2004 Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution

A Glorious Cross-Country Heritage

The Dakar was conceived in 1978 as the brainchild of the late Frenchman Thierry Sabine, and Mitsubishi entered for the first time five years later. But the Japanese marque had to wait until 1985 to take the first of its eight wins, courtesy of Frenchman Patrick Zaniroli and co-driver Jean da Silva.

Mitsubishi is the most successful car manufacturer in the history of the Dakar Rally and has taken eight wins to date. The team is unbeaten since 2001, having taken victory in the last three years, and has filled all three podium places on four occasions – 1992, 1997, 1998 and 2002.

The Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution made its competitive debut in the 2002 UAE Desert Challenge, winning out of the box in the hands of Stéphane Peterhansel. It then went on to win the 2003 Dakar Rally at its first attempt, Japans Hiroshi Masuoka taking honors for the team. Since then, the FIA Super Production car has been fitted with a new four liter engine and has undergone further development and, in the teams last competitive outing and shakedown test for the Dakar, Stephane Peterhansel once again guided the Pajero/Montero Evolution to victory in the 2003 UAE Desert Challenge.

DAKAR (Senegal) – Monday, January 19th 2004.

Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports (MMSP) team driver Stephane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret clinched victory in the 2004 Telefonica Dakar Rally today (Sunday). The 38-year-old Frenchman’s triumph at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution marked a fourth successive win for the Japanese manufacturer and a record-breaking ninth overall victory for the Pont-de-Vaux-based MMSP factory team.

Peterhansel also became only the second individual in Dakar history to win the worlds most famous endurance rally on a bike and in a car (Hubert Auriol won two bike titles and the 1992 Paris to Cape Town Rally for the Mitsubishi team).

Defending champion and team mate Hiroshi Masuoka, partnered by Gilles Picard, finished runner-up in the second of the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolutions, 49m 24s behind Peterhansel. The Japanese former leader had shadowed his team mate since losing more than an hour with a transmission problem on the Atar to Tidjikja stage in Mauritania last week.

Final positions in Dakar after leg 17

1. Stephane Peterhansel (F)/Jean-Paul Cottret (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 53h 47m 37s 2. Hiroshi Masuoka (J)/Gilles Picard (F) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero Evolution 54h 37m 01s 3. Jean-Louis Schlesser (F)/Jean-Marie Lurquin (B) Schlesser-Ford 56h 48m 10s 4. Luc Alphand (F)/Henri Magne (F) BMW X5 Raid 57h 43m 35s 5. Andrea Mayer (D)/Andreas Schulz (D) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero 59h 33m 54s 6. Bruno Saby (F)/Matthew Stevenson (GB) Volkswagen Touareg 60h 41m 40s 7. Giniel de Villiers (ZA)/Francois Jourdaan (ZA) Nissan Pick-Up 61h 53m 48s 8. Gregoire de Mevius (B)/Alain Guehennec (F) BMW X5 Raid 63h 22m 22s 9. Thierry Magnaldi (F)/Didier Legal (F) Honda 63h 48m 13s 10. Nasser Saleh Al Attiyan (QA)/Marc Bartholome (B) Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero 63h 49m 05s

Story by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, edited by Supercars.net