Rally Australia

After some of the most dramatic changes of fortune ever seen in the FIA World Rally Championship, the penultimate round of the championship, API Rally Australia, ended in Bunnings, with the victory of Finns Tommi Mäkinen and co-driver Risto Mannisenmäki at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5.

Spaniard Carlos Sainz and Frenchman Didier Auriol placed their Toyota Castrol Team Corolla WRCs respectively second and third and, while the result maintains Toyota's lead in the FIA Manufacturers World Rally Championship, Sainz lost his first position in the FIA Drivers World Rally Championship to the winning Makinen.

The first day belonged to Briton Richard Burns in the second nominated Mitsubishi. Leg Two was all about Finn Tommi Mäkinen, who reeled in second from ninth place. The third day could have been Colin McRae's but for a turbocharger problem which hit the Scot's Subaru, just after he had reached the lead on stage 22.

Massive crowds were out to see the cars, both at the famous Superspecial Stage of Langley Park, which runs right in the city centre of Perth and on the narrow slippery stages in the forests of Western Australia. After 12 rounds, the FIA World Rally Championship heads for Great Britain, where Makinen and Sainz will be fighting for the crown, but they will still have Burns, McRae, Auriol and Kankkunen to deal with. With the Manufacturers title still to be decided as well, the British event (21-24 November) will be the perfect final for an always thrilling championship.

Mitsubishi:

Tommi Makinen, second going into the last day steadily reeled in the leader Sainz, coping well with loose gravel that cost the first car time. "I felt great. There were times when I thought it was not possible to win this rally," said Makinen "and today with the stages so slippery everything seemed lost, but it ended up fantastic and now we are in good position for the championship."

Team-mate Richard Burns was in fourth position and challenging for the lead, when they crashed their Carisma GT. "We just braked a bit too late for a fifth-gear corner and slid off," said the Briton. "It is a shame, because I think we had a real chance to win."

Toyota:

The third day was difficult for Carlos Sainz, opening the road for following cars: "I knew there was nothing I could do; I just went as fast as possible but, with all the loose gravel that we cleared off the surface of the roads, we were powerless to keep off the others," shrugged a resigned Sainz. "Perhaps we should look at future ways in which the leading cars don't get penalised for their success the day before."

Team-mate Didier Auriol was third, bringing precious points for the manufacturers championship. "It will not be easy, a four point lead in the manufacturers' series is very little, but we are ahead and determined to do well," said Toyota Motorsport's President Ove Andersson.

Subaru:

McRae's hopes of battling for the championship title, ended with a loss of turbo boost just four kilometres from the end of stage 23, the penultimate stage of the rally, when he was leading by thirteen seconds. "I can't believe that, with only six kilometres to run, this happens," said a desolate McRae. "The position we started (sixth) was perfect, because the roads in Bunnings cleaned a lot better than we thought they would and we had a much greater advantage. We were well on course for ten points, but fourth place is not enough and it put us just out of the championship."

Seat:

Harri Rovanpera increased the rhythm and got closer to fastest times, as his feeling with the new Seat WRC improved, but one minute of road penalty for checking in early excluded him from the top ten. "The hard work that we are doing starts paying back," said the Finn "and I'm confident that the car and myself will be competitive next season."

Ford:

Juha Kankkunen started the last day in fourth, but lost a place to a charging McRae. "On my previous Australian Rallies, running third or fourth on the road was the ideal position," commented the Finn, "but this year seemed to be no advantage until the sixth car through and so it was Colin McRae who was able to fully exploit the better grip he found today."

Other Teams:

The Corolla WRC entered by Toyota Belgium for Freddy Loix rounded out the point scorers in sixth position.

New Zealander Possum Bourne (Subaru) clinched a well deserved ninth place, ahead of Finn Sebastian Lindholm (Ford), who brought to Russian team Gazprom the first place in the FIA Teams' Cup Category.

Scot Alister McRae, placed 17th overall, won for Volkswagen the 2-Litre category, while second placed Gwyndaf Evans neared Seat to its third FIA 2-Litre World Cup.

Group N victory was taken by Australia's Michael Guest, driving a Subaru Impreza.

Langley Park

The spectacular Superstage featured a purpose-built gravel track on the foreshore of the Swan River in central Perth. It is one of the few places in the world where rally drivers actually race side by side against the clock. The track features tarmac, gravel, hairpin bends, a jump and a tunnel and it can all be seen from the comfort of grandstand seating or the corporate hospitality areas.

Spectators were encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment or buy the value-packed Club Rally Pass which covered three nights at Langley Park and entrance to 16 spectacular country stages. The corporate hospitality areas were better than ever with the Sky Villas which offered private villas for corporations or the Champions Club which catered for tables of ten.

The action was not restricted to the track as a $5 pit pass entitled spectators to go into the Pit Area where mechanics were frantically servicing the cars. Repairs ranged from changing a flat tyre to replacing a gearbox, all completed in record time. Jobs that would take a normal mechanic a week to complete were finished in half an hour. The Pit Area was open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.