Motorsports | Subaru Global

Preview
11 January 2002

The Event
The first round of the 2002 World Rally Championship, the Monte Carlo Rally, starts on Thursday 17th January. This historic asphalt event, to be run for the 70th time this year, is the traditional curtain raiser to the WRC season and will see the eagerly anticipated debut of the Subaru World Rally Team's new driver line-up of Tommi Makinen and Petter Solberg.
This year the rally will be made up of 15 stages that total 387kms and take the crews north west of the Mediterranean coast to the twisty tarmac roads that snake through the Ardeche. Teams will start and finish each leg in Monte Carlo while servicing will take place at two different locations. Monte Carlo will host the central service point for legs two and three, while for leg one it will be based in the town of Digne Les Bains, 167kms to the north.
The event has a tricky reputation thanks largely to the notoriously unpredictable mountain weather conditions. The fast changing climate makes predicting the levels of grip on the narrow asphalt stages extremely difficult. Drivers are as likely to encounter a mixture of ice and snow as the more usual wet or dry tarmac - sometimes all on the same stage. Accurate intelligence on the state of the roads is vital and most teams will be using data gathered by their gravel and ice crews to build a picture of the road before deciding which tyre to use.
The rally begins with a ceremonial start on Thursday evening, although the real action starts the following day when the field of entrants will contest five stages on the Alpine roads to the north. Leg one will include the longest test of the rally, the famous 36km stage at Sisteron, which will be run twice. Saturday's leg includes another six stages, two of which are repeated and Sunday's four final tests will be located close to Monte Carlo on the roads around Sospel. The winning car is expected to cross the finish ramp back in Monte Carlo shortly after 1500hrs on Sunday.

Entries
The Subaru World Rally Team will be entering two cars in the Monte Carlo Rally, both of which will be eligible to score manufacturers' points. Poised for his Subaru competitive debut is acclaimed four-time World Champion driver Tommi Makinen. The 37-year-old Finn, who in the absence of regular co-driver Risto Mannisenmaki will be partnered by substitute Kaj Lindstrom, brings a wealth of knowledge to the team and has won the rally for the last three years running. His standing as the most successful rally driver of the last decade, combined with his confidence in the performance and handling of the Subaru Impreza WRC during testing, will hold him in good stead.
The second works entry will be driven by one of the sport's brightest young stars - Norway's Petter Solberg. A fine example of the Subaru World Rally Team's philosophy of developing the careers of talented young drivers, the popular 27-year-old showed extremely promising form on his debut season in the Impreza last year and he was able to achieve the best results of his career. Now, with the benefit of more event experience and hours behind the wheel of the Subaru Impreza WRC, Petter is in a stronger position to demonstrate his considerable talents.

Tommi Makinen

"It's a new team for me, and a new car as well, but importantly I'm going to be starting on one of my favourite rallies of the year so I'm very excited about the event and am very motivated ahead of the start. After the first tarmac test the feeling in the Subaru was very, very good, and we still have some more pre-event testing time to go so I think that I have prepared as well as possible. As far as my strategy goes, it's difficult to say before the rally, but to begin with I hope to be fast enough to keep a good position, and keep things under control, after then, we'll just have to see."

Petter Solberg

"We've had some very encouraging testing sessions recently, and it's very good to be working so closely with Tommi. He has so much experience and has already suggested some different settings on the car that have had positive results, the advantage is that I've been able to adopt these settings too. As far as Monte Carlo goes, I'm going to start the rally with even more respect for it than I did last year. I think in 2001 I went too well too early and maybe got a bit too excited. It was my first time on the rally so its important this year to be a little more calm and get good experience. Obviously I'm looking for the best result here, hopefully a points finish, but I'll looking to build the speed gradually. Monte Carlo is a very tricky rally, and although I don't mind dry or wet roads I don't like the black ice, which can come from nowhere."

The Car
Since it was introduced in 1993 and thanks to the driving talents of an elite group of drivers, the Subaru Impreza WRC has won the world over, taking a total of five World Rally Championship titles in just eight full seasons. For 2002, the Japanese manufacturer will again be centre stage with one of the most technically advanced rally cars in the world and a team that has thirty-three victories at World Championship level to its credit.

Talking about the Subaru team's technical preparations ahead of Monte Carlo, Team Principal David Lapworth said, "The challenge is to find a car set-up which is easily adaptable to all the extremes of conditions we're likely to encounter. The asphalt stages can be wet, dry, icy, bumpy or a mixture of just about everything, and we're looking to give our drivers the confidence in the cars handling so they can perform at their very best.
We carried out five days of asphalt testing before Christmas and are doing another five days this week in France. So far about 70% of our mileage has been on dry roads, although we've also encountered ice, snow and wet roads. Looking at the current conditions on the rally route, I'm happy that we've had a fairly representative set of conditions to practice in.
I'm pleased that Tommi is already making such a positive impact to the team. He's adapted some of the transmission settings to suit his driving style, and Petter has also adopted these with positive results - his driving technique actually has quite a lot in common with Tommi's."

		Itinerary
		Entry List
		Course Map
		Results
		Pre Release
		Leg1 Report
		Leg2 Report
		Leg3 Report
		Gallery

Rallye Monte Carlo Preview Preview 11 January 2002 The Event The first round of the 2002 World Rally Championship, the Monte Carlo Rally, starts on Thursday 17th January. This historic asphalt event, to be run for the 70th time this year, is the traditional curtain raiser to the WRC season and will see the eagerly anticipated debut of the Subaru World Rally Team's new driver line-up of Tommi Makinen and Petter Solberg. This year the rally will be made up of 15 stages that total 387kms and take the crews north west of the Mediterranean coast to the twisty tarmac roads that snake through the Ardeche. Teams will start and finish each leg in Monte Carlo while servicing will take place at two different locations. Monte Carlo will host the central service point for legs two and three, while for leg one it will be based in the town of Digne Les Bains, 167kms to the north. The event has a tricky reputation thanks largely to the notoriously unpredictable mountain weather conditions. The fast changing climate makes predicting the levels of grip on the narrow asphalt stages extremely difficult. Drivers are as likely to encounter a mixture of ice and snow as the more usual wet or dry tarmac - sometimes all on the same stage. Accurate intelligence on the state of the roads is vital and most teams will be using data gathered by their gravel and ice crews to build a picture of the road before deciding which tyre to use. The rally begins with a ceremonial start on Thursday evening, although the real action starts the following day when the field of entrants will contest five stages on the Alpine roads to the north. Leg one will include the longest test of the rally, the famous 36km stage at Sisteron, which will be run twice. Saturday's leg includes another six stages, two of which are repeated and Sunday's four final tests will be located close to Monte Carlo on the roads around Sospel. The winning car is expected to cross the finish ramp back in Monte Carlo shortly after 1500hrs on Sunday. Entries The Subaru World Rally Team will be entering two cars in the Monte Carlo Rally, both of which will be eligible to score manufacturers' points. Poised for his Subaru competitive debut is acclaimed four-time World Champion driver Tommi Makinen. The 37-year-old Finn, who in the absence of regular co-driver Risto Mannisenmaki will be partnered by substitute Kaj Lindstrom, brings a wealth of knowledge to the team and has won the rally for the last three years running. His standing as the most successful rally driver of the last decade, combined with his confidence in the performance and handling of the Subaru Impreza WRC during testing, will hold him in good stead. The second works entry will be driven by one of the sport's brightest young stars - Norway's Petter Solberg. A fine example of the Subaru World Rally Team's philosophy of developing the careers of talented young drivers, the popular 27-year-old showed extremely promising form on his debut season in the Impreza last year and he was able to achieve the best results of his career. Now, with the benefit of more event experience and hours behind the wheel of the Subaru Impreza WRC, Petter is in a stronger position to demonstrate his considerable talents. Tommi Makinen "It's a new team for me, and a new car as well, but importantly I'm going to be starting on one of my favourite rallies of the year so I'm very excited about the event and am very motivated ahead of the start. After the first tarmac test the feeling in the Subaru was very, very good, and we still have some more pre-event testing time to go so I think that I have prepared as well as possible. As far as my strategy goes, it's difficult to say before the rally, but to begin with I hope to be fast enough to keep a good position, and keep things under control, after then, we'll just have to see." Petter Solberg "We've had some very encouraging testing sessions recently, and it's very good to be working so closely with Tommi. He has so much experience and has already suggested some different settings on the car that have had positive results, the advantage is that I've been able to adopt these settings too. As far as Monte Carlo goes, I'm going to start the rally with even more respect for it than I did last year. I think in 2001 I went too well too early and maybe got a bit too excited. It was my first time on the rally so its important this year to be a little more calm and get good experience. Obviously I'm looking for the best result here, hopefully a points finish, but I'll looking to build the speed gradually. Monte Carlo is a very tricky rally, and although I don't mind dry or wet roads I don't like the black ice, which can come from nowhere." The Car Since it was introduced in 1993 and thanks to the driving talents of an elite group of drivers, the Subaru Impreza WRC has won the world over, taking a total of five World Rally Championship titles in just eight full seasons. For 2002, the Japanese manufacturer will again be centre stage with one of the most technically advanced rally cars in the world and a team that has thirty-three victories at World Championship level to its credit. Talking about the Subaru team's technical preparations ahead of Monte Carlo, Team Principal David Lapworth said, "The challenge is to find a car set-up which is easily adaptable to all the extremes of conditions we're likely to encounter. The asphalt stages can be wet, dry, icy, bumpy or a mixture of just about everything, and we're looking to give our drivers the confidence in the cars handling so they can perform at their very best. We carried out five days of asphalt testing before Christmas and are doing another five days this week in France. So far about 70% of our mileage has been on dry roads, although we've also encountered ice, snow and wet roads. Looking at the current conditions on the rally route, I'm happy that we've had a fairly representative set of conditions to practice in. I'm pleased that Tommi is already making such a positive impact to the team. He's adapted some of the transmission settings to suit his driving style, and Petter has also adopted these with positive results - his driving technique actually has quite a lot in common with Tommi's."