ENGLAND: THE 1998 WORLD RALLY CHAMPION WILL EITHER BE TOMMI MAKINEN OR CARLOS SAINZ

Record ID: 215463

  • Title: ENGLAND: THE 1998 WORLD RALLY CHAMPION WILL EITHER BE TOMMI MAKINEN OR CARLOS SAINZ
  • Date: 18th November 1998
  • Summary: SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 13, 1998)(RTN - ACCESS ALL) 1. VIEW OF MITSUBISHI PIT 2. RICHARD BURNS (SEATED) AT THE WHEEL OF MITSUBISHI TALKING TO AN ENGINEER 3. TOMMI MAKINEN'S CAR 4. CLOSE UP OF MITSUBISHI WITH 'MAKINEN' ON THE SIDE 5. MAKINEN'S CAR DRIVES OUT - DRIVEN BY TEST DRIVER LASSE LAMPI, OF FINLAND 6. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) MITSUBISHI TEAM BOSS PHIL SHORT SAYING THEY MAY NOT WIN THE RALLY BUT HE IS CONFIDENT THEY CAN WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP: "I am confident we are going to do well, whether we are going to win the rally I don't know. Our target first of all is to give Tommi the drivers' title, which means he must finish within two points of Carlos Sainz. The worst scenario for us would be if Sainz won because even if Tommi finished second that wouldn't give Tommi the title. But if somebody else wins, McRae, Burns that pushes Carlos down to second, if Carlos is second, Tommi needs to be third, if Carlos if third Tommi needs to be fifth." 7. CUTAWAY 8. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) MITSUBISHI TEAM BOSS PHIL SHORT DISCUSSING TEAM'S STRATEGY. "Our strategy for the rally would appear to be use Richard as the hare. He will go for the win. As far as Tommi is concerned just bring him home as close as we can to Carlos. Hopefully that will deliver us not just the driver's title for Tommi but earn us our first manufacturer's title." 9. CLOSE-UP OF MAKINEN'S CAR 10. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) SHORT REPLYING TO QUESTION THAT SAINZ WILL BE HARD TO BEAT BECAUSE HE WON BOTH HIS WORLD TITLES BY WINNING THIS RALLY. "Absolutely. Carlos is a very tough competitior, very consistent. This year he has only retired once - on the Safari rally - accumulated points all the time. So I am sure he is going to be around, very close at the finish, going to be somewhere in the top three I am sure. He has got a very good car and understands the rally, going to be very hard to beat, there's no question. Tommi may well be hard pressed to beat him. On the other hand, we have a good car too with two very good drivers and I am confident we can get the result that we want." 11. BURNS SITTING IN HIS CAR 12. VARIOUS OF BURNS IN ACTION ON A SPECIAL STAGE WHICH WILL BE USED FOR THE RALLY OF GREAT BRITAIN 13. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) RICHARD BURNS IS ASKED ABOUT HIS PROSPECTS FOR THE RALLY. "To be honest I think it will be a fight between myself and Colin. Last year only Kankkunen or Sainz were the only ones who could get in amongst us on the gravel and they only got one fastest time each. Whereas Colin and I dominated all the other stages in Wales, so I think it is going to be much the same again." 14. CUTAWAY/BURNS NAME ON CAR WINDOW 15. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BURNS ASKED IF IT MAKES ANY DIFFERENCE THAT HIS TEAMMATE, MAKINEN, IS GOING FOR WORLD TITLE. BURNS SAYS: "It doesn't make any difference. The best thing I can do is try and win the rally. If Carlos wins Tommi won't win the world championship, so Carlos has got to be stopped. That's what I'm going to try and do." 16. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) YOUR STRATEGY HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS THE TORTOISE AND HARE. "Hopefully the hare (me) will finish." 17. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BURNS ASKED WHO HE THINKS WILL WIN? "In the world championship its pretty even between Carlos and Tommi. Tommi doesn't have a wildly good record on the RAC but Carlos doesn't always perform well when it comes to the crunch." BRACKLEY, ENGLAND, UK (NOVEMBER 13, 1998) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 18. VARIOUS OF McRAE DRIVING RALLY CAR OUT ON STAGE 19. McRAE IN SUBARU ARRIVING BACK FROM STAGE 20. GROUP SHOT OF COLIN McRAE/NICKY GRIST (RIGHT), TEAMMATE YOUNGER BROTHER ALISTER McRAE (FAR LEFT) (NOTE: SOUND OF BAGPIPES IN BACKGROUND) 21. CLOSEUP OF COLIN McRAE 22. McRAE DYNASTY TOGETHER (FATHER AND TWO SONS), ALISTER (LEFT), EX-RALLY CHAMPION FATHER, JIMMY (CENTRE), COLIN McRAE (RIGHT) 23. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) COLIN McRAE ASKED HOW HE THINKS THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WILL END "Yeah it will be a tough fight but it's not fair to say Tommi is the guy on form. Everybody's been very quick. Tommi's just managed to pull it off right at the end. I think he will be going into the RAC with loads of confidence, Carlos will be a bit wary and soon as you are like that it is easy to slow down too much" 24. CUTAWAY 25. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) COLIN McRAE ASKED ABOUT HAVING HIS BROTHER AS TEAMMATE FOR THE RALLY OF GREAT BRITAIN. HE SAYS IT IS NOT FAIR TO MAKE COMPARISONS. "He has been flung in at the deep end, the RAC, with me. Everyone going to be making straight comparisons, I don't think you can really do that. Tough for him to be up there alongside us (me) 26. COLIN McRAE/NICKY GRIST, HIS NAVIGATOR, PLAYING WITH RADIO CONTROL SUBARU CARS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 3rd December 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SILVERSTONE, UK/NEAR OXFORD, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City:
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVAEHUDTEF15VEONT0CQWB5XBTI9
  • Story Text: The 1998 World Rally Champion will either be Tommi
    Makinen or Carlos Sainz -- the outcome depends on the RAC
    Rally around Britain which starts on Sunday (November 22).

    Although each is trying to win the final rally of the
    season and seize the title, it may be the performances of
    Britain's Richard Burns and Colin McRae that decides who is
    the championship winner.

    The Mitsubishi team, which runs cars for current world
    champion Makinen and Burns, was at Silverstone circuit
    recently (November 13), testing the cars in readiness for the
    crucial rally.

    Team manager Phil Short was discussing his strategy for
    the event.Makinen is currently two points ahead of Sainz, but
    could lose the championship if Sainz wins the RAC and Makinen
    comes second.

    This is because there are 10 points for a win and only 6
    for second.Third takes 4 points, fourth 3, fifth 2 and sixth
    just one.

    Makinen won the championship in 1996 and 1997, and is
    looking for his third in a row, but has never won the British
    round.Sainz took the world title in 1990 and 1992 by winning
    the RAC rally each time.

    Short said he planned to send Burns out to win, and so
    deprive Sainz of the vital 10 points.That would allow Makinen
    to settle for a lower place and still win the title.

    If Sainz was too strong, or Burns had a problem, then
    Makinen would have to go all-out for a win.

    The other driver who might feature is Colin McRae who won
    the event in 1994, 1995 and 1997.

    Makinen heads into the rally hoping he can shake off the
    last effects of a bout of 'flu.The Mitsubishi team doctor put
    him on a course of medication and restricted him to his home
    in Finland until a few days ago.

    The Finn is leading the championship for the first time
    this year, having won the last three events in Finland, Italy
    and Australia, and seems at the peak of his ability.

    "If it comes down to a head-to-head fight I would back
    Tommi every time," said Mitsubishi team boss Phil Short."He
    is very fast, very intelligent, understands the car fully and
    knows how to get the very best from it.

    "I am confident we can do well.Whether we can win the
    rally I don't know.Our first target is to give Tommi the
    driver's title.

    The Mitsubishi team also hope it will amass enough points
    to take its first constructors' title as well -- stealing it
    from Sainz's Toyota team, who enjoy a four point advantage.

    Colin McRae has been practicing for his final drive with
    the Subaru team before moving to Ford for 1999.

    For the first time he will have his younger brother,
    Alister, as his team-mate in the other Subaru Impreza, marking
    the first time two brothers have contested a world rally
    together.

    The McRae brothers, Colin and Alister recently (November
    13) testerd their cars, accompanied by their rally-winning
    father Jimmy.

    The RAC rally is based in Cheltenham and starts on Sunday
    (November 22) with a series of spectator stages, five of which
    are based at the famous Silverstone racing circuit.On Monday
    and Tuesday it carves its way through the forests of south and
    mid Wales before returning to Cheltenham where the new world
    champion will be crowned.

    1998 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP FOR DRIVERS
    1.Makinen 58
    2.Sainz 56
    3.McRae 45
    4.Auriol 34
    5.Kankkunen 33
    6.Burns 23
    7.Liatti 17
    8.Loix 13
    9.Vatanen/Delecour/Panizzi 6

    1998 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MANUFACTURERS
    1.Toyota 85
    2.Mitsubishi 81
    3.Subaru 65
    4.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register