Rally Australia 2005: Mitsubishi Motors
The Mitsubishi Motorsport WRC team looks set to round off the 2005 FIA World Rally Championship season on a high note, following fierce battles and a potential podium position at the end of the second leg of Rally Australia. Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen have been on great form, the Finns claiming three fastest stage times to take an overnight third position. Team-mates “Gigi” Galli and Guido d`Amore climbed to fourth during the day, but slipped to fifth in the final forestry stage after losing time with an overshoot.

Today`s action took in some of the most spectacular of the season. Heading south-west of Perth, the crews contested the Bannister stages, formerly known as the Bunnings complex. Here, high-speed roller-coaster stages launch cars meters into the air and the famous watersplash is another favorite with the fans who flock to this pine plantation. In total, the leg took in nine stages and 122.15 competitive kilometers, with the action rounded off back at the Gloucester Park super special this evening.

While Harri had a trouble-free run this morning, the day started off in bizarre fashion when a kangaroo jumped into the side of the car in the first stage. The Lancer WRC05 only sustained panel damage, but the crew was forced to tie-wrap the door shut and tape round the seals with stickers pulled off the car to restrict the amount of dust entering. Having recovered from the incident, Harri and Risto then went on to set fastest time in the following two stages (SS13/SS14) to climb to second, and second-fastest in SS15 to maintain position. In the final stage before the mid-leg service, the crew lost time with a spin, dropping them back to third but a mere 4.8 seconds behind Colin McRae and with current leader François Duval still within striking distance.

This afternoon, the battle between Rovanperä and McRae continued, but the Scot kept the advantage despite some top times by the Lancer WRC05 driver and another fastest stage time at the super special.

“It was a big kangaroo, like a horse!” said Harri. “A few kilometers into the stage, at top speed, the kangaroo jumped into the side of the car. The lock broke and the door flew open and we had to complete the rest of the stage like this. It`s the worst place in the world for this to happen, with the amount of dust coming into the car. I`m feeling very confident and good with the car though, and the set-up of the suspension, so tomorrow we`ll continue pushing hard and see what happens.”

Gigi Galli also had a trouble-free morning and was never outside the top seven, despite having never contested these stages before. In a close-fought battle with Citroën driver Manfred Stohl, the Italian ultimately overhauled the Austrian in SS16 to claim fourth overall after setting second-fastest time. They were narrowly beaten by Stohl in SS17 and, with such a small gap between the two rivals, Gigi slipped to fifth. And then, in the final forestry stage this afternoon, a pace note error saw the crew overshoot a corner and have two small spins. They were however fortunate to maintain position, such was the gap to sixth-placed Chris Atkinson.

“We`re lucky to be here after the overshoot; it must have been the only corner in Australia without a tree,” said Gigi. “After that I lost my rhythm and we dropped more than 40 seconds, but fortunately not any positions. Overall though, the day has been good, especially as today`s stages were all new to me.”

Commenting on the day`s action, Isao Torii, Head of Mitsubishi Motorsport, said: “Overall it has been a good day for us and our best scenario is Harri second and Gigi fourth, but both crews made a small mistake. But still, they are in good position. Tomorrow, nobody knows what will happen; there is still another tricky day ahead with a lot of kilometers, but our goal is the podium certainly.”

Added Roger Estrada, Principal Rally Engineer: “It`s been a very good day and the crews performed well in these Bannister stages. We`ve had no technical problems and good reliability, and we`re in a good position to push tomorrow.”

The final leg of Rally Australia is the shortest at 103.32 competitive kilometers but still takes in two loops of three identical stages. The route takes the crews to the east of Perth and returns to the city for the finish at 14:45 hrs (local).


Tags: australia, mitsubishi, rovanpera, galli, lancer, evo,