Success once again for Mitsubishi at Dakar

When it comes to pushing and punishing machine and driver to their absolute limits, few events are as fiercely challenging as the Dakar Rally.

Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart

But for the seventh consecutive time, Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart took a win after the final 16km special stage near Dakar on Sunday.

Their 12th win in 25 years of participating in the Rally represents a record breaking achievement. After fifteen days of competition, Stephane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret piloted their Pajero/Montero Evolution to a win within under 7.5 minutes of Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard.

The team dedicated the win to the memory of co-driver Henri Magne, who lost his life in a fatal accident in last years Rally of Morocco. His wife and child were called to the podium to help celebrate.

Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret

Says Mitsubishi Motorsports Managing Director Dominique Serieys: "I am very proud that we have managed to record the seventh win in seven years. The new car won out of the box with a couple of minor problems with some external components and this bodes well for the ongoing development throughout 2007 and into 2008. I don't think that this was a difficult Dakar. For sure, our strategy was different this time, but you can see from the number of finishers that it was maybe an easier race than previous years. We had many more difficult battles with Citroën in previous Dakars.

Of a total of 185 cars, 247 bikes and quads and 85 trucks, some 109 cars, 132 bikes and quads and 60 trucks reached the finish.