KP51 RWL

KP51 RWL (notice the new numberplate-design: that is due to Britain going for a new system starting from September 2001; the first two letters indicate the area -in our case, Rugby, which goes from KM to KY-, than the next two the spring/autumn season, and three random numbers; if you're further interested, click here).
So, after this little history lesson on british numberplates, let's actually care about the car herself. She had a very strange and -unlike the cars who followed- very short stint as a factory car. She was the one Alister McRae used during the 2002 Rallye Monte Carlo, although they couldn't get close enough to bring home a good result; they finished 14th.

Possibly on Sisteron, 2002 Rallye Monte Carlo (Petr Fritz)

And than she disappeared, and didn't return until the 2003 Rallye New Zealand, again paired with Alister McRae. This was Mitsu's hiatus year, and also Marlboro was gone; however, this didn't stop the crew to come home 6th, the best result with an Evo WRC since 2002 Sweden.

En route to 6th place, 2003 NZ (www.ewrc.cz)

Whereabouts
She was put up for sale in 2010 August after a total refurbishment. It's unknown if she was bought or not, but somewhere she's still around.

Update 2018: The car was with Sumo Motorsport/JRM, but now has been bought by Michael Ehrle alongside X33 MMR.

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best finish: 6th (2003 Rallye New Zealand)
Retirements: 0

Y9 MMR

2001
Y9 MMR's story technically is not too much longer than Y2's, but OK, I'll try to be as long as I can. So, she has the (well, it's the matter of how you look at it) sad title that she was the very last works Mitsubishi Mäkinen has ever driven officially. This occasion was Rally GB, and the title was on the line. The team put a huge effort into testing new parts and setups, but on the first stage Mäkinen went through a hole and the front left suspension collapsed, marking a sad end to his rally, his title hopes and his career with Mitsubishi. Sadly, this also meant we never got to see the true potential of the car either.

We'll never know how good this car actually was (Mitsubishi)

2002
She had one rally written for her, the 2002 Rally Sweden. Francois Delecour was her driver, but as a frenchman, he had problems with the snow - but mainly with the car. This resulted in a couple of trips into snowbanks, and eventually, a 34th place finish

Rally Sweden, 2002 (www.crspics.com)

Whereabouts
The car was certainly scrapped sometime during 2002.

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best finish: 34th
Retirements: 1  

• 2001 Rally GB (suspension)

Y7 MMR

2001
Well, Y7 MMR is the strange one of the Y-reg WRCars, and also the longest serving one.
She made her debut in Australia, under the command of Tommi Mäkinen. The rally was tough, as Tommi had back pains from the Corsica crash, his stand-in codriver Timo Hantunen made several mistakes, and the car wasn't perfect either. But the performance got better, and a 6th place was more than satisfying looking at the circumstances.

2001 Rally Australia (Mitsubishi)

2002
In 2002, her first event was Rally Finland, but before that she was converted to Step2 version (various changes to the engine, exhaust, transmission and chassis). Indeed the performance was a little bit better, but Paasonen's 8th place was a bit disappointing.

Jumping to 8th place, 2002 Finland (motorsport.com)

Whereabouts
After this rally she disappeared  from the stages, but was used at some promo/test sessions. I had no knowledge where this car might be (since she was converted to Step2, she had some chance to survive) even until this very day, 21.03.2013. But today I found out that she's alive and around, as she returned to action on the Brands Hatch Winter Stages this year after an 11 year hiatus! This makes her the only survivor of the first couple of Evo WRCs! Awesome news!

Talking about 'ghosts'... 2013 BHWS

2018
After a 5 year hiatus, Y7 MMR has returned to the stages at the Horiba d'Isis Rally. There are not many infos or pictures of the event, but they finished 9th overall and 6th in class. As soon as I can get pictures I will post them.

Horiba d'Isis Stages 2018 (www.rallygallery.com)

 Track record
Starts:5
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best finish: 6th (2001 Rally Australia)
Retirements: 1 (2013 Sherrards Solicitors South Downs Stages)

Y5 MMR

Y5 MMR had a short and bitter career. Why? Well, it started in Sanremo: both she and Y4 MMR was developing transmission issues, causing them to be hardly driveable, so a lot of time was lost (and many other things weren't right too). So, despite Mäkinen trying hard, he couldn't get into the top 10, and on the final day, he put himself out of his misery by ripping a wheel off.

Just getting through the stages, 2001 Sanremo (Mitsubishi)

Next up was Corsica, and there was little hope to solve all the problems within 2 weeks. But it turned out that the car was giving some good response and even a point or two seemed possible, until this happened:

Not just the car was totalled, but this accident meant the end of Mannisenmäki's career.

Prior to the accident, 2001 Corsica (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
After the crash, everyone was convinced they just scrapped the car. Well, talking about turning the right corner...

As a showcar in 2002, note that she had sills opposed to the other Evo WRCs (Tuning-Auto.com)

After that, she was scrapped sometime during 2002.

Track record
Starts: 2
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best finish: -
Retirements: 2

Y4 MMR

2001
Well, just like all of the Y-registration plate works cars, she didn't last long before she was scrapped. But don't rust too much ahead, here's how it started. (But before that, I just found some interesting pics: the car as a half Group A-ish, half WRCar-ish mix, still with RHD, etc... )
Y4 MMR was a show and later test car, and even just days before she was used in Sanremo at the debut of the Evo WRC, you could sit in it at the Geneva Motorshow. Wow, right? Her first (and throughout 2001 only) driver was Freddy Loix. The event was going very bad, as the team had big problems with the transmission, which resulted in sometimes the complete loss of grip, or random wheel-blocking. So, they ended up in 12th position, over 7 minutes behind the leader. Talking of a bad debut, yeah...

Bad debut, worse result, 2001 Sanremo (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was Corsica, and there was little to none hope that the team can sort out the problem in 2 weeks, but the stage times proved to be better: still, the car was slow (was it really? I mean there weren't a rally where the circumstances were good enough to validate the car), but it was improving. Unfortunately this didn't show in the result (12th, 13m behind leader Puras). But this was due to bad weather, punctures, and ECU problems.

Through one of the '1000 corners', as they call the rally (Mitsubishi)

She was then rebuilt to gravel spec, and flewn down to Australia for her first gravel event. The starting position in Australia is more important than anything else, so Freddy starting 3rd was a bad sign... And indeed, the times were bad, but that was also because of some transmission issue. In the end, they ended up in 11th after a two minute penalty.

On the famous, ball-bearing like Aussie gravel, 2001 (Mitsubishi)

Next up was Rally GB, the last event for both Mäkinen and Loix in the team. The rainy weather certainly gave the tone for the event, as many was indeed crying in pain: Mäkinen retired on the first stage, and three (!!!) gearboxes broke in Y4, forcing Loix to retire after an otherwise great performance.

If you think about Rally GB, what comes to your mind? Exactly... (Mitsubishi)

2002
She was used in various test session around 2001 Dec - 2002 Feb.

As a test car again, 2001 Dec. (Mitsubishi)

Her last appearance came on the Rally Sweden, with Jani Paasonen. The duo worked well (unlike one of his teammates), but a broken suspension meant they had to settle for 14th.

2002 Sweden (Internet)

Her last event was Rally Cyprus 2002, with Jani Paasonen. He was the leading Lancer of the three, but had to retire after ripping a wheel off on a concrete kerb.

Interesting to note that Jani only got really worn cars at first... (motorsport.com)

Whereabouts
She was scrapped in 2002, and was never converted to Step2.

Track record
Starts:6
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Best finish: 11th (2001 Rally Australia)
Retirements: 2 (2001 Rally GB & 2002 Rally Cyprus)

X66 MMR

Indeed I was in a hurry and almost forgot that X6 had her sister, X66 MMR... You know, I got a bit excited about the Evo WRCs... well, sorry for that.
So, X66 MMR WAS the very last factory built Group A Lancer, and as that she made her debut at the memorable, rain-soaked 2001 Rallye de Portugal as Mäkinen's car. Just like her sister, she made a sudden impact by winning the rally in style.

In the rainy Rallye de Portugal 2001, closing on the victory (Mitsubishi)

Her next challenge was the Rallye Catalunya in Spain, again with Tommi (she served him throughout her entire 2001 works career). The performance was good, but they just couldn't stop the french cars to take the first two places, but a podium was a great result.

Fast stages, fast car, a Flying Finn - what else do you need? (Mitsubishi)

Up next was the hot, rough, dusty and twisty Rally Cyprus. As Tommi was leading the championship, he had to start first, thus sweeping the loose gravel off the road. But he wanted to lose as little time as possible, so he pushed, but in one corner the grip wasn't eough, and they slid down the hill, into a tree. Game over.

A pretty fast and expensive broom... (Mitsubishi)

She was present at the end of the Group A cars' era, the Rally New Zealand 2001. Still leading the championship, Tommi had to work through sweeping the roads, which is a huge handycap on the fast and twisty NZ stages. Tommi and the Lancer were also out of shape, and with no works cars retiring, they had to settle for 8th place.

On the farewell event of the Grp. A Evos, 2001 NZ (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
Update 2014: X66 MMR is in Italy. More info if it will be available.

Track record
Starts: 4
Wins: 1 (2001 Rallye de Portugal)
Podiums: 2 (2001 Rallye de Portugal & Rally Catalunya)
Retirements: 1 (2001 Rally Cyprus)

Y2 MMR

Well, just a short note here, as there's nothing serious to be reported of a test car that was never used in competition. However, this car had a huge role in the Evo WRC project, so I can't leave her out of the party.

During testing before the Evo WRC's debut, September 2001 (Mitsubishi)

As she was a test car that wasn't even used in 2002, it is certain that she was scrapped, which is understandable as she clocked up more than 2000kms during test sessions in 2001. But to have more than three sentences of this car, here are some pictures during tests and other activities:

The front suspension during testing in the summer of 2001 (Mitsubishi)

The all-new rear suspension of the Evo WRC (Mitsubishi)

The engine bay. A lot of parts are in the same location as they were on the Gr.A Lancers (Mitsubishi)

During testing in the summer of 2001 (Mitsubishi)

Good shot of the cooling ducting, gearbox, engine bay and suspension (Mitsubishi)