| Mitsubishi
Motors continues to make news in motorsports. Its Hiroshi
Masuoka, driving for Team Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart,
captured a record seventh victory for the automaker in the
famed Arras-Madrid-Dakar Rally (formerly the Paris-Dakar
Rally). The victory was especially sweet for Masuoka, who
had to settle for second place last year.
"At
the beginning I had a problem with the language," reflected
Masuoka. "I needed French to talk to the mechanics.
For two-and-a-half years, I worked at a garage with the
mechanics. I was very hungry and worked very hard. So now
.... I am on top of the world. Mr. Brehmer looks down over
me. He helped my program at the start, and I’m sure
he is watching now." (Ullrich Brehmer, Masuoka's former
team manager, succumbed to cancer in 2001.)
Mitsubishi
Motors vehicles monopolized the top 8 places and accounted
for 9 of the top 10 finishers. Last year's champion, Germany's
Jutta Kleinschmidt, was runner-up this year with Team Mitsubishi
Ralliart. Rally legend and former Dakar winner Kenjiro Shinozuka
placed third with Team Nippon Mitsubishi Ralliart, and Frenchman
Jean-Pierre Fontenay was fourth. The top four finishers
all drove Pajeros (Monteros). Portuguese driver Carlos Sousa
drove a Mitsubishi L200 to a fifth-place finish.
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Last year's champion, Kleinschmidt (in the red
car), chases Masuoka across the desert.
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