P6 MRE

1997
Well, this moment has arrived as well: P6 MRE was the last of the Evo IVs to debut, making only one appearance in 1997: on the RAC Rally GB, with Mäkinen. The drivers' world title was on the line, and Tommi only had to bring it home in 6th; however, he got the flu, and had very bad fever during the rally, but managed just enough as he crossed the finish line in 6th.

The RAC always looks something like this... (Mitsubishi)

1998
Her next appearance was the 1998 Swedish Rally, again with Mäkinen. The pair worked well, as they dominated and took 4 points more than Sainz. These points later proved to be decisive in the title battle...

Beautiful pic from the winning trio (Mitsubishi)

Her final rally as an Evo IV was Rallye de Portugal, again with Mäkinen; one year ago, a sister car scored the IV's first ever WRC win and also was the first car equipped with sequential gearbox to win a WRC rallye. This year, the competition was very tight, and Tommi made a mistake: in a forest stage, he overdrove a corner and hit two trees with the left side of the car. Game over.

On the first day, fighting for the podium, 1998 Portugal (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
Since she was relatively new and unused in 1998, later she might have been converted into an Evo V, VI or 6.5.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 1 (1998 Rallye Sweden)
Podiums: 1
Retirements: 1 (1998 Rallye de Portugal)

P55 MRE

P55 MRE had a lengthy, but very rough career that ended as a Safari Rally recce car-but let's start at the beginning. The P55 MRE registration debuted at the 1997 1000 Lakes Rally (now Rally Finland), but despite the double digit, it was Mäkinen's car. And it was a great debut, as Tommi won his home event for the 4th time!

They edged Kankkunen by 7s to win the rally (Mitsubishi)

Next up for her was the RAC Rally GB, but this time with Burns. Burns was a man on a mission, beating his closest rival on the foggy opening stage by 17 seconds! But later he was so unlucky that a little stone was caught up between the rim and the tyre that the anti-puncture mousse didn't work, and with the time lost he only finished 4th.

He was the fastest, but also the unluckiest (Mitsubishi)

1998
She returned for the swan song of the Evo IVs in Sweden, again with Burns. This event didn't turn out too well for the pairing, as they got stuck in snowbanks, eventually ending up in 15th.

Nice picture from an event with a not so nice result (Mitsubishi)

Her last competition in the WRC as an Evo IV/works car was Rally de Portugal with Burns. He was in contention for the podium, but a gamble on the tyre choice didn't work, so he had to settle for 4th.

On the famous Fafe jump (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
This car might be one of the longest surviving Evo IVs in their original shape, as it appears in the season review video of the 1999 WRC season, where it is seen as a Safari Rally recce car; interesting to note that it retained its sequential gearbox. What happened to her is mystery...

Track record
Starts: 4
Wins: 1 (1997 1000 Lakes Rally)
Podiums: 1
Retirements: 0

P5 MRE

P5 MRE -against the numberplate rules- made her first appearance with Richard Burns at the 1997 Rally Argentina. They performed well, but the rear suspension couldn't handle the otherwise really brutal -at least for Argentina- stages.

The different paint scheme the Carisma wore in 1997 (Mitsubishi)

Her next event was Rally New Zealand, again piloted by Burns. They did well, but the competition was so tight that small mistakes couldn't be afforded. Despite winning the 2nd most stages over the rally, exactly because of these little problems they only finished 4th.

The speed was OK, but luck wasn't on their side in NZ (Mitsubishi)

P5 MRE then made the trip from NZ to Australia, but this time her driver was Tommi Mäkinen. He needed 12 points from the last two rallies to secure the title - he finished 2nd in Australia, collecting the half of it in a Winfield-sponsored car.

Yup, the Aussie gravel is very slippery (Autoshot)

Whereabouts
The car hasn't been seen since Australia 1997, so either it was scrapped or used as a Safari recce car like P55 MRE, or it was built into an Evo VI.

Track record
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1 (1997 Rally Australia)
Retirements: 0

P44 MRE

The car(s) with P44 MRE plates (more on this shortly) -in contrary to the double digits- belonged to Tommi Mäkinen in 1997. Her debut event was the 1997 Catalunya Rally, and there's no better way to debut than to do it with a win!

En route to the victory, 1997 Spain (internet)

This was followed by a long pause, but the car returned to action on the Sanremo Rally. Despite Mäkinen's inexperience of the stages, he finished third after a huge battle with Sainz on the last day.

Sanremo's fast, narrow roads and dry conditions meant tight competition (internet)

1998
Her last WRC event was the season opener Monte Carlo Rally - but this time with Burns. The young Brit had little to none experience of the tricky event, but in the end he didn't crash out like Mäkinen did, as he finished in 5th place.

Great pic from Rallye MC - note the frozen water on
the intercooler from the spray system (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
The car -or cars- that carried the P44 MRE plate hasn't been seen since MC in its original Evo IV shape; however, it is possible that it was used as a Safari Rally recce car or was converted to an Evo VI.

Track record
Wins: 1 (1997 Catalunya Rally)
Podiums: 2 (1997 Catalunya Rally & Sanremo Rally)
Retirements: 0

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

P33 MRE

P33 MRE was very much like her sister P3 MRE - both were heavy gravel cars, debuted on the very same event, although their luck and fate could not be any different. As the double digits after P show, this wasn't Mäkinen's car, it belonged to Richard Burns. Their first event together was the 1997 Safari Rally, where they missed out on the win by a slight margin. But that's still a second place on the world's toughest rally!

Jumping to 2nd on the Safari (Mitsubishi)

Her next WRC event was the Rally Indonesia, which also counted for the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (Burns' main focus that year was on the APRC). The rally was eventful for the crew, but after all the difficulties Burns could secure a 4th place.

It must be interesting to drive at 200kph in the middle of a tropical jungle... (Mitsubishi)

As a heavy-gravel and long-haul car, her next appearance was at the Rally Australia. Winfield stepped in as a sponsor, so the cars were red (but not Marlboro red!). After swapping places continuously throughout the event with the first four, Burns finished in 4th place; he was a bit disappointed, but it was a great performance against his opposition consisting 4 World Champions.

In Australia, they barely missed out on a podium (Mitsubishi)

1998
She finished off her career in great style - one year after the 2nd place at the Safari, she returned to the event, again with Burns. The Lancers were the class of the field - unfortunately, P3 MRE didn't want to carry Mäkinen to the finish, but the win by the Burns/Reid/P33 trio eased the team's sadness. That's right, she won on her very last WRC rally.

En route to the win, 1998 Safari Rally (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
Actually, she is one of the very few Evo IVs that survived beyond their use as a Safari Rally recce car, and she was built back to original shape. She was on display and also did some doughnuts at the 2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed, although that show-off was overshadowed by the fact that she was on display because of Richard Burns' death in late 2005; she was one of the cars that Richard drove and were on display. She is on of the cars in Andrew Cowan's private collection.

At the 2006 GFOS (fareham.org)

GFOS 2006

On display at the 2006 GFOS

Track record (WRC)
Starts: 4
Wins: 1 (1998 Safari Rally)
Podiums: 2 (1998 Safari Rally & 1997 Safari Rally)
Retirements: 0

P3 MRE

P3 MRE was one of the least used of the Evo IV branch-this is easily because she was one of the last, classic 'heavy gravel' cars; these had a very short, albeit eventful career, and so had P3. She made her debut on the 1997 Safari Rally with Tommi Mäkinen and Seppo Harjanne; however, the Finns couldn't repeat their victory from the previous year, as they had to retire on the penultimate day.

1997's Safari wasn't the best one for the car (Mitsubishi)

 Her next outing was also unique: she went from the hot, dry, rocky and dusty Kenya to the hot, wet and humid Indonesia for a little jungle-rally (not kidding, the rally literally was located in the middle of a huge jungle). This one didn't fare better that the Safari did, as another DNF could be added to the resumé because of a radiator leak.

Mäkinen couldn't extend his lead in the championship due to a broken radiator, 1997 Indonesia (Mitsubishi)

1998
P3 MRE's short career continued with one last outing on the 1998 Safari Rally. Once again, she was piloted by Mäkinen, but unfortunately their luck didn't turn with the calendar; Mäkinen had to retire with engine failure when leading the rally before his team-mate Burns.

They were the fastest, but engine truobles stopped them from winning (Mitsubishi)

Whereabouts
She was only used on 3 rallies altogether, but those included 2 Safaris and an Indonesia - so she probably suffered the same fate as other heavy-gravel cars; she was used for Safari recces over the next few years, and then scrapped. Although it is still possible she survived somewhere in Africa.

Track record
Starts: 3
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Retirements: 3 (1997 Safari Rally & Rally Indonesia, 1998 Safari Rally)