Thus
far in the chronicles of the Dakar Rally, you would have
to call this the Mitsubishi Century. Since the start of
the millennium no other team has won this grueling African
event, arguably the world's most punishing off-road endurance
race. On January 16, defending champion Stéphane
Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret crossed the
finish line to propel Mitsubishi Motors Repsol ATS Studios
Team to a 1-2-6 finish and into the record books as the
first team ever to complete five consecutive wins and the
first to win 10 overall since the race began.
Although
Peterhansel led convincingly from the mid-point on, he was
challenged by a very promising teammate Luc Alphand.
At the finish Peterhansel commented, "It's
a big satisfaction but also a great relief. Every day was
difficult and we improved regularly. I stayed focused until
the end. I have to thank my co-driver who didn't make one
mistake, because even with a good driver, the car cannot
win if the navigation isn't at the height of expectations.
Now that I've figured out how to win consecutively, I will
come back next year to try and beat the record. We will
work all year to try and be as good."
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