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Ralliart

Motorsports division of Mitsubishi Motors

Field	Value
name	Ralliart
logo	[[Image:Ralliart.png	280px]]
type	Division
foundation	April 1984
location	33-7 Shiba 5-Chome, Minato, Tokyo 108-0014
key_people	Andrew Cowan (founder)
Doug Stewart (founder)
Masao Taguchi
(President, Executive Director)
industry	Motorsport
Automotive engineering
revenue	¥4,462 million (2005)
parent	Mitsubishi Motors

Doug Stewart (founder) Masao Taguchi (President, Executive Director) Automotive engineering

Ralliart is the high-performance division of Mitsubishi Motors. It was responsible for development and preparation of the company's rally development of high-performance models and parts available to the public. Ralliart scaled down its business activities in April 2010, though the brand will continue to be used by Mitsubishi.

Many regional licensees were set up previously. Ralliart Europe was established as Andrew Cowan Motorsports (ACMS) Ltd in 1983 by Andrew Cowan, a driver with the Mitsubishi team who had scored their first international victory in 1972 at the Southern Cross Rally. His team mate at the same event in 1975 and '76, Doug Stewart, set-up Ralliart Australia as the official regional licensee in 1988, after 22 years of experience with the company's cars. The two have subsequently served as operational bases for Mitsubishi's global motorsport activities, and were responsible for MMC's record of achievement in off-road racing, including the 1998 Manufacturers' Championship in the World Rally Championship, four individual Drivers' Championships for Tommi Mäkinen in 1996–99, and a record twelve wins in the Dakar Rally since 1982.

The company established Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports in Trebur, Germany in November 2002, and then consolidated the previously independent licensees under this umbrella in 2003, acquiring ACMS Ltd from Cowan while Mitsubishi Motors Australia took over Stewart's operation.

History

Revival

On May 13, 2021, Mitsubishi executives announced that they would bring back Ralliart as part of a plan.

Dakar Rally

In 2003, MMSP also purchased the Pont-de-Vaux-based SBM operation, which had been responsible for its cross country rallying activities, to form MMSP SAS.

The team used the Mitsubishi Pajero to win the Dakar Rally every year between 2004 and 2007. After the 2008 running was cancelled, the team developed a new car, the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer, for 2009, but struggled, losing the race to rivals Volkswagen. In 2009, Mitsubishi withdrew from cross-country competition.

In late 2009, Frenchman Nicolas Misslin acquired MMSP SAS and renamed it JMB Stradale Off Road.

World Rally Championship

Ralliart Europe

Mitsubishi rally driver Andrew Cowan set up Andrew Cowan Motorsports (ACMS) in 1983 as a European base for Mitsubishi's motorsports activities. Based in Rugby, Warwickshire, it evolved into Ralliart Europe, with support from Mitsubishi's high performance division.

Ralliart Europe entered the World Rally Championship full-time for the first time in 1989, with the Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. The car won in the hands of Mikael Ericsson in Finland and Pentti Airikkala in Great Britain. Mitsubishi finished fourth in the manufacturers' standings in 1989, and third in 1990. Kenneth Eriksson delivered the team its next victory in Sweden in 1991.

The team introduced the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution for the 1993 season, but did not manage to win during the year and only scored two podium finishes. The team developed the Lancer Evolution II and introduced it half-way through the 1994 season, Armin Schwarz scoring a second-placed finish on the cars debut in Greece. The car took its first victory on the following year's Rally Sweden, with Kenneth Eriksson leading home Tommi Mäkinen.

The Lancer Evolution III was soon introduced, and enjoyed great success in hand of Eriksson in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Mitsubishi's main focus at the time. Eriksson took the Evolution III to victory on the 1995 Rally Australia, a round of both championships. He finished the WRC season in third place in the standings behind the dominant Subaru World Rally Team pairing of Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, after the Toyota Castrol Team pairing of Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol were excluded from the championship for running illegal turbo restrictors. In 1996, Mäkinen won five out of the nine rounds to win the Drivers' Championship.

The Lancer Evolution IV was introduced for the start of the 1997 season. Mäkinen won four out of 14 rallies to win his and Mitsubishi's second drivers' title. The car won the second and third rounds of the 1998 season, before being replaced by the Lancer Evolution V for the fifth round in Spain. As their rivals Subaru and Ford were competing with the new World Rally Car spec, Mitsubishi continued to develop their cars to the old Group A regulations. Mäkinen took the car to victory in Argentina, which then won the final four events of the season, allowing Mäkinen to win a third straight title, while Mitsubishi were finally able to take their first manufacturers' title, thanks to two victories from Richard Burns.

The team introduced the Lancer Evolution VI for the opening round of the 1999, complete with sponsorship from Marlboro. Mäkinen won in Monte Carlo on the car's debut and then again on the next round in Sweden. He picked up further wins in New Zealand and Sanremo to record a then record fourth consecutive drivers' title. In 2000, the team struggled against their rivals and their World Rally Cars, Mäkinen only winning once and finishing fifth in the standings.

Mäkinen managed to win three times in 2001, until Mitsubishi introduced the Lancer WRC in Sanremo, having continued running to the old Group A regulations even though their rivals began working with the new WRC regulations from 1997. Both Mäkinen and teammate Freddy Loix struggled with the new car, before Mäkinen suffered a heavy accident that injured his co-driver Risto Mannisenmäki. Two retirements and a sixth-placed finish from the final three rallies meant that Mäkinen missed out on winning the title.

Mäkinen left the team for Subaru for 2002, so François Delecour and Alister McRae were signed to replace him and Loix, who had moved to Hyundai. Both struggled with the car though, McRae managed a fifth-place finish on Rally Sweden, but those were the only points the team would score all season. The team finished last in the manufacturers' points, behind Skoda and Hyundai. Mitsubishi would not compete during the 2003 season as Mitsubishi restructured their motorsports activities.

MMSP

Mitsubishi consolidated their racing activities in 2003, acquiring ACMS Ltd from Cowan while Mitsubishi Motors Australia took over Stewart's operation. This followed the formation of Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports (MMSP) GmbH in Trebur, Germany in November 2002.

The team signed experienced driver Gilles Panizzi to lead its lineup, and signed the less-experienced trio of Kristian Sohlberg, Gigi Galli and Daniel Solà to share its second car. Panizzi managed to score points on three occasions before the team reduced its programme after ten of 14 rounds, switching their focus to developing their 2005 car. The team did compete on Rally Catalunya, where both Sola and Galli finished in sixth and seventh place respectively.

Mitsubishi returned in 2005 with a developed car, the Lancer WRC05, and had signed Harri Rovanperä to drive one car on all 16 rallies, with Panizzi and Galli sharing the second car. Galli would be entered in a third car on selected events. Panizzi scored Mitsubishi's first podium finish since 2001 on the first event of the season, Monte Carlo. Rovanperä was a regular points scorer, finishing second on Rally Australia, to finish the season seventh in the drivers' standings. Galli scored points on six occasions. Mitsubishi finished fifth in the manufacturers' standings, ahead of Skoda.

At the end of 2005, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation suspended its participation in the WRC. MMSP Ltd supported Galli's Lancer WRC05 entry for the two opening rounds of 2006, in association with Ralliart Italy.

MMSP Ltd. ran two Lancer WRC05s for Toni Gardemeister and Xavier Pons on the first three rounds of the 2007 season, as well as a third car for Juho Hänninen on round three in Norway. It also ran Gardemeister on round five in Portugal alongside Armindo Araujo, and ran Gardemeister and Hänninen in Italy. It ran Urmo Aava in Greece, Finland and New Zealand, the Estonian scoring points in Finland and New Zealand.

In February 2009, MMSP Ltd operations manager John Easton completed a buy-out of the Rugby-based company to form MML Sports Ltd.

Ralliart, Inc

Mitsubishi continues to use the Ralliart name both to sell aftermarket components and as a "halo" brand for higher-performance editions of many of its models. Many of the regional licensees continue to operate. Ralliart Italy prepares Mitsubishi rally cars for Armindo Araujo and the Pirelli Star Drivers in the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC). Ralliart China hold the brand rights for the China territory. Their head office is in Hong Kong but has facilities in different cities within China. They construct competition vehicles to be used in the China Rally Championship and China Cross Country Rally Championship, sell competition parts, manage teams and offer technical consultancy to its clients.

In 2012 Benito Guerra Jr. won in México, Argentina and España rallies, plus a second place in Germany, clinching the PWRC world championship in doing so.

WRC results

Year	Car	No	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1989	SWE	MON
87	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC
Ret	NZL	ARG	FIN
Ret	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR
5
SWE	MON	POR
18	KEN	FRA	GRC
7	NZL
6	ARG	FIN	AUS
7	ITA	CIV	GBR
SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC
4	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR
SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN
1	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR
SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS
Ret	ITA	CIV	GBR
SWE	MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR
1
1990	MON
Ret	POR
Ret	KEN	FRA	GRC
Ret	NZL	ARG	FIN
3	AUS
Ret	ITA	CIV	GBR
2					3rd	56
MON
Ret	POR
Ret	KEN	FRA	GRC
Ret	NZL	ARG	FIN
2	AUS	ITA	CIV	GBR
Ret
MON	POR	KEN
5	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV
Ret	GBR
MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL
4	ARG	FIN	AUS
Ret	ITA	CIV	GBR
MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV
1	GBR
1991	MON
8	SWE
Ret	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC
Ret	NZL	ARG	FIN
DSQ	AUS	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR
4			3rd	62
MON
Ret	SWE
1	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC
7	NZL	ARG	FIN
3	AUS
2	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR
2
MON	SWE	POR	KEN
8	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV
1	ESP	GBR
MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL
Ret	ARG	FIN	AUS
7	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR
MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV
2	ESP	GBR
1992	MON
6	SWE	POR
5	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR
MON
Ret	SWE	POR
Ret	KEN	FRA	GRC
Ret	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR
7
MON	SWE
8	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN
6	AUS	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR
11
MON	SWE	POR	KEN
10	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV
1	ESP	GBR
MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL
3	ARG	FIN	AUS
5	ITA	CIV	ESP	GBR
MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRC	NZL	ARG	FIN	AUS	ITA	CIV
Ret	ESP	GBR
1993	MON
6	SWE	POR
Ret	KEN	FRA	GRE
3	ARG	NZL	FIN
9	AUS	ITA	ESP	GBR
8
MON
4	SWE	POR
5	KEN	FRA	GRE
Ret	ARG	NZL	FIN
5	AUS	ITA	ESP	GBR
2
MON	SWE	POR	KEN
Ret	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL	FIN	AUS	ITA	ESP	GBR
MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL
Ret	FIN	AUS
4	ITA	ESP	GBR
1994	MON
7	POR	KEN	FRA
				GRE
2	ARG	NZL
3	FIN	ITA
Ret	GBR
MON
5	POR	KEN	FRA
				GRE
Ret	ARG	NZL
4	FIN	ITA	GBR
MON	POR	KEN
2	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL	FIN	ITA	GBR
MON	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	ARG	NZL	FIN	ITA
2	GBR
1995	MON	SWE
1															2nd	307
				NZL
5	AUS
1	ESP	GBR
Ret
		POR
11	FRA
19
MON
4	SWE
2
			FRA
8	NZL
Ret	AUS
4	ESP
Ret	GBR
Ret
		POR
10
MON
6
			FRA
3			ESP
5
	SWE
10
		POR
9				ESP
11	GBR
7
				NZL
11	AUS
8
1996	SWE
1	KEN
1	IDN
Ret	GRE
2	ARG
1	FIN
1	AUS
1	ITA
Ret	ESP
5								1st	123	2nd	322
SWE
14
	KEN
6
		IDN
Ret		ARG
4		AUS
5		ESP
Ret
			GRE
14
					FIN
8
							ITA
8
SWE
16	KEN			ARG
10			ITA
Ret
		IDN
Ret
			GRE
17
					FIN
Ret
						AUS
10
1997	MON
3	SWE
3	KEN
Ret	POR
1	ESP
1	FRA
Ret	ARG
1	GRE
3	NZL
Ret	FIN
1	IDN
Ret	ITA
3	AUS
2	GBR
6			1st	63	3rd	86
									FIN
7
MON
5	SWE
Ret			ESP
8	FRA
8						ITA
Ret
		KEN
2	POR
Ret			ARG
Ret		NZL
4		IDN
4		AUS
4	GBR
4
							GRE
4
		KEN	POR			ARG	GRE
6	NZL		IDN		AUS	GBR
MON	SWE	KEN	POR	ESP	FRA	ARG	GRE	NZL	FIN	IDN	ITA	AUS
Ret	GBR
1998	MON
Ret	SWE
1	KEN
Ret	POR
Ret													1st	58	1st	91
				ESP
3	FRA
Ret	ARG
1	GRE
Ret	NZL
3	FIN
1	ITA
1	AUS
1	GBR
Ret
MON
5	SWE
15	KEN
1	POR
4
				ESP
4	FRA
Ret	ARG
4	GRE
Ret	NZL
9	FIN
5	ITA
7	AUS
Ret	GBR
1
MON
7	SWE
7	KEN	POR
Ret	ESP
9
					FRA	ARG	GRE
Ret	NZL	FIN
Ret	ITA	AUS	GBR
1999	MON
1	SWE
1	KEN
DSQ	POR
5	ESP
3	FRA
6	ARG
4	GRE
3	NZL
1	FIN
Ret	CHN
Ret	ITA
1	AUS
3	GBR
Ret			1st	62	3rd	86
MON
Ret	SWE
9	KEN
Ret		ESP
4	FRA
8	ARG
Ret	GRE
4	NZL
8	FIN
10	CHN
Ret	ITA
4	AUS
4	GBR
5
			POR
Ret
2000	MON
1	SWE
2	KEN
Ret	POR
Ret	ESP
4	ARG
3	GRE
Ret	NZL
Ret	FIN
4	CYP
5	FRA
Ret	ITA
3	AUS
DSQ	GBR
3
MON
6	SWE
8	KEN
Ret	POR
6	ESP
8	ARG
5	GRE
Ret	NZL
Ret	FIN
Ret	CYP
8	FRA
Ret	ITA
8	AUS
Ret	GBR
Ret
2001	MON
1	SWE
Ret	POR
1	ESP
3	ARG
4	CYP
Ret	GRE
4	KEN
1	FIN
Ret	NZL
8							3rd	41	3rd	69
										ITA
Ret	FRA
Ret	AUS
6	GBR
Ret
MON
6	SWE
13	POR
Ret	ESP
4	ARG
6	CYP
5	GRC
9	KEN
5	FIN
10	NZL
11
										ITA
12	FRA
12	AUS
11	GBR
Ret
MON	SWE
2	POR	ESP	ARG
					CYP
Ret	GRC	KEN
								FIN
Ret	NZL
15	ITA	FRA	AUS	GBR
2002	MON
9	SWE
34	FRA
7	ESP
9	CYP
13	ARG
Ret	GRE
11	KEN
Ret
								FIN
Ret	GER
9	ITA
10	NZL
9	AUS
Ret	GBR
Ret
MON
14	SWE
5	FRA
10	ESP
13	CYP
Ret	ARG
8	GRE
Ret	KEN
9
								FIN
Ret	GER
Ret	ITA
Ret	NZL	AUS
													GBR
Ret
MON	SWE
14	FRA	ESP	CYP
Ret	ARG	GRE	KEN
										FIN
8	NZL
Ret	AUS
9	GBR
Ret
2003	MON	SWE	TUR	NZL
6	ARG	GRE	CYP	GER	FIN	AUS	ITA	FRA	ESP	GBR
MON	SWE	TUR	NZL	ARG	GRE	CYP	GER
Ret	FIN	AUS	ITA	FRA	ESP	GBR
MON	SWE
12	TUR	NZL
Ret	ARG	GRE	CYP	GER
14	FIN	AUS	ITA	FRA	ESP	GBR
2004	MON
6	SWE
Ret	MEX
8	NZL
Ret	CYP
Ret	GRE
10	TUR
Ret	ARG
7	FIN
11	GER
Ret	JPN	GBR	ITA	FRA	ESP
12	AUS
MON
Ret		MEX
Ret				TUR
10
	SWE
Ret		NZL
Ret	CYP
Ret			ARG
Ret	FIN
Ret
					GRE
Ret				GER
Ret	JPN	GBR	ITA	FRA	ESP
6	AUS
	SWE		NZL	CYP	GRE		ARG	FIN	GER	JPN	GBR	ITA	FRA	ESP
7	AUS
2005	MON
7	SWE
4	MEX
5	NZL
Ret	ITA
Ret	CYP
7	TUR
10	GRE
6	ARG
5	FIN
7	GER
10	GBR
4	JPN
5	FRA
10	ESP
10	AUS
2
MON
3	SWE	MEX
8	NZL	ITA	CYP
11	TUR	GRE	ARG	FIN	GER	GBR	JPN
11	FRA
Ret	ESP	AUS
	SWE
7		NZL
8	ITA
Ret		TUR
8	GRE
7	ARG
Ret	FIN
Ret	GER
5	GBR
14			ESP
Ret	AUS
5
MON		MEX			CYP							JPN
Ret	FRA
9
2006	MON
Ret	SWE
4	MEX	ESP	FRA	ARG	ITA	GRE	GER	FIN	JPN	CYP	TUR	AUS	NZL	GBR
MON	SWE
3	MEX	ESP	FRA	ARG	ITA	GRE	GER	FIN
Ret	JPN	CYP	TUR	AUS	NZL	GBR
MON	SWE	MEX	ESP	FRA	ARG	ITA
5	GRE
9	GER	FIN
7	JPN	CYP	TUR	AUS	NZL	GBR
MON	SWE	MEX	ESP	FRA	ARG	ITA	GRE	GER	FIN
DSQ	JPN	CYP	TUR	AUS	NZL	GBR
2007	MON
7	SWE
6	NOR
Ret	MEX	POR
DSQ	ARG	ITA
6	GRE	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR
MON
26	SWE
Ret	NOR
16	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	GRE	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR
MON	SWE	NOR
17	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA
8	GRE	FIN
Ret	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR
MON	SWE	NOR	MEX	POR
Ret	ARG	ITA	GRE	FIN	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR
MON	SWE	NOR	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	GRE
14	FIN
7	GER	NZL
8	ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR
MON	SWE	NOR	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	GRE	FIN
Ret	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR
MON	SWE	NOR	MEX	POR	ARG	ITA	GRE	FIN
13	GER	NZL	ESP	FRA	JPN	IRE	GBR

Complete JGTC Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

title=World Sports Racing Prototypes - All Japan Grand Touring Championship	url=http://www.wsrp.cz/jgtc.html	access-date=2022-08-24	website=www.wsrp.cz}}	Car
Mitsubishi FTO		GT300	61	JPN Akihiko Nakaya
JPN Takahiko Hara	SUZ
3	FUJ
C	SEN
7	FUJ
Ret	MOT
Ret	MIN
6	SUG
2	NC1
Ret
Mitsubishi FTO		GT300	61	IRE Ralph Firman
JPN Akihiko Nakaya
ARG Rubén Derfler	SUZ
2	FUJ
Ret	SUG
5	MIN
Ret	FUJ
3	OKA
8	MOT
7	NC1

References

[http://ralliart.com/10topics/100310.html "Partial Cease of Business Activities along with Ralliart Inc's Business Scale Down"] {{Webarchive. link. (2017-10-09 , announcement by Ralliart President Masao Taguchi, March 10, 2010)
[http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/motorsports/e/05wrc/heritage/index.html "Mitsubishi Motors - A Glorious Heritage in Motorsport"] {{Webarchive. link. (2006-06-23 , Mitsubishi-Motors.com)
[http://www.ralliart.com/00topics/topics12/index.html Ralliart Australia] {{Webarchive. link. (2006-11-01 , Ralliart.com, November 7, 2000)
[http://media.mitsubishi-motors.com/pressrelease/e/motorsports/detail897.html "All-New Challenge for Mitsubishi Motors"], Mitsubishi Motors press release, October 9, 2003
[http://www.carpages.co.uk/mitsubishi/mitsubishi_takes_over_andrew_cowan_motorsports_06_04_03.asp "Mitsubishi Motors Takes Over Andrew Cowan Motorsports"], Carpages.co.uk, April 6, 2003
"Doug Stewart - 50 Years In Motor Sport", Jon Thomson and Stuart Bowes, RallySport News, August 12, 2003
http://www.crash.net/world+rally/news/142661/1/mml_sports_ltd_created.html MML Sport Ltd created
"Ralliart Parts & Collections Catalogue". Ralliart.co.jp.
[http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FullTests/articleId=115407 "Mitsubishi crosses the Galant and the Eclipse GT"], Tony Assenza, Edmunds.com, May 17, 2006
"World Rally Championship - Results".
"World Sports Racing Prototypes - All Japan Grand Touring Championship".

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