WEATHER: bright and sunny - 3° C rising to 15° C

The Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and Ralliart Inc. began their campaign for victory in the 2003 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies in dramatic fashion.

Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution Hiroshi Masuoka / Gilles Picard (Leg 2 - 16 March 2003)

Japan’s Hiroshi Masuoka and new French co-driver Gilles Picard won the 11th Baja Italy after inheriting the lead eight kms from the end of the final selective, when team mate Stéphane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret were delayed with broken steering. Masuoka’s win was Mitsubishi’s third in the 11-year history of the Baja Italy.

Peterhansel was fastest on all three selective stages on Saturday in his Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution and began the final pair of 105 kms competitive sections on Sunday, 4m 37s ahead of Japanese team mate Hiroshi Masuoka in a second Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution.

Masuoka clawed five seconds back from his team mate in the fourth 105 kms selective - a shortened version of the previous day’s 130.9 kms section, which shared the same start and finish zone. His arrival at the stage finish boards ahead of his French team mate signalled a dramatic turnaround.

Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution Stéphane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (Leg 2 - 16 March 2003)

"I cannot believe it", said Masuoka. "This happened on the Dakar Rally two months ago and it has happened again. I was not pushing. I was being patient. It is unbelievable for Stéphane to have problems again. He was the fastest driver this weekend. It is a big surprise for me".

A devastated Peterhansel had the scant consolation of second place with Jean-Paul Cottret in his Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution. "I drove the first stage today at normal speed", said Peterhansel. "It is easier to make a mistake if you are consciously trying to drive more slowly. I had a good lead at the end of the first leg and the priority was to conserve this. Then, about 10 kms from the end of the stage the steering felt strange. We had broken the steering and I had to limp to the finish. I cannot believe it could happen again".

Portugal’s Carlos Sousa and co-driver Henri Magne began the final day in third position in their L200 Strakar and completed Mitsubishi’s clean sweep of the podium places.

Mitsubishi L 200 Strakar Carlos Sousa / Henri Magne (Leg 2 - 16 March 2003)

"I am pleased to finish third", said Sousa. "This was a good result. We had a small scare on Saturday morning when Henri thought that he could smell smoke inside the car, but there was no problem. It has been a good start to the season".

Belgian Stéphane Henrard (Volkswagen) displaced Frenchman Thierry Magnaldi (Honda) to take fourth overall, despite navigational delays on the first stage. Magnaldi was delayed still further on the final stage.

Spaniard José-Luis Monterde and Pole Lukasz Komornicki reached the finish in fifth and sixth places overall in their Ralliart-prepared Mitsubishi Pajeros / Monteros. Germany’s Andrea Mayer had been lying inside the top 10 in a third car before hitting problems after the second selective on Saturday when a broken front differential mounting was discovered and there was insufficient time to carry out emergency repairs. Transmission work was carried out before the restart on Sunday and Mayer ran at the back of the field for testing purposes with a three-hour time penalty imposed.

Mitsubishi Pajero / Montero José-Luis Monterde / Rafael Tornabell (Leg 2 - 16 March 2003)

Volkswagen’s Jutta Kleinschmidt lost her place inside the top five when she was handed a 40-minute time penalty on Saturday for missing a passage control. She finished seventh.

The majority of the major retirements took place on Saturday. Belgian Grégoire de Mevius suffered the ignominy of an engine mounting breakage on the first stage and team mate Luc Alphand had a dramatic day. He was badly delayed by navigational problems on the first stage, was third quickest in the second and then suffered prop shaft failure in the third.

Nissan’s Khalifa Al-Mutaiwei was inside the top five for the first two selectives, but the V6 engine in the Pick-Up cried enough on the third.

The actual competitive action was based around race control at the Observatory Ariete in Vivaro. Leg one offered three 130.9 kms sections on the dried river bed and the route was modified for a pair of 105.6 kms selectives on Sunday.