Flying Finn Toni Gardemeister will also be making his debut with Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart this season, the young hotshot providing invaluable support as Mitsubishi makes its assault on the important manufacturers’ title. He joined by regular co-drive Paavo Lukander.

"I am very very happy about this", commented Toni. "I think the car is one of the most competitive in the series at the moment, especially if you look at Tommi’s form. Hopefully I will have the chance for a good test beforehand and if the car is as good as it seems, in Finland, in particular, I feel sure I can get points for the team and also maybe try to help Tommi win the World Championship again. I have only competed in two events so far this season, but hopefully this will also give me the chance to show people I can get good results".

So characteristic of the FIA World Rally Championship, each of these three events has its own unique flavour. The Rally of Cyprus (1-3 June), which is only in its second year at World Championship level, is hot, dry, tight and twisty, while Rally Finland (24-25 August) is one of the fastest events in the series. Blind corners and spectacular jumps are a real test of skill, local knowledge in the spiritual home of rallying is of paramount importance and only two non-Nordic drivers have won there in the past. Rally New Zealand (21-23 September) is also a fast gravel event and is regarded by most rally drivers as having the best roads in the world.

Editor’s Note - Driver’s Biographies:

Katsuhiko Taguchi was born in 1972 in Okayama Prefecture and, as the son of a rally driver, motorsport was part of his life from an early age. He began competing in trial events in 1993 before making his rally debut in a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in the 1994 Rally of New Zealand. The following year he moved to Australia and contested both the Australian and New Zealand Rally Championships before moving onto the Asia-Pacific series in 1995, where he finished fourth in the category. In 1997 Katsuhiko joined Ralliart Malaysia where he continued a domestic challenge, as well as setting his sights on the Asia-Pacific title. He claimed the Group N Malaysian Rally Championship title for the third consecutive year in 1998, and then went on to win both the 1999 Group N and overall Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, a significant feat in a showroom category Lancer Evolution. Prior to his outing with Marlboro Mitsubishi Ralliart in the Rally of Cyprus (1-3 June), Katsuhiko will contest the 19th International Japanese Alpine Rally (19-20 May) in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution with Team Advan Ralliart.

Toni Gardemeister was just three years old when he began racing karts and was seven when he first drove his father’s rally-prepared Escort. In 1992, a mere seven months after receiving his driving licence, he won the first stage rally he entered - the Kouvola Rally - in an Opel Ascona. He made his World Championship debut in the 1996 1000 Lakes Rally and was leading Formula 2 until forced out with engine problems. Category victories followed and he made his mark on the 1998 world series when he took a Formula 2 car to second place in Sweden, New Zealand, Finland and Great Britain. The highlight of 1999 was undoubtedly a superb drive to third in New Zealand in his first outing in a World Rally Car, backed up by a fine fourth overall in the famous Rallye Monte Carlo last year. Toni has contested two of the four 2001 FIA World Rally Championship events to date, notching up fine fifth and fourth positions in Monte Carlo and Sweden respectively.