MITSUBISHI WINS RALI TRANSIBERICO
Luc Alphand and Gilles Picard clinched victory on the 2008 Rali Transiberico at this afternoon’s finish in Estoril. With the exception of the opening day, Mitsubishi drivers topped the leader board for the entire event.
Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret emerged in front after Thursday’s first true stage. In the afternoon they lost a little ground, but the lead was immediately snapped up by teammates Juan ’Nani’ Roma/Lucas Cruz and gave the diesel-engined Pajero Evolution MPR14 the first stage win of its career.
The five-day event featured a wide variety of terrains, from the mountains of the border between Portugal and Spain to lower-lying land closer to Lisbon. Frequent heavy rain made the conditions extremely difficult, with mud and standing water adding to the inherent challenge of the narrow, twisty tracks.
Mitsubishi came to Portugal with two objectives: to fight for victory and to continue the development of the new diesel-powered Pajero Evolution MPR14. Not surprisingly, Team Director Dominique Serieys was delighted with the team’s first victory of the year, but he was equally happy with the lessons learnt: "The conditions were treacherous from start to finish but they didn’t put a foot wrong. They were never far off the lead and their consistency was rewarded in the best way possible. We go back to France with lots of valuable information and Nani’s score of three fastest times suggests that the new powerplant has real potential.”
After the finish ceremony, Luc Alphand hailed the quality of the Rali Transiberico’s stages and organisation. He was also swift to praise the team’s efficient groundwork, which gave him a car that ran practically like clockwork throughout the five-day event.
After finishing second on the Rali Transiberico in 2006 and 2007, Nani Roma believed he had a chance of finishing one place higher this time. However, he never lost sight of the fact that his main mission here in Portugal was to contribute to the development of the MPR14. "For sure, it would have been nice to win," admitted the Spaniard, "and it’s obviously a shame that the lead slipped from our hands so close to the finish. Our only problem - with the power steering - had nothing to do with the engine and, anyway, we were all here to learn."
Stéphane Peterhansel was contesting for the first time and led briefly at the beginning of the rally but fell back after going off in Friday morning’s particularly delicate conditions. He recovered from the setback to finish fifth overall and spent the rest of the rally evaluating the latest BFGoodrich [All-Terrain] tyre and testing a certain number of suspension solutions.
