COMMUNIQUE 14 7 January 2002 Atar - Atar Liaison 33 km - SS 366 km - Liaison 5 km - Total 404 km

Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Mitsubishi Ralliart J. Kleinschmidt / A. Schulz (7 January 2002)

German Mitsubishi driver and last year’s Dakar winner, Jutta Kleinschmidt took her first stage win on this year’s event on the 10th stage which looped for 366 km to the south and west of Atar, Mauritania. She remains in third place. As temperatures in the Sahara topped 37 degrees Celsius, Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero driver Hiroshi Masuoka extended his lead to 12m 09s, and Mitsubishis now hold the top eight positions overall. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart H. Masuoka / P. Maimon (7 January 2002) Second-placed driver, Kenjiro Shinozuka of Japan, is the competitor most likely to challenge Masuoka’s lead. Driving a similar Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero and the only Japanese driver ever to have won the Dakar, he dropped back slightly today after a navigational error. He explained: "It was a difficult stage, some sand, very rocky in places with some big stones. We were a little out of our way on the course and lost about five and a half minutes. It was one of those things. Tomorrow is a very difficult stage and we must push now". Rally leader Masuoka was pleased with his increased lead, but revealed: "Not the best of stages for me today, but it was without major problem. We still have a good lead and that is important". Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart K. Shinozuka / T. Delli-Zotti (7 January 2002) Kleinschmidt was the happiest of the three leading Mitsubishi drivers, commenting: "It was a good stage for me, good navigation without the GPS. I think Hiroshi made a small mistake early on and we caught him after about 30 kms and then after about 100 kms he passed to the left and we went to the right. It was good to win the stage. I enjoyed today". Frenchman Jean-Pierre Fontenay remains in fourth place in his Pajero/Montero, while Portuguese driver Carlos Sousa completes the all-Mitsubishi top five in his L200. With a good run today, Qatar’s Saeed Al-Hajri regained sixth place today in his L200, despite Saturday’s roll between Zouerat and Atar, while French former World Downhill Ski Champion Luc Alphand now holds seventh in his Pajero/Montero. Nissan driver Stephane Peterhansel, the sole works Nissan driver to mount a challenge on the Mitsubishis yesterday, dropped out of the running today from fifth after fuel pump problems. This means that Israeli driver Nir Barkat completes the Mitsubishi whitewash in eighth place in his Mitsubishi Challenger. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Mitsubishi Ralliart J.P. Fontenay / G. Picard (7 January 2002) With Brazilian Klever Kolberg in 10th in his Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, Mitsubishi appears to be heading toward a clean sweep of the top 10 places with just Manuel Plaza Perez the only non-Mitsubishi left in ninth position in his Nissan. Tomorrow, the rally continues with yet another very challenging stage from Atar to the remote desert village of Tidjikja. At 467 km long in an overall route of 502 km, it will be the longest and hardest stage so far. Initially passing through a spectacular canyon, then along a dry riverbed and out onto a vast sea of sand and camelgrass.

Times on SS 9 1 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 3.46.12.0   2 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 3.51.46.0 +5.34.0 3 K.SHINOZUKA T.DELLI-ZOTTI MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 3.52.09.0 +5.57.0 4 J-P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 3.53.40.0 +7.28.0 5 C.SOUSA V.JESUS MITSUBISHI L 200 4.06.40.0 +20.28.0 6 S.AL-HAJRI M.STEVENSON MITSUBISHI L 200 4.21.37.0 +35.25.0 7 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN PICK UP 4.23.24.0 +37.12.0 8 K.KOLBERG P.LARROQUE MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 4.40.42.0 +54.30.0 9 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 4.44.56.0 +58.44.0 10 M.PLAZA PEREZ I.SALVADOR IBANEZ NISSAN NAVARA 4.47.46.0 +1.01.34.0 11 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 4.52.52.0 +1.06.40.0 12 L.ALPHAND A.DEBRON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 4.59.50.0 +1.13.38.0 13 J-L.MONTERDE A.PIO NISSAN PATROL 5.00.33.0 +1.14.21.0 14 L.BOURGNON G.LENEVEU NISSAN TERRANO 5.00.42.0 +1.14.30.0 15 N.MISSLIN J-M.POLATO MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 5.04.51.0 +1.18.39.0 16 F.GIL R.TORNABELL SEAT DAKAR 5.06.05.0 +1.19.53.0 17 B.LHOTELLERIE B.LEHERON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 5.08.54.0 +1.22.42.0 18 J-F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 5.09.40.0 +1.23.28.0 19 M.SALVATORE J-C.GILLONNIER TOYOTA 5.09.52.0 +1.23.40.0 20 E.SMULEVICI J.KOHUT NISSAN NAVARA 5.27.02.0 +1.40.50.0 21 J-P.STRUGO B.CATTARELLI MERCEDES ML 430 5.29.10.0 +1.42.58.0

Overall after SS 9 1 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 18.26.45.0   2 K.SHINOZUKA T.DELLI-ZOTTI MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 18.38.54.0 +12.09.0 3 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 18.47.20.0 +20.35.0 4 J-P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 19.25.26.0 +58.41.0 5 C.SOUSA V.JESUS MITSUBISHI L 200 21.07.53.0 +2.41.08.0 6 S.AL-HAJRI M.STEVENSON MITSUBISHI L 200 21.53.24.0 +3.26.39.0 7 L.ALPHAND A.DEBRON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 22.13.12.0 +3.46.27.0 8 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 22.22.56.0 +3.56.11.0 9 M.PLAZA PEREZ I.SALVADOR IBANEZ NISSAN NAVARA 22.33.04.0 +4.06.19.0 10 K.KOLBERG P.LARROQUE MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 23.06.22.0 +4.39.37.0 11 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 23.24.29.0 +4.57.44.0 12 F.GIL R.TORNABELL SEAT DAKAR 23.29.25.0 +5.02.40.0 13 J-F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 24.09.35.0 +5.42.50.0 14 L.BOURGNON G.LENEVEU NISSAN TERRANO 24.17.51.0 +5.51.06.0 15 J-P.STRUGO B.CATTARELLI MERCEDES ML 430 24.45.27.0 +6.18.42.0 16 J-J.RATET J-P.GARCIN TOYOTA 25.18.33.0 +6.51.48.0 17 J.LOOMANS M.LAUWERS MERCEDES G 400 25.56.57.0 +7.30.12.0 18 J-M.SALINERO L. CRUZ SENRA NISSAN NAVARA 26.01.27.0 +7.34.42.0 19 B.LHOTELLERIE B.LEHERON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 26.06.07.0 +7.39.22.0 20 N.MISSLIN J-M.POLATO MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 26.27.19.0 +8.00.34.0 58 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN PICK UP 47.30.48.0 +29.04.03.0