Mäkinen's last full works World Rally drive was with Subaru in 2003, when he drove an Impreza S9 WRC to eighth in the championship. Mäkinen's final victory was with Subaru too, 2002's Rallye Monte Carlo. His final World Rally, 2003 Wales Rally GB, yielded a third place finish, after fighting with Colin McRae, who was also to retire after the rally. McRae suffered a puncture and ultimately took fourth.
The Finn will test the new car over a stage on his family farm near Puuppola, which is near Rally Finland base Jyväskylä. Nearby the test stage is Mäkinen's rally preparation firm, Tommi Mäkinen Racing. TMR formed a successful partnership with Subaru Technica International and now builds and sells Group N spec Imprezas. Since the introduction of the R4 class, TMR has supplied an upgrade kit to convert Group N Imprezas to R4 spec.
TMR will run PG Andersson on next weekend's Rally Finland in an Impreza R4. The rally will mark the car's World Rally début. Three R4 cars are entered next weekend, with the other two cars being Mitsubishi Lancer R4's for Juho Salo and Paulo Nobre. Salo is gunning for victory this year after crashing out in spectacular style on the same corner that claimed Gigi Galli in 2008.
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