Pajero has success in Paris-Dakar

Pajero has success in Paris-Dakar

JAKARTA (JP): Mitsubishi Pajero was successful for the 13th year in a row in the Paris - Dakar Rally, gaining second, third and fourth places behind the winners driving a Citroen.

"Finishing second, third and fourth respectively in the most grueling rally was indeed a success for Pajero," said Maswir, marketing director of PT Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian, which manufactures Mitsubishi in Indonesia.

Four African countries were crossed in the 1995 event -- Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and Guinea -- a stretch of some 10,109 kilometers, of which 6,138km were timed, and 3,971km linking sections split into 14 stages.

Granada was the starting point of the annual rally, the start of the new look 1995 Dakar, the Spanish city replacing the traditional Paris start for the first time on Jan. 1.

The second half of the rally was the most difficult, from Zouret to Bakel going over the high ground of Dakar: Chinguetti, Tidjikjja, and the famous Nega pass.

At the start of the race, 95 motorcycles and 152 cars and trucks lined up in the parc farme Granada. But two weeks later only 58 cars and trucks and 27 motorbikes arrived in Dakar.

Citroen, driven by P. Lartigue and M. Perrin, finished first, followed by the Team Mitsubishi PIAA Raliart Pajero driven by Bruno Saby and Dominique Serieys in second place overall. Third place overall went to Kenjiro Shinozuka and Henri Magne, also driving Pajero. Fourth overall to complete a powerful Pajero performance in the premier T3 class was Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Bruno Musmarra.

According to Maswir, Pajero sold in Indonesia is the latest version which also available around the world with engine type 4G72, V6 3-liter 12 valve and priced at Rp157 million (off road) (rsl).