Australia : Mitsubishi Motors
The Mitsubishi Motorsport WRC team enjoyed a positive opening leg of Rally Australia, the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen hold a fine fourth overall in the lead Lancer WRC05, while team-mates “Gigi” Galli and Guido d`Amore are sixth overnight.
The start of the event was marked by the first running of Perth`s super special stage at Gloucester Park last night, the 2.35 kilometer crowd-pleasing stage run twice for the entertainment of thousands of cheering fans. Today, however, the crews headed south for the first full day of competition in the forests before returning to the city for another two runs around the super special stage. As ever, the roads proved tricky and were littered with loose gravel, making position on the road an important factor.

Harri Rovanperä has had a steady run throughout the leg, the Finn upping the pace this afternoon to maintain a closely-fought fifth position. The Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 crew then moved into fourth after SS9 and, after setting fastest time in the final stage of the day, are less than 20 seconds adrift of second position.

“It`s been a long day and I`ve been trying to understand our new damper set-up,” said Harri. “When the roads are fast, smooth and flowing, it`s very good, but also I feel the grip level is not always so great. I really pushed in the last two forest stages and SS8 felt very good. We`ve had no technical problems and hopefully we can maintain the pace tomorrow.”

Team-mate Gigi Galli held eighth position at the mid-leg service after suffering a minor misfire during this morning`s stages but has moved up into sixth position, again within striking distance of his rivals.

“It`s a good start for us and I`m feeling happy with the set-up of the car,” said Gigi. “I have to say we had some problems this morning with the engine misfire and then we hit something and damaged the steering. This afternoon has been fine, although we had a big moment in SS7 with the pace notes. Tires have been good, although we`re still learning about Pirelli`s evolution tire.”

Said Isao Torii, Head of Mitsubishi Motorsport: “It is going nearly as we expected. Between second and sixth position it is very close, and we have two cars in that group. It`s been a good day and both crews have done a good job. Tomorrow is another tough day over very slippery roads and I hope we can maintain our performance and keep some good luck.”

Adding to the comments, Principal Rally Engineer Roger Estrada said: “It`s been a positive day and the cars have been very reliable. Gigi had a small problem this morning but it didn`t really affect his times too much. We have good positions at the end of the leg and the drivers seem confident and happy. We took a gamble on tires at times and went softer than recommended, but all in all we`re pleased.”

Saturday`s leg takes the contenders to the south-west of Perth for the Bannister stages, formerly known as the Bunnings complex. These roller-coaster roads are famous the world-over and provide some of the season`s most spectacular action. In total, the leg takes in nine stages and 122.15 competitive kilometers, with the action rounded off back at the Gloucester Park super special in Perth.


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