COMMUNIQUE 11 12 January 2001 Atar - Nouakchott Liaison 71 km - SS 437 km - Total 508 km

Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Evolution Team Nisseki Mitsubishi Ralliart H. Masuoka / P. Maimon

The Paris Dakar Rally arrived in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania today with Mitsubishis heading the field in first, second and third places. Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka is still in the lead in his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, co-driven by Pascal Maimon of France, although this has been cut from half an hour to just 12m 09s. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Mitsubishi Germany J. Kleinschmidt / A. Schulz German pair Jutta Kleinschmidt and Andreas Schulz are a close second in their similar Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, with Portuguese driver Carlos Sousa third in his Mitsubishi L200. The 11th leg of the Dakar, the first after the restart in Atar this morning, was supposed to be an easy section to allow the remaining competitors time to re-acquaint to the hard, hot driving conditions after the traditional half-way point rest day. The stage was 437 km long, mostly across open desert, although many cars were seen stopping at check points to clear camel grass and vegetation from their car radiators. But as soon as the flag went down, the battle commenced - with just 50 minutes separating the top five, the race is just too competitive for anyone to take it easy. Masuoka started the day with a 35 minute lead but this was reduced when he went the wrong way after the second check point and was forced to traverse a range of sand dunes. Schlesser, not wanting to lose sight of the leader followed him, but his buggy wasn’t capable of climbing the dunes so he had to drive round them. Adding to the buggy driver’s misery, his front right suspension also got damaged. Mitsubishi L200 Team Mitsubishi Portugal C. Sousa / J.M. Polato Masuoka reported: "My engine started to run very hot and towards the end it wasn’t running on all cylinders. For 150 km we had to drive very slowly. Plus we punctured just after CP1 - though we didn’t lose too much time. It is just a pity that we got lost at the only place where it was possible. For the route from now on we have a better car than Jean-Louis, but tonight a big repair is needed. I hope tomorrow will be fine". This allowed Kleinschmidt to power her way up to second place from fourth, just behind Masuoka who, despite his problems, remains in the lead at Nouakchott after the 437km stage. Sousa also moved up to third, making it a Mitsubishi 1-2-3. Said the German: "I think it was a perfect stage. At the beginning, there was a lot of stones and then, after CP1 it was very fast. Jean-Louis and Hiroshi went wrong. We went straight, off-road, and we arrived first at CP3. The temperature of everything was very high, especially the gearbox that has been running hot for a few days now, so we must have a look tonight to know why it is getting so hot. It was then very fast to the end and we arrived first". Now third overall, Carlos Sousa had an almost trouble free day. The Portuguese driver of the Mitsubishi L200 commented: "A good day - not for punctures. The suspension was very different than it was before the rest day (they changed it yesterday) and it was very difficult, the car was bucking and it felt like there was no suspension on the front and it took me a while to get used to it. We went right towards the dunes then realised it was the wrong way, but we were able to rejoin the correct piste. We saw (Hubert) Auriol at CP2 and he said we were the third car to come through - normally we are fifth". Tomorrow, the surviving competitors head off from Nouakchott to Tidjikja with a 580km competitive section and an overall route distance of 654km. There will be plenty of dune crossings and navigational challenges, and after recent rains, camel grass and clumps of vegetation will again be the biggest hazards at high speed.

Leg 11 - Atar - Nouakchott SS 11 - 437.00 km - Friday 12 January

Times on SS 11 1 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 4.04.33.0 2 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.23.55.0 +19.22.0 3 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 4.29.10.0 +24.37.0 4 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.31.30.0 +26.57.0 5 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 STRAKAR 4.31.52.0 +27.19.0 6 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 4.36.29.0 +31.56.0 7 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 4.40.59.0 +36.26.0 8 K.SHINOZUKA F.GALLAGHER MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.41.41.0 +37.08.0 9 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.57.08.0 +52.35.0 10 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 5.01.28.0 +56.55.0 11 M.PRIETO A.VELHINHO MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 5.07.34.0 +1.03.01.0 12 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 5.09.21.0 +1.04.48.0 13 S.PETERHANSEL W.ALCARAZ NISSAN TERRANO 5.20.36.0 +1.16.03.0 15 L.BOURGNON G.LENEVEU NISSAN TERRANO 5.25.35.0 +1.21.02.0 16 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 5.27.00.0 +1.22.27.0 18 H.PESCAROLO S.DE LIEDEKERKE NISSAN TERRANO 5.48.41.0 +1.44.08.0 19 K.KOLBERG B.CATTARELLI MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 5.50.15.0 +1.45.42.0

Overall after SS 11 1 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 34.23.24.0 2 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 34.35.33.0 +12.09.0 3 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 STRAKAR 34.36.37.0 +13.13.0 4 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 35.02.44.0 +39.20.0 5 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 35.14.14.0 +50.50.0 6 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 36.08.45.0 +1.45.21.0 7 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 36.29.03.0 +2.05.39.0 8 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 36.55.01.0 +2.31.37.0 9 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 38.03.59.0 +3.40.35.0 10 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 39.05.21.0 +4.41.57.0 11 S.PETERHANSEL W.ALCARAZ NISSAN TERRANO 40.11.25.0 +5.48.01.0 12 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 41.02.19.0 +6.38.55.0 13 K.KOLBERG B.CATTARELLI MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 41.14.49.0 +6.51.25.0 14 L.BOURGNON G.LENEVEU NISSAN TERRANO 41.36.01.0 +7.12.37.0 15 M.PRIETO A.VELHINHO MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 41.41.08.0 +7.17.44.0 17 H.PESCAROLO S.DE LIEDEKERKE NISSAN TERRANO 43.09.53.0 +8.46.29.0 48 K.SHINOZUKA F.GALLAGHER MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 67.54.23.0 +33.30.59.0