In the search for ever more challenging terrain, the Hubert Auriol, organiser of the 1996 event and winner for Mitsubishi in the 1992 Paris-Sirte-Cape Town, laid an another impressive rally from Granada to Dakar, featuring even more of the deadly marathon sections, and a tough few days in the searing heat of the Mauritanian desert were temperatures reached 45 degrees Celsius on occasions. It was an even of contrasts for  Mitsubishi; clearly the fastest car on the event, the Pajero suffered from misfortune on this occasion, although it still clinched a place on the podium in Dakar as has become the norm over the years, this time third for Fontenay who had led the event at times through the most difficult sections before succumbing to Lady Luck's fickle hand. But Mitsubishi had much to celebrate in the end, with a famous 1-2-3 victory in the most challenging class of all, the Marathon section for standard cars, where little or nothing was allowed to be changed on the vehicles during the event, the winning three drivers headed by Jean-Pierre Strugo relying on the inherent strength and reliability of the near-standard Pajero. To add to that success, Fontenay went on to win the second running of the Paris-Moscow-Beijing Rally in a T2 Modified Production Pajero, beating the Prototypes in the process!
FINAL CLASSIFICATION1996 Granada - Dakar
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Copyright 1996,1997 by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation.
