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 - 

R4 MRE

R4 MRE's career didn't start out as a success story. She was Mäkinen's car at the 1998 Acropolis Rally, where they couldn't enjoy the company of each other as the electronics went silent on the first day. Ouch.

The first victim of the 1998 Acropolis Rally (Mitsubishi)

Her next rally was the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland, now with Burns as her driver. The lack of experience held back them, but they fought hard and finished in 5th; not bad on his first Rally Finland...

Flying the British flag on the way for 5th, 1998 Finland (Mitsubishi)

Her final rally was the famous RAC Rally, and as this was Burns' home event, the expectations were high. This time, Richard stayed out of trouble, the car was faultless, and a beautiful drive took them to the top of the podium; also, this result meant that Mitsubishi was the Manufacturers' Champion of 1998.

The RAC Rally was known for going through palace gardens (Mitsubishi)

Celebrating the win on their last drive for Ralliart (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
There's always a slim chance that a car from the pre-Evo VI era survived, but it is not really likely.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 1 (1998 RAC Rally GB)
Podiums: 1 (1998 RAC Rally GB)
Retirements: 1 (1998 Acropolis Rally)

R33 MRE

R33 MRE debuted alongside R3 MRE on the 1998 Rallye Argentina, piloted by Richard Burns. The debut event went well more or less, as the young Briton was really fast, but problems held him back early. After that he fought back to the points, holding off a charging McRae.In the end, they finished 4th.

A typical picture from Argentina (Mitsubishi)

As a long-haul car, her next event was the Rallye New Zealand, again with Burns. They had good speed, but mistakes put them out of the point-scoring places, and eventually finished 9th.

A good picture of NZ's fast, flowing stages (Mitsubishi)

Her final rally was the Rally Australia, still with Burns. They have been fighting in the top five all along, and were in the battle for the win on the final day; however, Richard cut a corner too much, and rolled the car into the trees. They could continue, but later missed a braking point, and rolled into the trees again. This time the radiator was also damaged, frocing them to retire.

If it wasn't for two rolls, they could have won (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
She wasn't seen again after Australia, not even at testing, so it is safe to say she was scrapped.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best finish: 4th (1998 Rally Argentina)
Retirements: 1 (1998 Rally Australia)

R22 MRE

I almost forgot about R22 MRE, but luckily I got my mind back in order, so here is the (very) short story.
R22 made her debut alongside R2 at the 1998 Catalunya Rallye, with Richard Burns as her driver. Despite Burns' lack of experience, the crew did well, and finished right behind team-mate Mäkinen in 4th place.

En route to 4th on the Evo V's debut (Mitsubishi)

Her final appearance on an event was the 1998 Corsica Rally, again with Burns. They were doing well (they were podium contenders!) until Richard hit a stone, the lower arm broke, and they had to retire on the liaison back to the service park.

Not much before they hit a stone, 1998 Corsica (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
She was used as a test car for Loix prior to the 1999 season, wearing an Evo VI front bumper and rear wing (R2 MRE and S22 TMR make appearances in the video as well): click here. After that, she wasn't seen again.

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best finish: 4th (1998 Rallye Catalunya)
Retirements: 1 (1998 Corsica Rally)

R3 MRE

R3 MRE was one of the Evo Vs that lasted well after they completely dissapeared from the rally stages. She made her debut as a long haul car, first used at the 1998 Rally Argentina as Mäkinen's car (yes, the numberplate rule returns again). The event was great, and despite some problems Mäkinen collected his third straight Argentina win.

Speeding through the spectacular, yet car-killer Argentine scenery (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was the Rallye New Zealand. Despite early problems and some lack of confidence (he crashed out of the previous 3 NZ Rallies!), Mäkinen could fight back and finished a great 3rd.

The NZ stages always favor the Finns... well, not in 1998 (Mitsubishi)

Her last competitive appearance came with the Rally Australia, and as usual -at least until Marlboro came-, the cars were dressed in Winfield-colours. After an event with a lot of interesting happenings (Mäkinen had a penalty for jumping the start, but the start lights and the clock weren't synchronised, and later the penalty was removed; Sainz, who was badly affected by the decision, even said that it's a conspiracy). After a five-way fight for the win on the last day, Mäkinen won; basically, not just the rally, but the championship as well.

Sporting the Winfield livery for the very last time on a very controversial event... (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
She was never entered to a rally again, instead, she was used as a test and promotional car in early 1999, but later disappeared. Interestingly, she returned in 2000 for the Marlboro Challenge with Freddy Loix to take on Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari and Max Biaggi's Ducati, and also for some donuts.

One of these vehicles was thought to be dead... (Mitsubishi)

On her last public appearance, now disguised as an Evo VI, 2000 Marlboro Challenge (Mitsubishi)

She hasn't been seen since that, but the fact that she made it at least till 2000 might give a slight chance that she was bought by a private collector.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 2 (1998 Rally Argentina & Rally Australia)
Podiums: 3 (1998 Rally Argentina, Rallye New Zealand & Rally Australia)

R2 MRE

Now, let's jump back to 1998, more marticularly to the Evo Vs, the statistically most successful, yet the least used cars in Ralliart's rich history.
R2 MRE (note: at this time there was no Marlboro on the cars, so MRE stood for Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe, whereas MMR stood for Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart, TMR for Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, etc.) made her debut on the 5th round of the 1998 season, the Rallye Catalunya in Spain, with Tommi Mäkinen behind the wheel. The car was new as this was also the debut of the works Evo V as well; the car was good straight out of the box, mainly thanks to the wider track and the updated suspensions and differentials. The Mäkinen-Mannisenmäki-Mitsubishi trio arrived back to Salou in 3rd place.

A podium on a debut? Not bad! (Mitsubishi)

As Corsica was the usual follow-up to Spain, she made the short trip to the island, where the event is known as the "rally of the thousand turns". A really fitting title... As Corsica had some personal problems with Mäkinen (in 1997, he hit a cow at 180kph, in 2000 he rolled, in 2001 he crashed and basically ended his codriver's career), this year was just having fun: he had no accidents, but the electronics gave up, sending the crew home earlier than they expected.

The fans didn't get to see them twice... (Mitsubishi)

Her final works event was the 1998 Sanremo Rally, this timw badged as a 'Carisma GT' and was being driven by Richard Burns. Despite his lack of experience of the event, he was looking to finish in 5th position until an electrocincal glitch forced him to give up two places.

On her last works event, the 1998 Sanremo Rally (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
She was used as a test car in early 1999 alongside some of the Vs, such as R8 MRE, but after those tests she wasn't seen ever again; but this does not rule out that she exists somewhere, as more and more Mitsus are coming out of their hiding place...

Track record
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1 (1998 Rallye Catalunya)
Best finish: 3rd (1998 Rallye Catalunya)
Retirements: 1 (1998 Corsica Rally)

KN52 XBC

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)