Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports News
2004 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup
Baja Portugal, round 2
For immediate release
Thursday, May 13th, 2004
MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS
ENTERS THREE CARS IN RALLY OF MOROCCO
– MMSP enters Peterhansel, Mayer and Sousa in African classic
– Sousa given further chance to drive new Pajero/Montero Evolution
EVORA (Portugal): Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports will enter three cars in the Orpi Rally of Morocco, the third round of the 2004 FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup, which starts in Agadir on June 1st.
Frenchman St?phane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret are entered in the first of two official Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutions, alonside German lady driver Andrea Mayer and her experienced German co-driver Andreas Schulz in a Mitsubishi L200 Pic k-Up.
But the team has also decided to enter a second Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution for the defending FIA World Cup champion Carlos Sousa and his Andorra-based co-driver Henri Magne. They won the recent Baja Portugal in an MMSP-prepared rally car and are also tackling rounds of the FIA European Baja Cup for Drivers this season.
~Carlos drove in a very professional manner to win the Baja in Portugal last weekend and the team was impressed by the way he quickly adapted to driving the new Evolution for the first time,~ said MMSP?s Team Director Dominique Serieys.
~Because the opening round of the European Baja series for Drivers in Italy was cancelled back in March, we decided to nominate Carlos as our third driver for the Rally of Morocco. This will strengthen our challenge for success and also give Carlos another opportunity to gain more experience behind the wheel of the new Evolution,~ commented Sven Quandt, President and Head of Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports.
The MMSP team will use the Rally of Morocco to further test and develop the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution in preparation for a fifth successive defence of their Dakar Rally title in January 2005.
Peterhansel ? the defending Dakar Rally champion – won April?s seven-day Rally of Tunisia in the revised car, where the Pont-de-Vaux-based MMSP team received positive feedback from continuous testing of some new components.
Andrea Mayer returns to the team for the first time since finishing an excellent fifth overall in the Dakar Rally at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero. She will drive a revised Mitsubishi L200 Pick-Up for the first time.
Ends
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