Mitsubishi R5 News

13th February 2016

Three-times Finnish Rally Champion and WRC 2 regular Jari Ketomaa will drive an R5 specification Mitsubishi in this month's Vaakuna Rally. Having tested the car as part of its development programme in both the UK and Sweden, the event marks the experienced Finn’s first competitive outing in the Mitsubishi.

Based in Mikkeli - Ketomaa’s home town - the Vaakuna Rally takes place on 26th & 27th February and represents the second round of the Finish Rally Championship. Having been extremely impressed with the Mitsubishi during testing, the Finn sees this as a great opportunity to demonstrate the car's capability:

“I was impressed with the Mitsubishi the very first time I drove it. We did a winter test a couple of weeks ago in Sweden and it felt fantastic. It’s a great all-round package and responds very well to changes in set up, so it wasn’t long before we were able to get it working perfectly. It’s one of the best car’s I’ve ever driven on snow.”

Following the test, Ketomaa and the Mpart team had no hesitation in entering a winter rally, as designer and team manager Tomas Weng explains:

“Although we are now selling cars and our customers are out there competing, we feel we still need to showcase the Mitsubishi’s capability. As the testing with Jari went so well, we wanted him to take part in an event and the Vaakuna Rally was the obvious choice.”

Ketomaa will be competing for overall honours, rather than a position in the Finnish Rally Championship and says that a place on the podium is more than achievable. He has an impressive track record on this event, having finished first overall three times and scoring two Group N victories during the past ten years.

“I feel confident with the car and I know the Mikelli event well. Tomas and his team have done such an incredible job designing and creating the Mitsubishi, they deserve a good result and I shall do the best I can to achieve this."

The Vaakuna Rally features two stages on Friday (26th) evening and a further six on Saturday which combind, provide a total competitive distance of 113kms. Ketomaa will be co-driven on the event by fellow Finn Marko Sallinen.

ENDS

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