MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION DOMINATES SARDINIA

UNBEATEN IN WRC GROUP N 2008

• Mitsubishi takes all three WRC Group N podium places.
• Moreno Cenedese (Italy) collects a comfortable Group N victory.
• Mitsubishi Fabio Frisiero (Italy) and Adriano Lovisetto (Italy) take second and third.

Moreno Cenedese (Italy) collected a comfortable Group N victory on the sixth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, which ended in Olbia on Monday afternoon. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution driver led the event from the start in a dominant display of driving.

Cenedese’s fellow Mitsubishi men Fabio Frisiero (Italy) and Adriano Lovisetto (Italy) were second and third, ensuring another perfect finish and clean sweep of the podium places for the Lancer Evolution IX. No other cars had been able to match the Lancer for pace or reliability across the roughest of the Sardinian island gravel roads.

Cenedese was delighted with his Group N win, saying: "This has been a tough rally, but for us it’s perfect. We were a little worried yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. There were some strange noises coming from the transmission at the front of the car, but we checked it last night and there was no problem. The car was perfect it has worked very well for the whole rally.

"One of the things which has made this event tough has been the weather.  No, we didn’t get a lot of rain, but the rain was always lurking there, threatening. And some times the rain which had come through the night was making the road surface softer. Some of the roads were getting quite big holes in and some big rocks were being pulled out."

Both Frisiero and Lovisetto were equally pleased with their podium places in Group N, although neither came close to the pace which Cenedese was able to find. Dutchman Peter Van Merksteyn Junior had been in the thick of the action, until his Lancer Evolution IX went off the road on the first loop of Friday stages.

The unseasonal weather had arrived in the Mediterranean island in time for the pre-event recce where the crews drive the roads to make their pace notes. The sunshine departed the usually warm shores of Sardinia, replaced by heavy rain. The weather failed to dim the enthusiasm of the highly-partisan and excitable Italian crowds who gathered at the side of the roads to cheer their local Mitsubishi-driving heroes on to Group N glory.

Based around the industrial town of Olbia, the event included some new stages for this season, with the organizers emphasis being placed on finding wider and faster roads. They certainly fulfilled that objective, with crews thoroughly enjoying this Italian round of the world championship. The final stage of the event was cancelled, following safety concerns for the fans who had made the trip north of Olbia for the short final blast.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is now unbeaten in the Group N category of the World Rally Championship since the start of the 2008 season. Having won in Monte Carlo, there have been victories on every surface and conceivable condition from the snow of Sweden to the searing heat of Jordan. The Lancer Evolution has been the car to beat.

At the front of the field, Sebastien Loeb (France) survived a final-day onslaught from Ford team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen (both Finland) to win Rally d’Italia. Hirvonen was second and Latvala third.

The next round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship is the Acropolis Rally (May 29-June 1, 2008).