Mitsubishi sets new Dakar record

19 January 2004: Mitsubishi took its record-breaking fourth consecutive win and ninth overall victory since first entering the event in 1983, on Sunday when Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret won the Telefonica Dakar Rally.

Pajero Evolution teammates Hiroshi Masuoka and Gilles Picard claimed an emphatic one-two for Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports team, making it the seventh year Mitsubishi Motors has filled at least the top two winning positions on the Dakar Rally (1992, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004).

Andrea Mayer and double Dakar Rally-winning co-driver Andreas Schulz fulfilled their support role superbly, the German pair arriving in Dakar in a fine fifth position in their Pajero.

The Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports drivers won six of the 14 competitive stages and, between Peterhansel and Masuoka led the event for all but one of the legs.

Germany's Andrea Mayer also finished the rally as the leading female driver, despite her first priority being to support the Pajero Evolution crews.

Driving conditions included gravel, snow, sand and the treacherous camel grass, combined with a mixture of weather, ranging from freezing to fearsome heat

Overall standings at the end:

1.
Stephane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F)
Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
53h 47m 37s

2.
Hiroshi Masuoka (J)/Gilles Picard (F)
Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
54h 37m 01s

3.
Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (B)
Schlesser-Ford
56h 48m 10s

4.
Luc Alphand (F)/Henri Magne (F)
BMW X5 Raid
57h 43m 35s

5.
Andrea Mayer (D)/Andreas Schulz (D)
Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero
59h 33m 54s

6.
Bruno Saby (F)/Matthew Stevenson (GB)
Volkswagen Touareg
60h 41m 40s

7.
Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Francois Jourdaan (ZA)
Nissan Pick-Up
61h 53m 48s

8.
Gregoire de Mevius (B)/Alain Guehennec (F)
BMW X5 Raid
63h 22m 22s

9.
Thierry Magnaldi (F)/Didier Legal (F)
Honda
63h 48m 13s

10.
Nasser Saleh Al Attiyan (QA)/Marc Bartholome (B)
Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero
63h 49m 05s

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