Australia 2005 : Mitsubishi / PCWRC
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers made a good start to Telstra Rally Australia, the final round of the 2005 FIA Production Car World Rally Championship, with lead PCWRC driver Fumio Nutahara finishing the first day in fifth position, amongst a very strong field of Group N contenders.
The first leg was the longest of the three and kicked off with a double run of the spectator-friendly super special stage at Gloucester Park in front of thousands of fans last night. Today, crews headed south of the city for a hard day of competition in the forests, before returning to Perth for another two stages at Gloucester Park.

Leading Mitsubishi`s FIA PCWRC and Group N challenge is Fumio Nutahara, who claimed his sixth All Japan Rally Championship title only two weeks ago. The Japanese claimed the category win in the opening stage of the Australian event last night and has set eight top four stage times throughout the leg in addition to fastest time back at Gloucester Park this evening.

Commenting after a long hard day, Nutahara said: “Today was very difficult. This morning I thought I was driving a bit too carefully so I pushed a bit harder on the stages this afternoon, but the rally is so tricky that it didn`t seem to make any difference. The car is running perfectly with no problems, however, so I am going to try and push even harder tomorrow.”

FIA PCWRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution drivers Federico Villagra, Fabio Frisiero and Riccardo Errani had a slightly harder day, each contending with mechanical issues and ending the day in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively. Villagra, on his first outing in Australia, said: “It is really hard here and to make things worse we had a problem with the brakes for most of the day. It`s also been difficult driving on the Silverstone tires. Even though they have been great to drive on for my national championship, I don`t trust them on the road surface here. But I am driving steadily and not taking any risks as I want to work on my pace notes for next year.”

After a day of engine woes, Frisiero commented: “This is only my second time here and it is too difficult. We have had problems with the engine as it keeps dropping power a few times on each stage but I`m not sure what the cause is. It might be the front differential, in which case we can change that tonight, but we`ll have to see.”

Errani, who is also driving for FIA PCWRC points, said: “I`m driving very carefully today as we have had a problem with the clutch all day. Earlier on we had to complete a stage with a broken steering arm but that was easily fixed and changes to the suspension in the middle of the day also made the car handle better. But this is my first time here and, like a lot of other drivers, I am finding it very difficult.”

Leg two includes another seven stages and 122.34 kilometers of competition, most of which takes place around the Sotico forest complex, providing some of the most spectacular action of the season. The day is, once again, rounded off with a final two runs around Gloucester Park.


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