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Take a drive with Steve Jones in the Metropolis Fabcar Evo 9 MR.

After a long wait – its now official Fabcar has Mitsubishi I models available for immediate delivery.

The Mitsubishi i is a kei car from Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors, first released in January 2006,[1] twenty eight months after its debut at the 2003 Frankfurt Motor Show.[2] It is the first four door automobile since the 1960s to employ a “rear midship” setup with the engine behind the passengers, in an attempt to improve safety and interior space without enlarging the overall exterior.[1][3]

The innovative layout and styling of the i proved an immediate critical and commercial success, exceeding Mitsubishi’s initial sales targets by 20 percent and winning thirteen awards in its first year.[4][5] Although designed with the Japanese keijidōsha light automobile class in mind, the attention it generated led to its subsequent introduction in right hand drive markets in Asia, Oceania and Europe. It is also used as a basis of the 2009 i-MiEV battery electric vehicle.

The Australian Version of the i-Miev is due to be released to the public in August, this model is an all electric vehicle and will be priced at approximately $54,000 drive away….

The Fabcar version that will be supplied is a 660cc Petrol Turbo car and priced from $21,990! (ex Govt Charges)

Specifications:

Test Drive Today – you will be amazed at the performance and the savings!!!

References:
[1] Mitsubishi Motors (January 24, 2006). “New concept for the future of small: ‘i’”. Press release.
[2] “”i” Concept Test Car”. Mitsubishi Motors.
[3] Wan, Mark (November 18, 2005). “Mitsubishi i”. Autozine.
[4] (PDF) Facts & Figures. Mitsubishi Motors. 2007. pp. 39.
[5] Rowley, Ian (November 14, 2006). “Mitsubishi’s award winning minicar”. Businessweek.

There’s a great field of cars entered for this weekend’s rally – spanning classic sports cars to the latest high tech road warriors. To illustrate the variety, entries include examples of Porsche, Fiat, Toyota, Mitsubishi, BMW, Lotus, Birkin, Alfa Romeo and Ford. A full list of entries is available on www.classicrally.com.au

Ross Hamilton will be representing the Fabcar Racing team, in the Fabcar/McDonalds backed Mitsubishi Evo 8 MR. Both car and driver have proven to be very competitive in the past, finish 4th out right in this year’s Targa West, Ross will be one to watch. Steve Jones will miss the opportunity to win 3 back to back Fabcar Classics as he is over east competing in AUZRUN.

Spectator stages. In the morning spectators car visit the Start and first stage being held at the Speed Dome in Midvale. After that cars will travel to other morning locations which are not suitable for spectators and then all the afternoon stages will be held at the Kwinana Motorplex.

Spectators are welcome to attend the Motorplex, but please note that we will not be using the usual Pits area. Parking for spectators will be to the right of the main entrance, in the usual spectator parking area, not in the Pits.

Free entry to all spectator locations. Spectator viewing areas will be restricted at all locations. Please follow instructions of officials.

Then event will be run on the short circuit so Steve has opted to taken the LF23R over the usual RX7 sport sedan, believing the Evo will be more suit to the short circuit.

Steve will have his work set out for him with 3 V8 Supercars competing in the same class which should make for some spectacular racing.

For the first time the Supertrucks will be under lights with qualifying on Friday night and racing on Saturday afternoon and evening with a fireworks display to cap off the night.

Steve Jones has been kind enough to give the customers of Fabcar the chance to get up close and personal with his LF23R. The vehicle is on display for a limited time in our showroom in Cannington. Feel free to drop past check the Evo out and have a browse of the other great cars we have on display.

The LF23R is said to be “The Ultimate Evo” which is a testimate to the R&D Steve has put into the car for the last 3 years.

Below are some of the vehicles achievements and Steve’s results;

1st place Autotrader State Sprint Championship 2010, Round 3
1st place No Limits Event Sprint May 2010 (New Event Record 52.0964)
1st place Autotrader State Sprint Championship 2010, Round 2
1st place Busselton Foreshore Sprint 2010
1st place No Limits Event Sprint March 2010 (New Event Record 52.8110)
1st place Autotrader State Sprint Championship 2010, Round 1
1st place Speed Aware Twilight Rally Sprint 2010
1st place MC Motorsport Targa Time Attack Round 2 2010
1st place Fabcar One-Day Classic 2009
1st place K-Tec Twilight Rally Sprint 2009
1st Outright Driver Australian Dutton Rally Series 2008

Quit Targa West hit the roads of Perth, Kalumanda, and Toodyay on the weekend some exciting rally action. The Fabcar team consisted of two time winner Steve Jones and Ben Searcy (R35 GTR), 2009 Modern Challenge winners Mark and Andy Conacher (R35 GTR), 3 time competitors Ross Hamilton and Tony Robson (Evo 8 MR), and late addition to the team David Heaton and Lisa White (TMR Evo 10).

Disaster hit the team on Special Stage 1 at Whiteman Park when Steve Jones experienced engine troubles with his GTR forcing him to bow out of the event, which allowed front runners Jim Richards and Peter Major to breathe a little easier as Jones was out of contention.

Friday saw Leg 1 hit the roads of Kalamunda with some great stages – John Forrest, Kalumanda and Zig Zags to name a few. The Conacher’s took charge in their GTR claim the lead for the leg over Robert Darrington in another GTR. The Evo 8 MR of Hamilton and Robson took hold of 4^th position after some issues were sorted out with their Evo.

Leg 2 and 3 where based out of Toodyay with the Killarnie City of Perth Super Stage finishing off the event on the roads of the Swan River.

The Hamilton/Robson Evo had put in consistant times over the two legs to come across the line in 4^th place in Modern Competition behind Peter Major (R35 GTR), Jim Richards/Barry Oliver (Porsche GT2), and Peter Rullo/Simon Iseppi (R35 GTR). The Conacher’s took back to back victories in the Modern Challenge category, holding off the GTR of Darrington. Long time Fabcar friends – Tolley Challis and Greg Flood took top honours in Classic Competition.

The Fabcar team had a very successful rally and would like to thank all our partner sponsors McDonalds, and LF Performance, Live Fitness, Greenline, GT Graphics, and Xspeed and sponsors Caffi Logistics, Bassendean Hotel, Café Nocello, and the Environmental Printing Company. We would also like to thanks David Heaton from Metropolis Fremantle for jumping behind the wheel in his first Targa West event, the boys from Fabcar were happy to help Dave out and look forward to working with him closely in the future.

The Fabcar Racing Crew 2010

Congratulations - Modern Challenge winners 'Back to Back' - Mark and Andy Conacher

Ross Hamilton and Tony Robson - Awesome drive in 2004 Evo 8 MR

Dave Heaton and Lisa White - Metropolis Fremantle Evo X with Fabcar's Andre and Matt

Motorsport eNews Review - T Challis and R Hamilton

Thanks to Corbin Hurst for his pics over the weekend and also for his work on Fabcar Racing poster.

Fabcar proudly sponsor Chassis Build No.1 of the LF Performance built MItsubishi Evolution – designed in conjunction with Steve Jones.

The LF23R Evolution is a purpose built Tarmac Rally/Hillclimb/Time Attack/Motorkhana car, designed and built in-house from a standard Mitsubishi Evo 9 road car for use in racing events around Australia.

After years of development and racing, the experienced team at LF Performance Products in conjunction with Steve Jones have built the ultimate Evo.

This product is available as a package or a complete vehicle ‘ready-to-race’ primarily for Tarmac Rally in Australia. The package requires purchase or delivery of a Mitsubishi Evo 9 (with an un-damaged body history as a minimum requirement) prior to further assessment by the team at LFP.

Click here to download the LF23R Evolution brochure.

Steve Jones, Ross Hamilton and Mark Conacher will be teaming up with Fabcar, LF Engineering and other sponsors  for Targa West 2010 (August 26-29 2010)

Steve is yet to confirm which vehicle he will be using in an attempt to pull off a third consecutive Modern Competition win, backing up hugely successful 2008 and 2009 campaigns. Targa West will form as a prequel to Steve possibly heading to Japan to compete in some local racing behind the wheel of a Nissan GT-R racing prototype vehicle currently being built by a successful Japanese tuning/development company. Stay tuned for more information. (Steve is also about to launch his own website stevejonesracing.com that will feature lots of information on Steves racing endeavours.) Either way Fabcar will be supporting Steve in his attempt to show off his skills in Japan.

Ross Hamilton with co-driver Tony Robson will take part behind the wheel of the very competitive Mitsubishi Evolution 8 MR. The boys have competed in the last two years of  Targa West, and were making some impact in 2009 before a small error cost the boys  by the end of the event.

2009 Modern Challenge Competition winner, Mr Mark Conacher of McDonalds will be heading the third car (Nissan GT-R). Mark has been an influential help in setting up planning for 2010, in particular assisting with sponsorship for Steve’s Japanese campaign.

Fabcar will support the team with the help of their technical partners LF Engineering. LF Engineering have long supported Fabcar and are the chosen partners when it comes to Motor Racing.

In addition to LF Engineering, Fabcar are also partnering with McDonalds, Northside Nissan, GT Graphics, Live Fitness, Greenline MotorSports, and Caffi Logistics. (Other sponsors are also soon to be announced)

Thank you to all these partners, as we look forward to a successful 2010 campaign.

2008 Modern Competition Winner

‘drive something different!