Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports News
2004 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup
Orpi Rally of Morocco, round 3
Leg 5: Oued Chebika ? Agadir (56 kms liaison ? 179 kms special ? 68 kms liaison ? 60 kms special ? 45 kms liaison)
For immediate release
Sunday, June 6th, 2004
Weather conditions: warm and sunny: 22-26 C
PETERHANSEL AND COTTRET CLINCH VICTORY FOR THE
MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS TEAM IN MOROCCO
– Sousa and Mayer take third and 10th places
– Housieaux finishes fifth in lead Ralliart car
AGADIR (Morocco): Frenchman St?phane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret gave the Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports Team an emphatic victory in the five-day Orpi Rally of Morocco, which finished in Agadir today (Sunday).
Peterhansel, who had already won the Dakar and Tunisia rallies this season, began the final two stages between Oued Chebika and Agadir with a 26m 30s advantage over his nearest rival Jean-Louis Schlesser and went on to win the event for the first time in a car by 23m 36s.
The success also marked Mitsubishi?s first victory in the five-year history of the NPO-organised event in Morocco and gave Peterhansel the outright lead in the FIA World Cup Drivers? Championship.
~This was a perfect race for me,~ said Peterhansel. ~This is my fourth successive win and I feel very happy. Both Jean-Paul and I were confident this morning. We were relaxed and drove slowly to make sure we had no problems.~
Defending FIA World Cup champion Carlos Sousa and his Andorra-based co-driver Henri Magne finished third overall in the second Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution, despite coming under pressure from Volkswagen?s Jutta Kleinschmidt on the final stage. The former Mitsubishi driver closed to within 58 seconds of Sousa after beating him by over four minutes in the sixth section.
~I lost time to Jutta on the first stage and needed to push a little in the second one,~ said Sousa. ~It was a nice day and I was pleased to finish third here. It was a challenging rally, but a podium place was what I wanted.~
Germany?s Andrea Mayer and co-driver Andreas Schulz completed their second competitive appearance of the season in 10th position in a Mitsubishi L200 Pick-Up, despite two time-consuming incidents earlier in the week where Schulz was forced to repair a broken rear wheel knuckle. They also suffered minor electrical problems today and a replacement battery was fitted at the assistance point.
~it was a disappointing day with the battery problem,~ said Mayer. ~It cost us more time, but I enjoyed my experience in the L200 and this will stand me in good stead for the future.~
~It is never easy to win a race and we have won this weekend with no problems with the cars,~ said MMSP?s Team Director Dominique Serieys. ~The gap between the teams is getting closer each race and we will work over the next four months to make sure that we are ready for Dakar.
~Both Carlos and Andrea are still young and learning. St?phane and Hiroshi (Masouka) are now driving at a very high level and the others will need to work to reach this position.~
~It was not easy, but I feel very satisifed with the team?s performance,~ said Sven Quandt, MMSP?s Head of Motorsport. ~There were no incidents and the cars performed very well. We know we have to work hard to keep the lead, but that is what we expect.~
Today?s final selective offered two competitive sections; the first 179 kms track headed from Tan Tan to a finish at Sidi Ifni, while the second 60 kms section began on the beach at Aglou and finished in the fishing village of Tifnit.
The next round of the 2004 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup takes place in Spain in July. The event is also a round of the FIA European Baja Cup for Drivers.
Positions after final leg – 5 (unofficial at 14.05 hrs):
1. St?phane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 16h 58m 07s
2. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Francois Borsotto (F) Schlesser-Ford DSC12 17h 21m 43s
3. Carlos Sousa (P)/Henri Magne (AND) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 17h 50m 07s
4. Jutta Kleinschmidt (D)/Bobby Willis (GB) Volkswagen Touareg 17h 51m 05s
5. Dominique Housieaux (F)/Loic Fagot (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero 18h 40m 23s
10. Andrea Mayer (D)/Andreas Schulz (D) Mitsubishi L200 Pick-Up 19h 32m 43s
Positions on SS6 (unofficial at 11.40 hrs):
1. Bruno Saby (F)/Michel P?rin (F) Volkswagen Touareg 2h 15m 45s
2. Jutta Kleinschmidt (D)/Bobby Willis (GB) Volkswagen Touareg 2h 21m 22s
3. St?phane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 2h 22m 14s
4. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Francois Borsotto (F) Schlesser-Ford DSC12 2h 22m 28s
5. Phillipe Gache (F)/Jean-Pierre Garcin (F) SMG Buggy OR01 2h 23m 47s
6. Carlos Sousa (P)/Henri Magne (AND) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 2h 25m 30s
Positions on SS7 (unofficial at 14.05 hrs):
1. Phillipe Gache (F)/Jean-Pierre Garcin (F) SMG Buggy OR01 37m 24s
2. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Francois Borsotto (F) Schlesser-Ford DSC12 37m 24s
3. Carlos Sousa (P)/Henri Magne (AND) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 37m 32s
4. Jutta Kleinschmidt (D)/Bobby Willis (GB) Volkswagen Touareg 37m 50s
5. Bruno Saby (F)/Michel P?rin (F) Volkswagen Touareg 38m 48s
6. Thierry Magnaldi (F) Honda Buggy 39m 13s
7. St?phane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 40m 32s
2004 FIA Cross-Country World Cup Drivers’ Championship – points after round 3 (unofficial):
1. St?phane Peterhansel (F) 90 pts
2. Khalifa Al-Motaiwi (UAE) 64 pts
3. Carlos Sousa (P) 51 pts
4. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F) 33 pts
Ralliart Teams
– Housieaux finishes fifth in lead Ralliart car
Dominique Housieaux and co-driver Loic Fagot finished fifth in the overall classification, after completing today?s two stages in eighth and seventh positions.
~The car was perfect,~ said Housieaux, who won the FIA World Cup?s T2 category with Jean-Paul Cottret back in 1994. ~It was difficult in the first stage and we had a puncture, but I enjoyed the final section and am pleased with my result.~
Spanish team mates Jos?-Luis Monterde and Rafael Tornabell were classified 14th overall after the final two stages into Agadir.
~We lost some time in the dust behind slower cars,~ said Monterde. ~I was not going to push too hard though, because there were so many big stones and I wanted to avoid a puncture.~
Positions after final leg (unofficial at 12.50 hrs):
5. Dominique Housieaux (F)/Loic Fagot (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero 18h 40m 23s
14. Jos?-Luis Monterde (E)/Rafael Tornabell (E) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero 20h 49m 29s
Ends
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