2005 Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05

The Mitsubishi Lancer World Rally Car has undergone months of intense development work and the team's latest challenger for the FIA World Rally Championship - the Lancer WRC05 - will break cover at the 2005 Rallye Monte-Carlo, January's season-opening event.

The FIA World Rally Championship regulations have changed in a number of areas for 2005 and the Mitsubishi Motor Sports team has seized this chance to further enhance key areas of the Lancer WRC05. One of the most notable changes permits manufactures to increase the width of the car body shell by 0.2 inches, from 70 inches to 70.2 inches. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Lancer WRC05 now has re-designed front and rear wings, rear quarters and bumpers, making subtle visual changes but aiding stability.

In tandem with this, longer suspension links and drive-shafts are required and uprights have been modified to optimize the suspension geometry. In short, there has been a complete review of the suspension and, while the Tarmac-specification dampers used in the 2004 Rallye Catalunya-Rally de Espana were designed to comply with the new wider body shell of the WRC05, specific changes have been made to adapt the uprights and dampers to the new geometry on the gravel specification Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05. While retaining a light-weight form, these will improve stiffness and be used from Rally México onwards. Further modifications to the internal components are also then planned, affording greater freedom and finer tuning.


Improvements to the engine include new waste gate and anti-lag valves, both of which will be run from Rallye Monte-Carlo. These parts, working with an improved engine control, will give a significant performance improvement and more accurate tuning possibilities.

'In particular, this means we can get much closer to the limits acceptable to the engine in all conditions,' commented the team's Technical Director, Mario Fornaris. 'The final fine-tuning can now be on the absolute limit.'

Improvements to the turbo-charger have also been investigated, although assessment of the increase in efficiency is still on-going and will be included in the WRC homologation in December if proved to be effective.

The Lancer WRC05s automatic clutch and gearshift have already proved successful during testing and this system will see ‘paddles' adopted on the steering wheel for changing gear, an active gearshift system that negates the need to use the clutch.

Development work is on-going with the center differential and although the aim is to have this ready for Monte-Carlo, the most likely date for the new component is Rally México, in March. Active front and rear differential prototypes have yet to undergo testing and, according to development results in the first quarter of the year, may or may not be implemented into the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05, especially as this active system will be banned in 2006.

In 2004, it was ascertained that gear ratios needed to be improved and longer ratios will be adopted for first, third and fourth gears, anticipated from Rally New Zealand onwards.

'Our target is to finish all the development work for the Lancer WRC05 within the first six months of the season,' stated Fornaris. 'Then we can really focus on results, podium finishes and our championship aspirations for 2006.'




'We have started testing with Pirelli and are very impressed with their professional approach and the facilities it is putting at our disposal,' added Mario Fornaris. 'We are in the process of learning the tire range and adapting the Lancer WRC05 to optimize their performance, but from the first results I believe there is big potential with our new partner. We will take advantage of Pirelli's strong points and, in the spirit of our technical partnership, will help Pirelli to improve its tires feeding them with our car data. Working together on the tire development is very important for us.'

Source - Mitsubishi

MITSUBISHI MOTORS CONFIRMS ITS 2005 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHP PROGRAM

• Two-car team registered in 2005 FIA World Rally Championship

• Rovanperä, Panizzi and Galli to drive Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05

team will contest all 16 rounds of the series with the latest specification Mitsubishi World Rally Car, the Lancer WRC05. Mitsubishi Motors is therefore fulfilling the commitment it gave in 2003 to come back to the FIA World Rally Championship and participate in a three year program until 2006.

'In October 2003 we announced our team's three-year turn-around program, namely that in 2004 we would come back to the series with the Lancer and then target podium positions in 2005. For 2006, our aim is to claim the world title again; I feel those objectives are on track', said Isao Torii, President of Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports.

Strong driver line-up to challenge the 16-round World Championship in 2005
For 2005, the Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports driver line-up includes Finland's Harri Rovanperä, Frenchman Gilles Panizzi - who has been instrumental in the development of the Lancer World Rally Car this year - and Italy's 'Gigi' Galli.

Thirty-eight-year-old Rovanperä will contest all 16 rounds of the championship, the Finn providing the team with valuable knowledge of all events in the series; in particular the gravel rounds the Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports team missed during the 2004 season.

'The championship is more and more dominated by gravel rallies and we need a driver who knows all these events very well', said Isao Torii. 'Harri Rovanperä is a good loose surface driver, especially on the high-speed events. We feel fortunate that he is joining the team and expect some good performances. He drives consistently and finishes rallies; we will be very reliant on him.'

Team-mate Gilles Panizzi, whose dedication to test and development work this year has been invaluable to the team, will compete in selected rounds of the series, notably the sealed-surface events where Mitsubishi has high expectations of the Frenchman being a potential winner.

'Gilles has been incredibly supportive of the team and has contributed enormous amounts to our development program', added Torii. 'We did not give him the car to challenge, but next year we have big expectations and see him as a potential winner on Tarmac, especially in the second half of the season.'

Gigi Galli's commitment impressed the team from the outset and the Italian's fine sixth overall in Mitsubishi's Group N machinery in Sardinia, and seventh in Spain in the Lancer WRC04, has secured him a place as the team's third driver. He will share the second Lancer WRC05 with Panizzi, although a third car may be entered on some European events. 'Gigi has made very good progress and although it was very difficult to compare the results of our three young drivers this year, his performances in Sardinia and Spain are what made us decide to retain him in 2005', Torii concluded.

New Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 development in progress


But we intend to get back on the podium in the second half of next year; Rally Japan, in particular, being our target.'

The Mitsubishi Motors assault on the 2005 FIA World Rally Championship will kick-off in January with the famous Rallye Monte-Carlo (January 20-23), one of the most unpredictable and treacherous events in the series.

Source - Mitsubishi