Mitsubishi to take sabbatical

The Japanese manufacturer had been tipped to withdraw from the sport completely, but instead it has opted to take a sabbatical, switching its focus to spending more time further developing the Lancer WRC.

Its final event of 2004 will be August's Rallye Deutschland, and the team will only contest one or two selected European rallies as an intensive test and development platform for the Lancer WRC. Mitsubishi has also underlined its commitment to the WRC until 2006.

"We started this season with a three year plan," said Sven Quandt, president of Mitsubishi's motorsport operation. "The first year with the new car back in the World Rally Championship was mainly focused to develop our new Lancer WRC. To pull out from the whole championship for the rest of the season gives us the possibility to further develop our car with all the experience we have gained since the Monte Carlo Rally this year, where we finished in sixth place.

Akira Kijima, managing director of Mitsubishi Motors, added: "Our commitment to motorsport will continue. Rallying is central to our brand philosophy and we will continue to use motorsport to technically develop our production cars.

"But we have to consider how best to optimize our resources and find our way back to the enormous success we have had in previous years. This is not easy with such an intense world rally programme, so the only way to find time for this is to temporarily reduce our programme."