Finishing on second spot

Well, we've made it and the rally is over now! Our most heartly congratulations to team-mate Hiroshi Masuoka who finally managed to win this rally. Everybody in the team feels really the deepest sympathies for him as he deserved to win. Nobody has  forgotten how he was denied victory last year when the buggies squeezed in front of him at a time control and blocked him on the penultimate stage.

This year's result is overwhelming for the whole team. All four works Mitsubishis finished on the first four spots. It is a clear evidence of how well both men and machines were prepared.

Andreas and me had a clear target: we wanted to repeat last year's victory. We failed to do so. Obviously, we are a little bit disappointed. But second is still a pretty good result.

Looking back, I find that this wasn't one of the best editions of the Dakar Rally. The track was clearly demanding for the cars, already in Morocco, but even more so on the endless stretches of camel grass in Mauritania. The skills of both driver and co-driver were not in the centre of attention on this event, however.

Of course, using the spanners is part of every Dakar - you remember our transmission troubles, not to mention the occasional tyre changes. But it is pointless to discuss "ifs" in motor racing.

Just how tough this rally was can be seen by the sheer fact that all three Schlesser Buggies retired very early, while the strong Nissan contenders Grégoire de Mevius and Stéphane Peterhansel dropped back considerably. This shows that the team performance of Mitsubishi cannot be overrated - nine out of the top ten finishers used cars that have been produced by our employer. It is nice to be part of this success. Next year, we will be back - let's wait and see.

Journalists who would like to interview us are most welcome to the press conference upon our return. On Wednesday, 16 January, my team mates and me will be available in France at the Sheraton Paris Airport Hotel, Aerogare 2, 95716 Roissy Aerogare (Phone +33 1 49 19 70 70) between 11.00 and 12.30 hours.

Find current results in the motorsport section off this website or on the Dakar website or on the Mitsubishi website.