Mitsubishi Motors A Glorious Cross-Country Heritage
Published: 8th December 2004
Frenchman Phillipe Wambergue and Swede Kenneth Eriksson joined Lartigue, Shinozuka, Fontenay in 1991. Second-placed Lartigue was followed across the finish ramp by two of his team mates, as Mitsubishis filled three of the top four places.
The TSO changed the route of the 1992 Dakar and the event finished in Cape Town for the first and only time in its history. The event was also the most successful to that date for Mitsubishi Motors. Frenchman Hubert Auriol completed a team 1-2-3, with German team debutante Erwin Weber and Shinozuka also on the podium.
Five official cars were entered in 1993, with Frenchman Bruno Saby joining Shinozuka, Weber, Fontenay and Salvador Servia. Mitsubishi took its third outright victory, courtesy of Saby and co-driver Dominique Serieys - who now works as the team's Race Director at Pont de Vaux. Weber and Shinozuka were fourth and fifth.
A mere 96 cars began the 1994 event and seven of those were factory Mitsubishi entries led by Shinozuka, Saby, Fontenay, Weber and Masuoka - making his first official appearance with the Mitsubishi Motors/Sonauto team. The young Japanese was the highest-placed of the Mitsubishi finishers in fourth overall.
Seven cars were again entered in 1995. Frenchman Jean-Pierre Strugo and German lady Jutta Kleinschmidt replaced Weber and Dutchman Ten Harkel. The event started at Granada in Spain and the Mitsubishis of Saby, Shinozuka and Fontenay finished second, third and fourth overall.
The Mitsubishi Motors entry was reduced to five cars for Saby, Masuoka, Shinozuka, Fontenay and Tambay in 1996. Again the event began in Granada and Fontenay finished third overall. Masuoka and Saby finished sixth and seventh.
The 1997 event started and finished in Dakar. The team dominated the event from the outset, winning for the fourth time. Mitsubishis Motors filled the top four places in the overall classification, with Shinozuka taking his first win. He was followed over the podium by Fontenay, Saby and Masuoka.
The event returned to a traditional Paris start the following year and attracted a 173-car entry. Saby, Shinozuka, Fontenay and Masuoka were joined by the former French skiier Luc Alphand. Fontenay clinched the team's fifth outright success, as team mates Shinozuka, Saby and Masuoka filled the top four positions. To cap a successful season, the team also won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies for the first time.
Nissan and the Schlesser team were the major rivals in 1999. Shinozuka, Fontenay, Miguel Prieto, Kleinschmidt, Alphand, Masuoka, Strugo and Carlos Sousa formed the biggest Mitsubishi Motors team thus far. Team members won 11 of the 17 special stages and Prieto finished in second position, ahead of team mates Kleinschmidt and Shinozuka. Mitsubishi Motors also won a second FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.
