Team Mitsubishi Motor Sports America Braves Ice and Frigid Temperatures in Debut of New Team, New Cars at Michigan's Sno*Drift SCCA ProRally

    CYPRESS, Calif., Jan. 22 Imagine trying to harness
400-plus horsepower while driving at freeway speeds over narrow, ice-and-snow
covered logging roads.  A daunting thought for us mere mortals who ply the
winter roads, but all in a days work for the SCCA ProRally drivers of Team
Mitsubishi Motor Sports America who will be doing just that this weekend in
Michigan.
    While local temperatures dip well below normal for this time of year on
the northern tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, Mitsubishi's rally cars will
be burning up the competition at the two-day SCCA Sno*Drift ProRally out of
Atlanta.
    Team Mitsubishi Motor Sports America is pulling out all the stops this
season in the quest for the SCCA Driver and Manufacturer national
championships by entering two Open Class division Lancer Evolutions.
    Sno*Drift is the first round in a series of nine SCCA ProRally events
across the country and the only one that pits drivers, co-drivers, cars and
crews against the brutal elements of nature over snow-and-ice covered
roads -- and Mitsubishi Motors North America is entering the fray this season
with a brand new factory team and a pair of equally new, state-of-the-art,
work's-backed all-wheel-drive Lancer Evolutions.
    The Evolutions, which are producing "in excess of 400 horsepower," are
some of the quickest cars in the world, and are built around the production
version of the all-wheel-drive 2003 Lancer Evolution sport sedans that will
arrive at dealers across the country in February.
    Racing to win is part of the Mitsubishi spirit.
    "The Lancer Evolution represents the essence of the Mitsubishi brand and,
in its street legal form, has the highest thrill-for-dollar ratio on the
planet," says Pierre Gagnon, MMNA chairman and chief executive officer.
    "With the Lancer Evolution's incredible performance and uncompromising
pedigree as a champion racer on the World Rally circuit, it was natural for
Mitsubishi to choose the SCCA ProRally Championship to showcase our company's
passion for competition and engineering excellence to North American
enthusiasts."
    Behind the wheel of the red-and-silver #1 Lancer Evolution is Englishman
David Higgins, one of the top rally drivers in the world and the defending
2002 SCCA ProRally Driver's Champion.  Higgins won last-season's Championship
as a privateer, overcoming the factory team's drivers who had to their
advantage more advanced and higher-powered rally cars.  This year the
advantages are all his under the Mitsubishi colors.
    At his side in the co-driver's seat is 22-year-old Daniel Barritt, one of
the youngest co-drivers in the SCCA ProRally Championship.  During the past
five years Barritt, also an Englishman, has worked his way up the ranks in
national rallies in the UK and began to co-drive for David Higgins in April
2002.  The duo won two victories in 2002, placing Barritt 2nd in the Overall
Co-driver's championship.
    Close on the bumper of the Higgins/Barritt Evolution will be the
all-American team of O'Sullivan and Williams.  San Francisco-native Lauchlin
O'Sullivan, driver of Team Mitsubishi Motor Sports America's second Open Class
entry (car #6), is the reigning 2002 Group 2 SCCA ProRally Champion.
    Last season O'Sullivan drove Team Mitsubishi's 2-wheel-drive Lancer OZ
Rally Edition entry to four class wins and a total of seven podium finishes
garnering the Group 2 SCCA ProRally Championship in convincing fashion.
    This season O'Sullivan will pilot an Open Class Lancer Evolution for the
entire 2003 season.  This is not his first time behind the powerful
all-wheel-drive Lancer Evolution; last year he drove a Mitsubishi-backed
Lancer Evolution 6.5 at the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and
finished an impressive 3rd overall in the SCCA Open Class division.  The new
2003 Lancer Evolution, powered by a potent HKS race-prepared turbocharged
Mitsubishi 2.0-liter, is an even faster, more refined competition rally car.
    His co-driver this season is Dr. Mark Williams, one of the most sought
after co-drivers in North America.  The wisdom attained from 136 rally starts,
89 finishes and 31 wins at WRC and National-championship events enables Mark
to establish the right pace, assist in the car setup, and make the right
decisions to achieve winning results.
    Williams, from North Potomac, Maryland, has known Lauchlin O'Sullivan for
nearly 20 years -- since their early days together in the California Rally
Series where Lauchlin began co-driving for his father at the age of 14.
    "I first co-drove with Lauchlin at Rim of the World in 1991 where he
displayed raw talent in need of taming," says Williams.  "He has since
harnessed that talent and developed admirably.  I'm thrilled at the
opportunity to help him attain that next plateau of performance."
    To prepare for Sno*Drift's cold and snowy conditions the Mitsubishi team
visited Maine in sub-zero temperatures for a day of testing on a fast and
flowing snow covered road.  The team drivers spent the day logging their first
miles in the new cars and setting up their Evolution's suspension and braking
systems as well as testing snow tires.  The Evolution's powerful HKS-tuned
engines also received some final adjustments to maximize their performance.
    Team Director Lance Smith was satisfied with the outcome of the test.
"The conditions we encountered on this test are nearly identical to what we
will find in at Sno*Drift next weekend, so it's a perfect way to set up the
cars and it gives the drivers a chance to learn how these new cars handle in
the snow."
    "Within ten minutes of driving I knew that the new Lancer Evolution was
exceptionally special.  It has great handling, tremendous power, and it
inspires total confidence," said Higgins after the test session.  "It's pure
magic."

    Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA) is responsible for all of the
North American operations of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation.  As a single
company consolidated on January 1, 2003, MMNA and its subsidiaries
manufacture, distribute, finance, and market Mitsubishi brand coupes,
convertibles, sedans and sport utility vehicles through a network of nearly
700 dealers in the United States.
    Mitsubishi Motors sold its first vehicle in the U.S. in 1981 and began
building cars here in 1988 at its manufacturing facility in Normal, IL.