COMMUNIQUE 18 19 January 2001 Bakel - Tambacounda Liaison 7 km - SS 285 km - Total 292 km

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

Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka edged further ahead today as the battle for victory raged on today in the closing stages of the Paris-Dakar Rally in Senegal. Co-driven by Frenchman Pascal Maimon, the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero driver stretched his slender lead over second-placed Jean-Louis Schlesser to an additional 1m 37s by winning the 285km 18th leg between Bakel and Tambacounda. Masuoka now leads by 7m 28s with only two stages remaining in one of the most closely fought Dakar’:s ever. Mitsubishi L200 Team Mitsubishi Portugal C. Sousa / J.M. Polato At the end of a long, hot and dusty day after winding his way through dense vegetation, forests and fast laterite tracks, a weary but happy Masuoka commented: ":This morning we had a five minutes lead and now we have seven minutes, so it is still tight. We were lucky today because we broke a wheel yet were still able to increase our lead over Jean-Louis. It was a very fast stage, and very hot. The last 120km along the laterite tracks suited us and we went flat out, but it was bumpy with a lot of holes":. Germans Jutta Kleinschmidt and Andreas Schulz are still less then 40 minutes down on the two leading cars in third place in their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero. While theoretically it is just possible for the Germans to take the lead before Dakar, it’:s really now a two-horse race between the leading pair, and Jutta is now driving carefully to secure her place on the podium. Kleinschmidt admitted: ":Nothing special today. A fast stage with a lot of holes so we took no risks. We just went at a good speed. There’:s no point in taking risks now, we have too much to lose":. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Hewlett Packard Ralliart J.P. Fontenay / G. Picard French pair Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Gilles Picard, two of the pre-event favourites, are still going well in sixth place, albeit nearly four hours behind Masuoka after their dramas in the desert earlier in the week. Navigator Picard reported from today’:s leg: ":All the stage in dust. We were 85km following De Mevius, in his dust, and then when we eventually got past him we were immediately in the dust of Henrard’:s VW buggy. It was impossible to pass. The whole 280km we were in dust. The car was perfect though":. In a similar position, the legendary Japanese Dakar driver Kenjiro Shinozuka lost a great deal of time in the desert last week due to various problems, and is now just aiming to finish in his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero. He said: ":It was a very bumpy stage. Fast, then bumps, fast again, then bumps. The only problem for us was the dust. That’:s all really":. Tomorrow sees the final long stage of the event between Tambacounda and Dakar. It’:s really Schlesser’:s last chance of catching Masuoka, so both cars will fight head-to-head across 217 km of open Senegalese savannah. After that, all that remains is the short ":spectator special": around the Rose Lake near Dakar the following day.

Leg 18 - Bakel - Tambacounda SS 18 - 285.00 km - Friday 19 January

Times on SS 18 1 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 2.44.47.0 2 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 2.46.24.0 +1.37.0 3 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 2.48.19.0 +3.32.0 4 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 2.49.18.0 +4.31.0 5 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 2.51.55.0 +7.08.0 6 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 2.52.05.0 +7.18.0 7 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 2.52.50.0 +8.03.0 8 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 2.52.59.0 +8.12.0 9 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 2.54.59.0 +10.12.0 10 H.PESCAROLO S.DE LIEDEKERKE NISSAN TERRANO 2.56.54.0 +12.07.0 11 K.SHINOZUKA F.GALLAGHER MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 2.57.00.0 +12.13.0 12 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 2.59.38.0 +14.51.0 13 C.LE DUC R.TORNABELL KIA 3.01.43.0 +16.56.0 14 A.KHROL A.MARZALIOVK MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.03.05.0 +18.18.0 15 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 3.06.00.0 +21.13.0 17 V.RAKITIANSKY O.PYALIN MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 3.10.13.0 +25.26.0

Overall after SS 18 1 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 67.12.46.0 2 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 67.20.14.0 +7.28.0 3 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 67.52.29.0 +39.43.0 4 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 68.51.44.0 +1.38.58.0 5 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 70.04.22.0 +2.51.36.0 6 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 71.05.00.0 +3.52.14.0 7 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 72.24.26.0 +5.11.40.0 8 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 72.55.11.0 +5.42.25.0 9 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 74.20.15.0 +7.07.29.0 10 L.BOURGNON G.LENEVEU NISSAN TERRANO 81.41.12.0 +14.28.26.0 11 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 81.42.20.0 +14.29.34.0 12 S.PETERHANSEL W.ALCARAZ NISSAN TERRANO 82.08.50.0 +14.56.04.0 13 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 83.22.48.0 +16.10.02.0 16 V.RAKITIANSKY O.PYALIN MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 85.31.14.0 +18.18.28.0 17 H.PESCAROLO S.DE LIEDEKERKE NISSAN TERRANO 86.45.57.0 +19.33.11.0 19 A.KHROL A.MARZALIOVK MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 89.44.55.0 +22.32.09.0