sunday january 21st 2007
Stage 15 : Dakar - Dakar - Liaison 36 km - Special 16 km - Liaison 41 km - Total 93 km
>> Read MMSP Press Release
From Bos-engineering's point of vue :
Mitsu/Peter: Again!
It’s a fact. Following a challenging rally, Mitsubishi triumphs again on the borders of the Loch Rose, by winning again the first two positions of the 2007 Dakar. Peterhansel and the team are adding to an amazing list of awards.
One can say that Peter, as his Mitsubishi Motor Sports team mates, didn’t win any stages this year.
One can say Volkswagen and its pilots have shown excellent performances.
One can say anything one wants, to the advantage of one or the other, or regarding the course, only one thing will be remembered about this Dakar: the fact that Mitsubishi and Stéphane Peterhansel have won AGAIN.
And this “AGAIN “shows the incredible performance of the duet. This “AGAIN” shows its amazing experience. This “AGAIN” deepens the print he leaves in the biggest rally raid history. This “AGAIN” commands everyone’s respect, of the defeated first of all. This AGAIN is turning this history into a legend.
Nobody wins by chance:
For Mitsubishi: a seventh success and 12 Dakar in 25 participations – and each time against real competitors, unlike KTM, who had to organise some adversity between his two official teams.
For Stéphane Peterhansel: a third victory by car, but a ninth victory in total, with 6 successes by motorbike. In the pilot range, Peter is THE rally legend. In case of a tenth victory in 2008 he will have imposed himself 10 times on thirty editions.
So, clearly, Mitsubishi has suffered this year. But once again the experience spoke for itself during what’s left of THE endurance race.
This Dakar was far from being the hardest, has Dominique Serieys pointed out on arrival. And the strategy to wait for real difficulties was a lot more dangerous. But it’s in fact during the most selective stage that the new MPR 13s have made the difference.
The Pajeros have lost a little bit of their amazing balance, victims of punctures and clutch troubles while the fastest VWs were making their way far ahead. But Peterhansel/ Cottret and Alphand/Picard, even though frustrated of not being able to fight back, have always kept in contact, going through troubles without loosing hope. In the final, 3 Mitsubishis are in the first five, and the four cars are in Dakar.
Yes, Mistubishi had doubts this year, when their strategy seemed to show its limits. But the Dakar can only be won with a mix of fastness, endurance and experience that Mitsubishi and Stephane Peterhansel are mastering perfectly.
At Bos-Engineering we are very proud, and very happy about the fact that we brought our contribution to this third success with our dampers. We are also very proud to carry on with our collaboration with such a team, and with pilots such as Iroshi, Nani (who’s importing Bos in spain), Luc, and of course Stéphane with whom we had already worked with on his endurance motorbikes.
Congratulations to all of them, as well as to their co-pilots, to Isoa Torii, Dominique Serieys, Thierry Viardot and the entire MMSP team.
The Mitsubishi team insisted on dedicating this victory to Henri Magne, who died during this year’s race, and we are making a point of associating him to this homage paid to an historical face of the Dakar.
>> Read MMSP Press Release
Stage classification on SS15
1 G De Villiers / D Von Zitzewitz Volkswagen Race Touareg 7:42 --:--:--
2 Carlos Sainz / Michel Perin Volkswagen Race Touareg 7:44 +0:02
3 Robby Gordon / Andy Grider Hummer 8:08 +0:26
4 Carlos Sousa / Andreas Schulz Volkswagen Race Touareg 8:24 +0:42
5 Jean-Louis Schlesser / Arnaud Debron Schles-Ford-Raid 8:25 +0:43
6 Freddy Loix / Herman Vaannlt Honda 8:35 +0:53
7 Jutta Kleinschmidt / Tina Thorner BMW 8:44 +1:02
8 Michael Petersen / Matthew Stevenson Buggy 8:49 +1:07
9 Miguel Barbosa / Miguel Ramalho Proto 8:51 +1:09
10 Joan Roma / Lucas Cruz Senra Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 8:59 +1:17
23 Hiroshi Masuoka / Pascal Maimon Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 9:52 +2:10
51 Stéphane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 10:52 +3:10
53 Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 11:02 +3:20
Rally Dakar final results :
1 Stéphane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 45:53:37
2 Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 46:01:03 +7:26
3 Jean-Louis Schlesser / Arnaud Debron Schles-Ford-Raid 47:27:34 +1:33:57
4 Mark Miller / Ralph Pitchford Volkswagen Race Touareg 48:03:53 +2:10:16
5 Hiroshi Masuoka / Pascal Maimon Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 48:38:08 +2:44:31
6 Nasser Al Attiyah / Alain Guehennec BMW 49:25:36 +3:31:59
7 Carlos Sousa / Andreas Schulz Volkswagen Race Touareg 51:04:31 +5:10:54
8 Robby Gordon / Andy Grider Hummer 52:57:44 +7:04:07
9 Carlos Sainz / Michel Perin Volkswagen Race Touareg 53:19:22 +7:25:45
10 Stephane Henrard / Brigitte Becue Volkswagen Race Touareg 54:22:06 +8:28:29
11 G De Villiers / D Von Zitzewitz Volkswagen Race Touareg 54:38:11 +8:44:34
12 Benat Errandonea / Jean-Pierre Garcin Buggy 55:16:03 +9:22:26
13 Joan Roma / Lucas Cruz Senra Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 55:30:06 +9:36:29 |
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