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1999 Rally Catalunya
The 1999 Rally Catalunya (formally the 35th Rallye Catalunya - Costa Brava) was the fifth round of the 1999 World Rally Championship. The race was held over three days between 19 and 21 April 1999. Report The winner was Philippe Bugalski aboard a Citroën Xsara Kit Car, an unprecedented event in the world championship, since he won a front-wheel drive car, something that had not happened in years. The Kit Cars, which were supposed to be inferior compared to the all-wheel drive of the World Rally Cars, prevailed in asphalt rallies, first in Catalonia and later in the Corsica Rally that same year. The great weight/power ratio, accompanied by the good condition of the road surface and the good weather conditions in the Spanish test, made the Kit Cars prevail over their rivals. Although Citroën did not officially compete in 1999, it had been developing the Citroën Xsara Kit Car for two years and after several tests in the nationals of Spain and France, it lined up two Xsaras for B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1999 World Rally Championship Season
The 1999 World Rally Championship was the 27th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 14 rallies. Tommi Mäkinen won his fourth drivers' world championship driving for Mitsubishi, ahead of Richard Burns and Didier Auriol. The manufacturers' title was won by Toyota, ahead of Subaru and Mitsubishi. In an upset predicted two years earlier a two-wheel-drive car won a rally for the first time since Alain Oreille won the 1989 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire in his Renault 5 when Philippe Bugalski took his Citroën Xsara Kit Car to victory in the Rally Catalunya. Bugalski backed it up three weeks later winning the Tour de Corse. With such specialised tarmac cars now beating WRC cars while at the same time not competing in the FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup designed for them a revamp of two-wheel-drive regulations was created for the 2000 season. Calendar The 1999 championship was contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommi Mäkinen
Tommi Antero Mäkinen (; born 26 June 1964) is a Finnish racing executive and former driver. Mäkinen is one of the most successful WRC drivers of all time, ranking fifth in rally wins (24) and third in championships (4), tied with Juha Kankkunen behind Sébastien Ogier (8) and Sébastien Loeb (9). In 2018, as a head of Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, he became the first person in the history of rally driving to win a Championship both as a driver and as a team principal. He is a four-time World Rally Champion, a series he first won, and then successfully defended, continuously throughout 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999, on all occasions driving the Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. He also aided Mitsubishi to the 1998 world constructors' title as well as winning the 2000 Race of Champions. Mäkinen's navigators include compatriots Seppo Harjanne, Kaj Lindström and Risto Mannisenmäki, the former retiring from alongside Mäkinen having previously served 1985 champion, and fellow "Flyi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juha Kankkunen
Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen (; born 2 April 1959) is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series. Both Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier have since collected more world titles, but no driver was able to repeat Kankkunen's feat of becoming a world champion with three different manufacturers until Ogier matched this achievement in 2020. Kankkunen was signed by Toyota Team Europe in 1983 and he took his first WRC win in his third year in the team. His performances got him a deal with the defending champions Peugeot for 1986, and Kankkunen was soon crowned the series' then youngest-ever champion. As Peugeot withdrew from the championship following the ban of Group B, Kankkunen moved to Lancia and became the first driver to successfully defend his title. After a two-year stint back at Toyota, he retur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Subaru Impreza WRC
The Subaru Impreza WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Subaru Impreza road car. It was used by Subaru World Rally Team, Subaru's factory team, and replaced Subaru Legacy RS in 1993. The car was debuted at 1993 Rally Finland and won a total of six world rally titles, including three consecutive manufacturers' titles and three drivers' titles. Evolution history Group A Impreza GC, 1993–1996 For 1993, Prodrive recognized that a smaller, nimbler car would make a better platform for a rally car, and work on a Group A Impreza rally car began. It was 160 mm shorter in overall length with a 60 mm shorter wheelbase, as well as having a more neutral front/rear weight ratio. It also featured active differentials, a first for a rally car. At the 1000 Lakes Rally, Subaru debuted their new Prodrive developed Impreza derived Group A rally car, driven by Vatanen and Alén. Vatanen drove the car to second place on its debut. In 1994, the Subaru team switched from Michelin to Pir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Reid (co-driver)
Robert Reid (born 17 February 1966) is a retired British rally co-driver who became 2001 World Rally Champion alongside champion driver Richard Burns (1971–2005). Since retiring from competition, Reid has held various positions with both Motorsport UK and FIA, and since 2021 is the serving FIA Deputy President for Sport. Reid's partnership with Burns lasted from 1991 until 2003 during which time they entered into 103 world rallies, achieving 10 victories, 277 stage wins and 34 podium finishes. His previous motorsport governance and administration roles have included President of the FIA Closed Road Commission, Vice-President of the WRC Commission and a member of the FIA International Sporting Code Review Commission. Career Early Years Reid's first stage rally was the 1984 ''Hackle Rally'', a round of the Scottish Rally Championship. For seven years he competed in many different rallies around the United Kingdom co-driving for many notable drivers including Robbie Head, Colin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Burns
Richard Alexander Burns (17 January 1971 – 25 November 2005) was an English rally driver who won the 2001 World Rally Championship, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002. His co-driver in his whole career was Robert Reid. Career Pre-WRC At the age of eight he first started driving his father's old Triumph 2000 in a field near their house. At eleven Burns joined the Under 17 Car Club, where he became driver of the year in 1984. Just two years later his father arranged a trip to Jan Churchill's Welsh Forest Rally School near Newtown, Powys where Burns drove a Ford Escort for the day, and from that moment on he knew what he wanted to do. Richard badgered his father into letting him join the Craven Motor Club, in his home town of Reading, where his talent was quickly spotted by David Williams, a rally enthusiast who would play a major role in Burns' early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsubishi Carisma
The Mitsubishi Carisma was a large family car produced for the European market by Mitsubishi Motors from 1995 to 2004.Large Family Cars EuroNCAP The model name was derived from a combination of the English '' car'' and the ''kharisma'', meaning "divine gift".Fact & Figures 2005 , p.33, Mitsubishi Motors website It was co-developed with , sharing its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sven Smeets
Sven Smeets (born 12 May 1972) is a Belgian Formula One engineer. He is currently the sporting director at the Williams Racing Formula One team. Career Smeets began his motorsport career in 1993 as a co-driver in rallying and became the navigator for Freddy Loix in 1995, with whom he achieved numerous successes with whilst competing in the World Rally Championship. 2005 saw the Belgian join Citroën as co-driver for François Duval, together winning the season's closing rally in Australia. In 2008 Smeets made the decision to end his stint as a co-driver, but remained in rallying and subsequently became Team Manager for Citroën Racing, in a period which the French outfit claimed several Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships. As new team manager he combined his duties in the Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships with also becoming the Team Manager for the Peugeot Sport LMP1 programme. Seeking a new challenge Smeets moved to Germany to become Team Manager for Volkswagen M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freddy Loix
Freddy Loix (born 10 November 1970) is a Belgian rally driver. Career Loix's career in motor sport began in karting at the age of 15. In 1990, he bought his first rally car, a Lancia Delta group N, though he soon progressed to a Mitsubishi Galant Group N. 1993 saw a big step forward in Loix's career as he became part of the Marlboro World Championship Team driving an Opel Astra and he became the Belgian F2-champion. Nicknamed ''Fast Freddy'' by his fans, he made the switch to four wheel drive in 1996 with a Toyota Celica GT-Four and completed 3 World Rally Championship (WRC) events and a further 6 in 1997. This period saw continuing sponsorship with Marlboro and a switch to the new Toyota Corolla WRC. He took the lead in the 1997 Sanremo Rally but mechanical problems brought an end to his charge for victory. Loix and his co-driver, Sven Smeets, moved to Mitsubishi in 1999 and campaigned a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI (which was badged as a ''Carisma GT''). His first year ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popularly referred to as the 'Evo', is a sports sedan and rally car based on the Lancer that was manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1992 until 2016. There have been ten official versions to date, and the designation of each model is most commonly a Roman numeral. All generations use two-litre intercooled turbo inline four-cylinder engines and all-wheel drive systems."Development of Center-Differential Control System for High Performance Four-Wheel Drive Vehicles" , Mitsubishi Motors Technology Review 2001, no.13, pp. 61–66 The Evolution was originally intended only for Japanese markets, but demand on the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Risto Mannisenmäki
Risto Mannisenmäki (born on 28 May 1959) is a former rally co-driver and two-times world champion with driver Tommi Mäkinen. Career Mannisenmäki begun his career in 1982 and was co-driving for various drivers such as Tommi Mäkinen, Sebastian Lindholm and Ari Mökkönen in local rallies. In 1996 and 1997, Risto was the permanent co-driver of Tapio Laukkanen and participated in both Finnish and British local rally series, as well as a few WRC rallies. For the 1998 season, Mannisenmäki moved on to co-drive with Tommi Mäkinen, after the retirement of Seppo Harjanne. Together, they won the World Rally Championship in 1998 and 1999, and were 5th in the 2000 championships. During the Rally of Corsica in the 2001 WRC season, both were involved in a major accident where the Lancer driven by Mäkinen and Mannisenmäki ricocheted off of the outside wall into steep cliff-face, turning the car over and narrowly avoiding plunging down the ravine on the opposite side of the road. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toyota Corolla WRC
The Toyota Corolla WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Toyota Castrol Team by Toyota Motorsport GmbH to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the E110 version of Toyota Corolla road car. The car was debuted at the 1997 Rally Finland, and replaced the Toyota Celica Turbo ST205. It won a total of four rally victories and the 1999 World Manufacturers' title. Competition history The Toyota Corolla WRC ( World Rally Car) is special purpose rally car based on the European Corolla 3 door Hatchback (E110), and powered by a modified 3S-GTE engine with water-cooled turbo system producing and 4WD system copied from the Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205. It was launched in July 1997, and made its debut at the 1997 Rally Finland with Didier Auriol and Marcus Grönholm behind the wheel. For 1998 WRC season, double World Rally Champions Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya joined the Toyota Team Europe, and won the 1998 Monte Carlo Rally. It was the first victory for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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