COMMUNIQUE 9 2 January 2002 Er Rachidia - Ouarzazate Liaison 56 km - SS 338 km - Liaison 182 km - Total 576 km

Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart H. Masuoka / P. Maimon (2 January 2002)

Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka grabbed the lead in the Arras-Madrid-Dakar Rally today after a 338 km special stage though Moroccan desert between Er Rachidia and Ouarzazate, driving a Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Mitsubishi Ralliart J. Kleinschmidt / A. Schulz (2 January 2002) The Mitsubishi driver was third fastest on the stage, but with overnight rally leader Gregoire de Mevius breaking a driveshaft on his Nissan, that was enough for the Japanese ace to snatch a slender two minute lead. Mitsubishi team mate and fellow countryman Kenjiro Shinozuka launched himself into second place with second fastest on the stage, despite power-steering problems on his Pajero/Montero. Once again, the Mitsubishis appear to be the dominant force on the Dakar, holding first, second, fourth, fifth and seventh places - all within striking distance of the lead - but the competition is tougher than it seems. While De Mevius, who held the lead for Nissan at Er Rachidia, dropped to third overall, team mate Stephane Perthansel grabbed glory today with Nissan’s first ever stage win in Africa in his pickup. Jutta Kleinschmidt of Germany, last year’s winner and currently fourth overall behind third-placed de Mevius, could have been up to third place today were it not for a three-minute penalty imposed for speeding on a liaison section yesterday - the first time speeding tickets have ever been handed out on a Dakar Rally! The stage itself was the longest so far of the rally, and arguably the first "proper" competitive section of the event at 338 km long in an overall route of 576 km. It also saw the first of the real desert terrain, with the highest sand dunes in Morocco on the infamous Chebbi Erg - a vast range of rolling sand dunes in southern Morocco. Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero Team Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart K. Shinozuka / T. Delli-Zotti (2 January 2002) It was a tough day, as De Mevius could testify, but toughest of all for Mitsubishi’s archrival Jean-Louis Schlesser. His Kangoo buggy burst into flames during the stage as a leaking fuel injector sprayed the hot engine with diesel. At the Ouarzazate camp, a simple military airstrip enclosed by the snow-capped peaks of the surrounding southern Atlas mountains, a slightly relieved and surprised Shinozuka revealed: "I am surprised to finish second today. We had problems in the car with the power steering and it was very hard to drive. We caught Peterhansel eight kilometres from the start and I had hoped to follow him, but with the problems it was not possible". A much happier Masuoka countered: "It’s a good start to the rally for me. We will see what is going to happen. I have tried not to be over-confident, but after Atar we will attack. Today was a good special stage, sand dunes and everything you’re supposed to find on a Dakar". Kleinschmidt, too, had a good run with her car, although she did admit to have had a navigational problem at one point. She revealed: "For us it was quite OK - we had a good stage. We just had a problem between Checkpoint one and two, but others lost more time than we did, so it was not too big a problem. We are still with the leaders". Mitsubishi L 200 Team Mitsubishi Galp TMN Chesterfield C. Sousa / V. Jesus (2 January 2002) Fontenay, now in fifth place overall, was still smiling despite a minor problem with his engine. "About 40 km from the end of the stage yesterday we had an engine misfire. It was worst on the fast sections in fifth and sixth gears. It was the same today for a lot of the time. I don’t know what is causing it. It’s not a big thing, but very frustrating". Portugal’s Carlos Sousa is still going well in his Mitsubishi L200 in eighth place, just ahead of Qatar’s Saeed Al-Hajri in a similar car, who moved up to ninth today. French former Downhill Ski World Champion Luc Alphand is 10th in a Mitsubishi. Today’s events were dramatic and exciting, but there is still much more to come in the 2002 Dakar, not least the first of two Marathon stages starting tomorrow, where outside help with repairs and servicing will not be permitted. The first section runs from Ouarzazate for 793km to Tan-Tan near the Atlantic coast. The competitive section will be 352 km long. After a compulsory eight-hour break at Tan-Tan, they will then continue on to the Mauritanian iron ore-mining town of Zouerat in the heart of the Sahara.