Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports News
Optic 2000 Rally of Tunisia
2006 FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup, round two
Liaison: 42 km; Super Special 4 km; Liaison 21 km ? Total 67km
Weather conditions: dry, cool and overcast ? 12-14C
For immediate release
Sunday, April 9th 2006
REPSOL MITSUBISHI RALLIART TEAM HOLDS
SECOND, THIRD AND FIFTH IN RALLY OF TUNISIA
? Dakar Rally winner Alphand set to shadow Sainz into Africa
? Japan?s Masuoka in third; Peterhansel cautious in fifth place
LEVENS (France) ? The Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team completed the opening four-kilometer ?super special? stage of the Optic 2000 Rally of Tunisia at Levens in second, third and fifth positions in the unofficial overall classification, today (Sunday).
The traditional short opening section in the hills north of Nice was identical to the stage used in both 2004 and 2005 and kick-started the competitive action on this nine-day, second round of the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup.
The French pairing of Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard led the way for the Mitsubishi team in the first of three MPR12 versions of this year?s Dakar Rally-winning Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution. The winners of both January?s Dakar Rally and last month?s Patagonia-Atacama Rally will now follow Spain?s stage-winning Carlos Sainz into the first African stage on Tuesday.
?The stage looked quite dangerous in the hills, but I had a good pace today,? said Alphand. ?I think that my hours behind the wheel in Argentina and Chile were important. Third would have been a perfect position for me to start on Tuesday, but looking positively there is no damage on the car this time. Last year I spun on this stage, so already I am in a better position than I was then and we went on to win last year…?
Japan?s Hiroshi Masuoka and French co-driver Pascal Maimon returned to competitive action together for the first time since their Dakar accident in Morocco and set the third fastest time. ?It was nice to get back into the car and drive a stage,? said Masuoka. ?Today was good for the confidence and I am quite happy to be in this position after the accident in Dakar.?
St?phane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret were the first team into the stage today and set a cautious fifth fastest time. ?We have been three months now without driving competitively,? said Peterhansel. ?I have not even tested a rally car and was not going to take any risks on this tight stage. Some of the surface rocks were very slippery. It was a case of making no mistakes.
?Starting first car on the road is never easy. There were only motorcycles to sweep the loose gravel off the surface. I don?t think that the first stage in Tunisia will be too difficult in navigational terms, but I suppose I would have preferred to finish third or fourth today.?
?I am quite happy to have our cars safely through this stage without any problems,? said MMSP?s Team Director Dominique Serieys. ?Now we can all look forward to meeting our rivals again on Tuesday.?
?Luc has made a great start to this season with two important wins and it was good to see St?phane and Hiroshi back behind the wheel here,? said MMSP?s Team President Isao Torii. ?I am confident that our team can keep up this winning run next week in Tunisia.?
On Sunday afternoon the entire caravan of cars, bikes and support vehicles boarded the Danielle Casanova ferry for the Mediterranean sea crossing to Tunis. Monday?s timetable consists of disembarkation formalities in Tunisia and a 540 km road transfer from Port de la Goulette, near Tunis, to the first overnight halt at Ras El Oued in the Tatouine region.
Competitive action gets underway on Tuesday morning when the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team tackles a varied 288 km selective section between Ras El Oued and the second overnight halt at Nekrif. The event finishes in Djerba, Tunisia, on Monday, April 17th.
Positions after Levens special stage (unofficial):
1. Carlos Sainz (E)/Michel P?rin (F) Volkswagen Race Touareg 3m 54s
2. Luc Alphand (F)/Gilles Picard (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutio 3m 58s
3. Hiroshi Masuoka (J)/Pascal Maimon (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutio 4m 00s
4. Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Dirk von Zitzewitz (D) Volkswagen Race Touare 4m 03s
5. St?phane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutio 4m 08s, etc
Ends
Copyright free photographs, driver profiles and pre-event driver interviews for editorial media only can be downloaded from www.mmsp-media.com
For further information please contact Florian Moser, MMSP?s Communications Department:
MMSP GmbH, Adam-Opel-Str. 4
D 65468 Trebur-Astheim
Florian Moser
Telephone +49 (0) 172 6697 578
E-mail f.moser@mitsubishi-motor-sports.com