MMSP Ltd, the company which until 2005 ran the official Mitsubishi team in the FIA World Rally Championship, will be running at least two cars on the first three rounds of the 2007 WRC season.
It will provide Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 World Rally Cars on a private-entry basis for Finn Toni Gardemeister and Spaniard Xevi Pons for Rally Automobile Monte Carlo, Uddeholm Swedish Rally and Rally Norway. In addition, it will also run Juho Hanninen in Norway and is currently in negotiations to provide at least one car for Vodafone Rally de Portugal, the fifth round of the WRC.
Entries had already been lodged for the first three events and these were taken over by Gardemeister and Pons personally. MMSP Ltd is now also in negotiation with several potential drivers to provide cars to contest later events in the 2007 WRC.
MMSP Ltd Operations Director John Easton, said: “I'm delighted that we have been able to agree terms with both Toni and Xevi for these events and I'm also pleased to be welcoming Juho back into one of ours cars.
“We have continued to develop the Lancer WRC05 even though Mitsubishi has been absent from the WRC as an official manufacturer since 2005. I think that Sweden last year, where the car achieved third and fourth with Daniel Carlsson and Gigi Galli, demonstrated that it still performs.
“Both Toni and Xevi have tested the car and are impressed with it in the 2005 specification. However, we also hope to introduce a new evolution of the car in March, pending approval by the FIA. I am confident that it will be a further step forward in terms of performance and hope that we will be able to extend our activities further into the season.”
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