Great Britain : Mitsubishi Motors - Shakedown
The Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports WRC team completed its final preparations for Wales Rally GB this morning and both crews are focused on achieving their personal objectives in this, the 12th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Harri Rovanperä/Risto Pietiläinen will be pushing hard for a top result, while “Gigi” Galli/Guido d`Amore are set on gaining experience in their first competitive outing in the Welsh forests.
“Everything went well for us during shakedown; just one small intermittent problem with the brakes on Harri`s car,” commented Principal Rally Engineer Roger Estrada. “The car and tires are working well and the drivers seem happy, so we are all hoping we can make a good result ahead of Rally Japan.”
Hosted in Cardiff but based around the service park near Swansea, 71 kilometers to the west, Wales Rally GB is renowned for its inclement weather and, even though it is in its second year run in September, conditions today were akin to the November days of old. Persistent rain during the shakedown provided standing water, wet and muddy conditions, keeping the drivers on their toes ahead of the start of one of the oldest rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Some of Harri Rovanperä`s best results in the series have come in Rally GB and from the Finn`s nine outings he has been on the podium twice and had a number of other top results. He is determined to push hard in an event he enjoys.
“Yes, I like this event and have many good results,” he said. “The weather is always something to talk about here, because normally it is wet, and I think we have an interesting weekend ahead. The car is very similar to the Finland specification and I think our Pirelli tires will work well here, as usual. For me, I hope it dries out a bit for Saturday and Sunday, but we have to wait and see and the conditions will be the same for everyone, anyway.”
Team-mate Gigi Galli has limited experience of Rally GB. The Italian has only previously undertaken the recce on two occasions and so 2005 represents his first competitive outing.
“The particular thing here is the rain and mud and really I prefer to drive in dry conditions; it`s ‘easier`,” said Gigi. “I feel happy from our test and we only needed to do two runs at shakedown just to confirm settings and check everything was okay. We need experience of this rally and have to pace ourselves. We have a good car and good tires, but our goal remains to gain knowledge and understanding. Hopefully for Harri he can go well, taking the chance to use all our good things.”
The base for Wales Rally GB is in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, but all the action is around the service park near Swansea. The event kicks off with a ceremonial start in Cardiff tonight, with the crews then heading immediately to Swansea in preparation for Friday`s opening day of competition. The first leg, to the north and east of Swansea, covers two identical loops of three stages totaling 136.74 competitive kilometers, the longest day of the event. The organizer of Rally GB also confirmed today that Britain`s round of the FIA World Rally Championship will continue to be hosted in Wales until 2011.


Tags: great-britain, mitsubishi, lancer, rovanpera, galli,