COMMUNIQUE 6 30 December 2001 Narbonne - Madrid Liaison 25 km - SS 35 km - Liaison 870 km - Total 930 km

Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Mitsubishi Ralliart J. Kleinschmidt / A. Schulz (30 December 2001)

Mitsubishi L 200 Team Mitsubishi Galp TMN Chesterfield C. Sousa / V. Jesus (30 December 2001) The 24th Arras-Madrid-Dakar Rally reached the Spanish capital Madrid today, December 30, 2001 with the leading Mitsubishis all placed comfortably inside the top 10 runners after a short but tough 35 km competitive section at the French Chateau Lastours complex. After the cold wind, rain and mud yesterday, the remaining competitors in the Dakar enjoyed slightly better weather in southern France and Spain - it may still have been cool and breezy, but at least it was dry. Thoughts of the weather were, however, far from the minds of the drivers and co-drivers as they negotiated the bumpy, winding tracks of Chateau Lastours. The plan was to drive just fast enough to stay within shooting range of the lead, but be careful not to make mistakes and lose ground before the rally really starts in Africa. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Mitsubishi Ralliart J.P. Fontenay / G. Picard (30 December 2001) Belgium’s Gregoire De Mevius took the honours today and the lead – the first time ever in his Nissan. Last year’s winner, Germany’s Jutta Kleinschmidt, reached Madrid in second place, leading the Mitsubishi challenge in her Pajero/Montero. Mitsubishis dominated the top 10 leaderboard with Carlos Sousa of Portugal fourth in his L200, just behind Stephane Peterhansel, while Pajero/Montero drivers Hiroshi Masuoka, Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Kenjiro Shinozuka held fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. Qatar’s Saeed Al-Hajri was in tenth in his Mitsubishi. Masuoka reported: "It was quite a tricky stage. A lot of corners. We had a small problem with the temperature of the front differential which was higher than normal, which we must look at, but otherwise the car feels much better after the new developments". Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Evolution Team Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart K. Shinozuka / T. Delli-Zotti (30 December 2001) Fontenay also commented on the difficulty of the stage, adding: "There are many twists and turns, and you need to concentrate. It’s a matter of just staying out of trouble at the moment". All the drivers were much happier that today’s stage was dry after the slippery mud of the first test further north. But Shinozuka said: "It was not wet, but the dry, dusty stage was still quite slippery. The car feels nice". After the stage, the cars, bikes and trucks faced another long, grinding drive for nearly 1000 kms to the next overnight halt in Madrid. After a night’s rest, they will enjoy another short 6km stage near the Spanish capital, before driving south again for another 950 km to the ferry that will carry them to Rabat in Morocco. It will be a long, tiring day, but at last they will reach Africa where the action really begins after a night celebrating New Year’s Eve in Rabat.

Times on SS 2 1 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN PICK UP 24.22.0   2 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE RENAULT KANGOO DCI 25.18.0 +56.0 3 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 25.19.0 +57.0 4 C.SOUSA V.JESUS MITSUBISHI L 200 25.51.0 +1.29.0 5 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 25.52.0 +1.30.0 6 S.PETERHANSEL J.P.COTTRET NISSAN PICK UP 26.02.0 +1.40.0 7 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 26.19.0 +1.57.0 8 K.SHINOZUKA T.DELLI-ZOTTI MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 26.29.0 +2.07.0 9 J.M.SERVIA E.OLLER CARBO RENAULT KANGOO 26.32.0 +2.10.0 10 S.AL HAJRI M.STEVENSON MITSUBISHI L 200 27.03.0 +2.41.0 11 F.GIL R.TORNABELL SEAT DAKAR 27.25.0 +3.03.0 12 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 27.35.0 +3.13.0 13 M.PLAZA PEREZ I.SALVADOR IBANEZ NISSAN NAVARA 27.36.0 +3.14.0 14 S.HENRARD J.M.LURQUIN RENAULT KANGOO DCI 27.44.0 +3.22.0 15 L.ALPHAND A.DEBRON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 27.58.0 +3.36.0 16 N.MISSLIN J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 27.59.0 +3.37.0 17 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 28.00.0 +3.38.0 18 F.PICCO C.DAL ZOTTO TOYOTA HDJ 80 28.18.0 +3.56.0 19 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 28.22.0 +4.00.0 20 J.L.MONTERDE A.PIO NISSAN PATROL 28.37.0 +4.15.0 29 M.PRIETO J.VIDARTE MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 29.49.0 +5.27.0 99 B.SABY J.BOUSSIER FORD RANGER 36.59.0 +12.37.0

Overall after SS 2 1 G.DE MEVIUS A.GUEHENNEC NISSAN PICK UP 32.03.0   2 J.KLEINSCHMIDT A.SCHULZ MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 32.56.0 +53.0 3 S.PETERHANSEL J.P.COTTRET NISSAN PICK UP 33.14.0 +1.11.0 4 C.SOUSA V.JESUS MITSUBISHI L 200 33.18.0 +1.15.0 5 H.MASUOKA P.MAIMON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 33.22.0 +1.19.0 6 J.P.FONTENAY G.PICARD MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 33.49.0 +1.46.0 7 K.SHINOZUKA T.DELLI-ZOTTI MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 33.55.0 +1.52.0 8 F.GIL R.TORNABELL SEAT DAKAR 34.08.0 +2.05.0 9 J.M.SERVIA E.OLLER CARBO RENAULT KANGOO 34.50.0 +2.47.0 10 S.AL HAJRI M.STEVENSON MITSUBISHI L 200 35.28.0 +3.25.0 11 J.L.SCHLESSER H.MAGNE RENAULT KANGOO DCI 35.50.0 +3.47.0 12 L.ALPHAND A.DEBRON MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 36.23.0 +4.20.0 13 F.PICCO C.DAL ZOTTO TOYOTA HDJ 80 36.37.0 +4.34.0 14 N.MISSLIN J.M.POLATO MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 36.42.0 +4.39.0 15 M.PLAZA PEREZ I.SALVADOR IBANEZ NISSAN NAVARA 36.57.0 +4.54.0 16 M.PRIETO J.VIDARTE MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 36.58.0 +4.55.0 17 J.F.GUINOT M.KROISS NISSAN TERRANO 37.09.0 +5.06.0 =18 N.BARKAT E.BARKAT MITSUBISHI PAJERO/MONTERO 37.26.0 +5.23.0 =18 A.LEKAVICIUS V.VALIUKEVICIUS TOYOTA 37.26.0 +5.23.0 20 T.DELAVERGNE J.DUBOIS NISSAN TERRANO 37.38.0 +5.35.0 50 S.HENRARD J.M.LURQUIN RENAULT KANGOO DCI 41.31.0 +9.28.0 78 B.SABY J.BOUSSIER FORD RANGER 46.09.0 +14.06.0