COMMUNIQUE 7 7 January 2001 Goulimine - Smara Liaison 69 km - SS 420 km - Total 489 km

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

Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka won his second stage of the Dakar 2001 in his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero on the rocky final Moroccan leg between Goulimine and Smara. Co-driven by Frenchman Pascal Maimon, the Mitsubishi stormed up the leaderboard to third overall at the end of the seventh leg in Smara, while fellow Mitsubishi crew, Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Gilles Picard, moved up to second, despite getting two punctures and a flat battery. The long 420 km special stage was one of the roughest and rockiest seen so far on this event. And as the rally moved south to the border with Mauritania, the temperature rose too, climbing from 15 degrees Celsius at the start to over 25 by the finish. The route was very rocky to begin with - and fast - smoothing out a little after the half way mark with lots of jumps, bumps and dips during the last 200 km. Punctures were the biggest worry, and many suffered, not least previous rally leader Jean-Louis Schlesser in his buggy. Schlesser and team mate Jose Maria Servia should have made today’s leg their own due to the fast nature of the stage which should have suited the high-speed buggies. However, Schlesser first suffered a puncture, when he was overtaken by Mitsubishi’s Jean-Pierre Fontenay, and then disaster struck when he stalled in a control area and received outside assistance to get going again, which resulted in a one hour penalty - his lead probably gone for good. The incident left Servia in the lead, but only by 8m 37s from Fontenay and his flying Mitsubishi. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Hewlett Packard Ralliart J.P. Fontenay / G. Picard Fontenay would have been in the lead if it were not for his punctures. Co-driver Gilled Picard explained: "It was a very nice stage. It was very rough, but we started quite fast and passed Schlesser, who had a puncture. Servia had stopped with him so we were at the front. It was good for Jean-Pierre to be at the front - he could just drive, not disturbed by the dust of other cars. But at 250 km we had a puncture and discovered an electrical problem at the same time. The battery was flat, so we hooked up to the spare. Then, 40 km from the finish we had a second puncture". For Hiroshi Masuoka in the third-placed Mitsubishi, however, the day couldn’t have gone better. He said: "Today was perfect. - no punctures on the special stage, although we had to change a tyre afterwards. At first, there were many rocks, and then after that, many jumps. But it was easy to drive. I am happy today. The car was no problem at all". German lady driver Jutta Kleinschmidt, now holding an improved fifth place with navigator and fellow German Andreas Schulz, was also feeling happier after changing her Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero’s suspension yesterday. She explained: "Yesterday I changed the suspension and feel more confident about the car. For the last 60 km today I had a slow puncture, but we continued until 20 km before the end before we had to stop and change the tyre. The car feels much better now and is not landing on its nose so much in the jumps". Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Mitsubishi Germany J. Kleinschmidt / A. Schulz Japanese star Kenjiro Shinozuka, co-driven by British navigator Fred Gallagher, is also improving rapidly, now holding sixth overall in his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero. Understandably, with so many others suffering delays with punctures, Shinozuka avoided heroics today and ended up very satisfied with his performance. He said: "Today I was worried about punctures. I drove carefully and didn’t have a puncture. I am happy today. The car had no problems at all". Carlos Sousa of Portugal is now holding an excellent fourth in his Mitsubishi L200, co-driven by Jean-Michel Polato. He too was pleased with his progress, reporting: "A good day. A puncture near the end of the stage but I finished the special without having to change it". Further down the field Israelis Nir and Eran Barkat moved up to a very respectable 10th overall in their Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero . Navigator Eran commented: "Today was good. And we had no problems with the car. On two occasions we had some confusion with the navigation but it was OK". Klever Kolberg of Brazil was also pleased with his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Diesel. He was also pleased to pass the Kamaz truck that has been holding him up for the past couple of days, kicking up huge plumes of dust. He said: "The beginning of the day was good, because we got passed the Kamaz. There were lots and lots of rocks - too many rocks today! For the last 100 km we actually drove alongside the track rather than on it, because it was better - and then I slid sideways and got a puncture. But the car was very good over the jumps - just like a motorbike - good fun!" Tomorrow the remaining competitors strike south, across the border into Mauritania for a spectacular special stage covering a massive 619 km in the desert to El Ghallahouyia. Leaving the rocky tracks of Morocco behind, the rally now hits the sandy desert. The route becomes progressively sandier as it heads south, until the competitors reach high, rolling dunes and the crossing of the 2 km long Erg de Maqteir.

Leg 7 - Goulimine - Smara SS 7 - 420.00 km - Sunday 7 January

Note: J.L. Schlesser had a 1 hour penalty after his buggy was pushed out of a passage control area.

Times on SS 7 1 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.01.31.0 2 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 4.05.07.0 +3.36.0 3 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.07.02.0 +5.31.0 4 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 4.07.04.0 +5.33.0 5 K.SHINOZUKA F.GALLAGHER MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.07.48.0 +6.17.0 6 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 STRAKAR 4.07.49.0 +6.18.0 7 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 4.10.07.0 +8.36.0 8 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.12.45.0 +11.14.0 9 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 4.15.45.0 +14.14.0 10 G.MARCY J.P.COTTRET TOYOTA 4.20.45.0 +19.14.0 11 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 4.26.47.0 +25.16.0 12 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 4.29.47.0 +28.16.0 13 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.30.30.0 +28.59.0 14 S.PETERHANSEL W.ALCARAZ NISSAN TERRANO 4.34.32.0 +33.01.0 15 M.PRIETO A.VELHINHO MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.35.47.0 +34.16.0 16 D.SKILTON M.STEVENSON KIA 4.36.42.0 +35.11.0 18 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 4.38.14.0 +36.43.0 22 K.KOLBERG B.CATTARELLI MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 4.47.40.0 +46.09.0

Overall after SS 7 1 J.M.SERVIA J.M.LURQUIN SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 12.52.18.0 2 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 13.00.55.0 +8.37.0 3 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 13.06.19.0 +14.01.0 4 C.SOUSA J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI L200 STRAKAR 13.14.13.0 +21.55.0 5 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 13.21.03.0 +28.45.0 6 K.SHINOZUKA F.GALLAGHER MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 13.25.58.0 +33.40.0 7 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 13.40.42.0 +48.24.0 8 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE SCHLESSER BUGGY RENAULT MEGANE 13.48.18.0 +56.00.0 9 B.SABY T.DELLI ZOTI FORD RANGER PROTRUCK 13.55.07.0 +1.02.49.0 10 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 14.13.24.0 +1.21.06.0 11 G.MARCY J.P.COTTRET TOYOTA 14.19.53.0 +1.27.35.0 12 S.HENRARD J.M.MARTINEZ VOLKSWAGEN BUGGY 14.28.17.0 +1.35.59.0 13 D.SKILTON M.STEVENSON KIA 14.43.57.0 +1.51.39.0 14 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN TERRANO 14.52.50.0 +2.00.32.0 15 M.PRIETO A.VELHINHO MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 15.04.03.0 +2.11.45.0 16 K.KOLBERG B.CATTARELLI MITSUBISHI PAJERO / MONTERO 15.11.35.0 +2.19.17.0 17 S.PETERHANSEL W.ALCARAZ NISSAN TERRANO 15.15.24.0 +2.23.06.0 32 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 16.28.29.0 +3.36.11.0