OPTIC 2000 RALLYE DE TUNISIE (10-18 April)
1999 FIA WORLD CUP FOR CROSS COUNTRY RALLIES / ROUND 3

Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero heads to Africa
with Shinozuka in world title chase

Fresh from victory in the second round of the 1999 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies, the Italian Baja, Mitsubishi is heading to Africa for the Optic 2000 Tunisia Rally, which starts on April 10, aiming to increase its series lead with a strong team of Pajero/Montero drivers headed by Japanese rally ace Kenjiro Shinozuka.

Winner of the second round in Italy in his Team PIAA Ralliart Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, Shinozuka enters the third round, which starts in France and crosses Sardinia to finish in Tunisia in eight days, hoping to clinch the lead in the Drivers' category, where he currently lies second behind buggy driver Jean-Louis Schlesser who was a close second to the Mitsubishi driver on the Baja.

"The Italian Baja has made me very positive about our chances for the championship. The first half of the next event is being run on mountain roads I heard, and since that kind of terrain is a specialty of mine, I'm really looking forward to it. The Pajero, as always, is brilliant and I'm looking to win in Tunisia, too," said Shinozuka.

Mitsubishi fields a strong team on the 19th running of the event. In addition to Shinozuka, the world's top lady cross country rally driver - the only woman ever to have led the legendary Dakar Rally – Jutta Kleinschmidt has entered in her Pajero/Montero, while French World Ski Champion Luc Alphand is aiming to win the T1 category for standard cars in his Pajero/Montero, and hopes to repeat his astonishing success with Mitsubishi on the recent Dakar Rally.

Mitsubishi leads the world rankings in the Manufacturers' series and has for several years dominated the cross country scene with the world-beating Pajero/Montero, but faces stiff competition in the 1999 series, not least from Schlesser in his Renault buggy and his team mate Jose-Maria Servia. Strong opposition also comes from a host of Mercedes, Toyotas, Nissans and even Range Rovers, many of which are driven by highly competitive crews.

After Scrutineering in the Port of Nice and a prologue comprising a series of two-by-two drag races on dirt tracks in the French countryside, the unique Rally of Tunisia heads to the Island of Sardinia for a race through the mountains before heading on by ship to Africa. There, the competitors will enjoy their first taste of sweeping sand dunes and glorious desert scenery since the epic Dakar Rally as they struggle across the Great Oriental Erg - a vast sea of sand littered with majestic dunes and rocky dry riverbeds.

The organisers promise a convivial atmosphere for the people involved with the event, including the provision of their own rock band in the bivouacs each evening. But the Rally of Tunisia will still be one of the toughest in the series. The near 100 cars and 221 motorbikes entered will face 2,070 km of driving between Nice and the finish at Djerba, with 1,833 km of hard competitive sections.

ITINERARY