kicks off next month

Next month will see the beginning of this year’s competition season for MML Sports, the company formed from what was the Mitisubishi works rally team. April will be a busy month for MML Sports, as it will not only be providing a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 World Rally Car for Hungarian Rally Champion Csaba Spitzmuller to defend his 2008 title, it will also be preparing its Group N Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX ahead of its competition debut.

Spitzmuller, or ‘Spitzi’ will be defending his 2008 title in the same car that brought him his first national championship title. As in 2008, the team will be sponsored by Hell energy drink and will run under the title of the Hell Racing Team.

Spitzi will again be partnered in the car by co-driver Miklos Kazar, himself a successful quad racing champion, as they tackle the Eger Rally, the season opener over the weekend of 2/3 April. They will then contest the Miskolc Rally at the end of the month, 25/26 April with both the first two rounds featuring asphalt.

While Spitzi is more at home on gravel, according to MML Sports Managing Director John Easton, he is just as capable on asphalt. “Spitzi is a quick driver, no doubt about that. And although he’s quicker on gravel, he’s no slouch on asphalt. We’re very excited about helping him to defend his title, which he tried to achieve for years but managed at his first attempt in the MML Sports-run Lancer WRC05 last year.

“It looks like April will be a busy month for us. While we’re running Spitzi on the first round of the Hungarian Championship, we’re also carrying out initial testing on the MML Sports Group N EvoX in the UK. So we’ll be splitting both the management team and the technicians over that weekend, between the UK test and the Eger Rally.

“The initial testing for the EvoX will be carried out by Lassi Lampi, who will determine a base set-up. We will then put Guy Wilks in the car to fine-tune the settings, ready for when he takes the car out for its competition debut, the Talsi Rally in Latvia in May.