I dont understand
Evolved Member
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 717
Likes: 0
From: Kelowna, B.C., Canada
I feel I need to clarify a few things first before I put in my 2 cents. Makinen's leaving Mitsubishi had nothing to do with the new car. As evoMmk8 already brought out, Makinen had already made up his mind to retire from WRC before the new car came out. The only thing that kept Makinen from retiring was the more then generous offer from Subaru. Let's face it, his former team mate Burns won the World Championship the year before in the Subaru. The Impreza seemed like the car to be in to make it 5 WRC Championship titles. This has never been done before.
Second point and I've said this before, the new WRC Evo step 1 car was more competitive while Makinen was driving it even though it had handling issues that have since been fixed with the step 2 car. I've checked the statistics. Makinen was averaging between 5th to 7th. Not what he was used to, but still competitive, just not for a podium finish. The other drivers since Makinen have been averaging between 10th to 14th and this is including the step 2 car. That is not compeditive. With a driver as skilled as Makinen driving the WRC Evo step 2 car it would probably be compeditive, but still not enough for podium finishes.
Mitsubishi doesn't want to just be competitive, they want to dominate again. As they have said before, in order for them to remain in WRC for years to come, they have to be one of the top teams, so hens thier current actions.
The Lancer/Cedia is a solid platform with a lot of potential still left in it, it just would take time to unlock, but time is not something Mitsubishi wants to invest in. They want to win the next official WRC event they enter.
Second point and I've said this before, the new WRC Evo step 1 car was more competitive while Makinen was driving it even though it had handling issues that have since been fixed with the step 2 car. I've checked the statistics. Makinen was averaging between 5th to 7th. Not what he was used to, but still competitive, just not for a podium finish. The other drivers since Makinen have been averaging between 10th to 14th and this is including the step 2 car. That is not compeditive. With a driver as skilled as Makinen driving the WRC Evo step 2 car it would probably be compeditive, but still not enough for podium finishes.
Mitsubishi doesn't want to just be competitive, they want to dominate again. As they have said before, in order for them to remain in WRC for years to come, they have to be one of the top teams, so hens thier current actions.
The Lancer/Cedia is a solid platform with a lot of potential still left in it, it just would take time to unlock, but time is not something Mitsubishi wants to invest in. They want to win the next official WRC event they enter.
Last edited by evo_dan; Dec 5, 2002 at 07:40 PM.
