Rally Australia 1998

Special eye-witness report by Darryl Peroni. Be sure to check out the great photos!

Finland's Tommi Makinen won the 1998 API Rally Australia after one of the most exciting and controversial rallies in recent memory. Makinen, almost out of contention for most of the rally, overcame mechanical problems and claims of jump starting to win in convincing style over Spain's Carlos Sainz. Makinen now leads Sainz by two points in the Driver's Championship which sets the scene for a final showdown for the title at the Network Q RAC Rally later in November.

LEG ONE - Friday November 6.

After a low key start on the Langley Park super-special stage the previous night, the cars took to the gravel stages east of Perth. Conditions were slippery due to overnight rain but nowhere near the conditions from two years ago. The star of the day was undoubtedly Mitsubishi's Richard Burns who surprised everyone by setting the fastest time on seven out of the day's ten stages. Careful and confident driving allowed Burns to build a 1min 36sec lead over second placed Didier Auriol by the end of the first leg of the rally. However, his team mate Tommi Makinen was in the wars after he hit a rock at high speed and badly damaged the car's suspension. The lost time and penalty for being late out of service after frantic repairs left him eighth and over 2min behind Burns.

Pierro Liatti, in his last drive for Subaru before moving to Seat, was the first major casualty of the event when his Impreza slid wide and hit a tree on SS5. "Maybe I was going a bit too fast," said the Italian. "The wheel came off along with all the suspension components, so that was the end".

Carlos Sainz was content to sit in the middle of the chasing pack for the first day and he steadily moved to third place by the end of the gravel stages. However, Sainz decided to take a time penalty on the night's superspecial stage in order to drop him back to fifth and benefit from better road conditions.

Overall Placings:
1 Burns
2 Auriol
3 Kankunnen
4 Loix
5 Sainz
6 McRae
7 Thiry
8 Makinen

LEG TWO - Saturday November 7.

Day two of the rally consisted of nearly 300km of competitive stages. Road conditions were dry and dusty but a strong breeze made sure that visibility remained good. After Friday's all-out effort, Burns now faced the job of roadsweeper and he fought hard to protect his massive lead from the chasing drivers. He pushed a little too hard and rolled his car on the famous crest of the Stirling West stage (SS 14). Luckily, the car continued to roll onto its wheels and he was able to continue although the roll had damaged the turbocharger. His lead was steadily eroded throughout the day by his team-mate Tommi Makinen and Burns finished the day in third place.

Tommi Makinen made his move and taught the other drivers a few lessons in rally driving. Makinen set six fastest stage times and broke the existing record on five of those stages. He steadily climbed throughout the day and reduced his 2min 22.2sec deficit to finish just 22.7 sec behind new leader Sainz before the day's final superspecial stage at Langley. It was on this stage that things went very wrong for the reigning World Champion. Makinen - no doubt with adrenalin pumping - jumped the start by 4/100 of a second and was penalised 1min which dropped him from second to sixth and possibly out of contention for the rally.

Carlos Sainz was now 35.4sec in front of team-mate Auriol and 47.9 sec in front of equal third Burns and Kankkunen. Colin McRae was expected to make a charge for the lead on this day but his car snapped a rear drive shaft just one kilometer into the first stage of the day. He remained uncompetitive for much of the day and was to finish Leg Two in fifth place.

Overall Standings:
1 Sainz
2 Auriol
3 Burns / Kankkunen
5 McRae
6 Makinen
7 Loix
8 Thiry

LEG THREE - Sunday November 9.

The gods smiled on Makinen during the night. At 0100 hours on Sunday morning, the FIA withdrew the 1min penalty imposed on Makinen for jump starting the superspecial stage after the Mitsubishi team successfully protested the decision. Makinen was re-instated in second position much to the displeasure of the Toyota team.

Sainz was angry after he learned of the decision. "It's a scandal, it's quite clear what happened last night. 20,000 people and the TV cameras all saw it but there is no penalty applied. In Formula One if you jump the start you get a stop/go penalty. I feel sorry for Tommi but it is quite clear what happened and something should have been done about it". Phil Short from Mitsubishi said "The start signal system is not in the FIA regulations. That is why we protested. The stewards accepted this".

The protest decision in part said, "Having heard the representatives of the Team and their explanations together with the detailed explanations of the Clerk of the Course regarding the method of determining a "jump start", the stewards accept that neither the FIA ISC nor the General Prescriptions for the World Rally Championship nor the Event Supplementary Regulations provide for the evidence presented to have proved conclusively the "jump start" regulations for the Event were breached by Competitor No. 1".

And so to the rally... The final day of the rally was buzzing from the late night ruling. Makinen was clearly on a charge and Sainz, needing a win to secure his third World Championship, was now the roadsweeper.

The first stage of the day (Bunnings East - SS 20) began in blistering style. Sainz tried hard to combat the slippery conditions and posted a time of 7min 40.5sec while Makinen could only manage 7min 40.1sec. McRae left the best until last and posted his first fastest stage time for the rally. He was clearly enjoying driving his Impreza through these stages and managed to set the fastest time for the first three stages. He flew through the Bunnings stages and set a phenomenal stage time 9.5 seconds quicker than second fastest Burns, on SS 22, to move into the ouright lead for the rally! By the end of SS 22, McRae led Makinen by 3.6 sec who in turn led Sainz by just 0.1sec.

Sainz was beginning to struggle with the slippery conditions and the mounting pressure. He needed to pull back both Makinen and now McRae with only two stages of the rally remaining. As if the rally hadn't been exciting enough, more drama unfolded on the next stage. Richard Burns rolled his car again and badly damaged the vehicle. He lost over 5min and dropped from fourth to eighth. Rallies are lucky for some and unlucky for others. Unfortunately for McRae, his last minute charge was all for nothing as his engine blew a turbo, costing him over 20 seconds and dropping him to fourth. Worst of all, Sainz had to slow to avoid hitting an Emu which had wandered onto the stage (an Emu is a very large flightless bird - something like an Osterich - which grow to about 180 cm tall) (Australia is a very wild place!!!). This little adventure cost Sainz time and placed him second to Makinen by 17.7sec.

The final stage, a made-for-television stage only 2.7km long, went to Sainz who set the fastest time. Unfortunately, it wasn't anywhere near enough and a controversial victory went to Makinen. Sainz and Moya were both visibly upset after the rally and must now focus on the last round in Britain. Sainz has a better record than Makinen for the RAC and so assuming wild animals or mechanical troubles stay away, we should see a thrilling end to the 1998 WRC season.

Final Placings.
1 Makinen
2 Sainz
3 Auriol
4 McRae
5 Kankkunen
6 Loix
7 Thiry
8 Bourne