Mitsubishi looks to expand

Gian-Luigi Galli, Kristian Sohlberg and Daniel Sola are currently scheduled to share the second car alongside new team leader Gilles Panizzi for the rest of the season. But Mitsubishi team boss Sven Quandt has admitted that he is thinking about running a third car.

"Towards the middle of the year, we'd like to run three cars on some rallies," he said. "But it depends on whether the cars come back to us in one piece on the preceding rallies.

"It's a big risk, because it means we'll be pitting one or two of the youngsters against each other, and they will want to show they are fastest. But this is competition, so they should be used to it."

If Mitsubishi go ahead with the plan, it will still only be able to nominate two of its three drivers for championship points, and one of them will definitely be Panizzi, who was praised by Quandt.

"He's a team player," said the team boss. "I've never met a driver so sympathetic, patient and understanding of the challenges that we face. He's a fantastic ambassador for us."