in the hands of Francois Delecour. As this was the Step2 cars' first tarmac outing, it was unsure what they could do; however, despite the narrow roads favouring the smaller French cars (Subaru, the best big car at the time, was also struggling to get into the top six), Delecour did some reasonable times, almost winning a stage on day 2. The effort earned the crew a 9th place, which was nice looking at the fact that neither Mäkinen, nor Sainz was able to clinch drivers points...
Finally, the car showed some promise on tarmac... (motorsport.com)
Her next event was the famous Sanremo Rally, again with Delecour. The performance was good, as he was fighting with the Fords, but the turbo piping came loose twice, costing them a better finish. Yet, despite the troubles they finished 10th.
Nothing could beat the French cars on tarmac (motorsport.com)
She was present at the closing round of the 2002 Championship, the Rally GB, still with Delecour. The crew was struggling, and eventually crashed out following a bad pace note call.
This pic sums up what Rally GB is all about... (motorsport.com)
Whereabouts
There was no sign of this car whatsoever until 2008, when MSR Motorsport pulled it out of somewhere, and started to rally it all over Great Britain, with Charlie Payne as her driver.
With Charlie Payne, 2008 (Ian Hardy)
She was a lot better treated than DLZ, fortunately (Ian Hardy)
In 2010 she was sold to Henk Vossen, who completely refurbished the car, but he was facing heavy shortage of spare parts, such as even the bumpers... Nonetheless, he's done 8 rallies so far with her before putting her up for sale in 2012. These events included the car's return to the Deutschland Rallye, 8 years after debuting on the very same event. There's no info if he could sell the car or not.
As "Mean Green", during the 2010 ELE Rally (Jan Borger)
Back to the roots? 2010 Deutschland Rallye
En route to 4th place, 2010 Euregio Rally (Jan Borger)
TankS Rally 2011 (Jan Borger)
Tarmac tyres, gravel, 4WD - what more do you need? 2011 ELE Rally (Jan Borger)
On her last rally to date, the 2011 Exotic Green Rally (Jan Borger)
Update: She was bought by Jari Latvala (Jari-Matti's father, who has a special love for ex-works Lancers... we will touch that subject when I get through writing the IVs), who entered two rallies with it so far: the 2. Kärla Rally and the 2013 Rally Estonia; on the Kärla, he finished second behind a Group N Evo IX, but retired with cooling problems on the Rally Estonia (well, a roll he had might have had a say in that...).
On the Kärla Rally, returning to gravel after a 4-year hiatus (Allair Echfuss)
Charging hard, 2013 Rally Estonia (Janis Asaris)
Update #2: since her last showing she was painted back to red, and Latvala finished second with the car on the ADMV Lausitz Rallye 2013.
Jumping to 2nd overall, 2013 Lausitz Rallye (motorsport-magazin.com)
2015
After missing out on the entire 2014 season, Jari Latvala brought her to the Arctic Rally. This return didn't end well, as they had to retire after an accident.
2015 Arctic Rally (Actic Rally Facebook)
2016
After one and a half years on the shelf, the car returned on the Latvala family Rally Day, driven by none other than Jari-Matti himself! The car looks and sounds good, and if they decide to use it on events like this only to preserve it, I'm perfectly good with it.
