DRIVERS

Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel is the most successful individual in the history of the gruelling Dakar Rally, with a total of eight outright victories (including seven motorbike victories) and a car win in the T1 category, during the past 15 years. The Dakar expert was born in France in 1965 and rode his first motorbike aged eight. After several years of successful skateboarding in national and European competitions, Stephane returned to his passion for motorbikes, encouraged by his father. He left school at 17 to become a professional rider.
Stephane started his Dakar career in the motorcycle event in 1980 and took the first of his six Dakar wins on a Yamaha bike in 1991.
“The Dakar for me was a dream and to go out there and win my first title was a very special feeling,” he says. “I used to watch the event on the television and it was my dream then just to take part in the race, never mind to win it.”
Stephane won the Dakar repeatedly on a motorbike in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998, before switching to the four wheels. After several forays into ice racing, he made his Dakar debut in a car in 1999, where he finished seventh overall. He carried on progressing, with a runner-up place the next season and an outright win in the T1 category in 2001. Stephane finished first overall in the 2002 Rally of Tunisia and went on to win the 2002 UAE Desert Challenge. He repeated the feat in 2003, but eventually finished third in the Dakar after losing a potential victory on the penultimate stage in Egypt. “It is always tough to win, but I am passionate about my sport and love the competition and trying to do the best I can,” he says.
2004 was his most successful season to date in a car. His first Dakar car win placed him alongsided Hubert Auriol in the history books as the second driver to win the race on two and four wheels.
Stephane won the rally again with Mitsubishi in 2005, but says the Dakar is never easy. “Experience tells us that the Dakar is such an unpredictable event.”

Stéphane was less successful in the 2006 Dakar Rally. He came in fourth following a misadventure during the last part of the race when, only two stages from the finish, he hit a tree and damaged his Pajero Evolution. That opened the way for team mate Luc Alphand, who was just a few minutes behind. Stéphane went on to win the Tunisia Rally. He placed second in the Dubai Rally, driving the new MPR13 in its maiden race. Mission accomplished: the new car earned the unanimous approval of the team for its reliability, competitiveness and performance!

Continuing his winning record, the Frenchman went on to collect his third Dakar victory on four wheels in January 2007 before taking another success on July's Baja Espana, as well as on the UAE Desert Challenge which rounded off the year's FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup.

Frenchman Jean-Paul Cottret was born in 1963 and now lives with his wife Sandrine and two children near Auxerre in central France. Between 1984 and 1992 he was actively involved in cross-country rallies as a member of various service crews, before making the switch to the co-driver's seat. In 2000, Jean-Paul finished second overall with Stephane Peterhansel in the Paris-Dakar-Cairo Rally. The following season the pair won the T1 category, before joining the Mitsubishi team to take a series of outright wins in Tunisia, Dubai, Morocco and a first Dakar Rally triumph in January 2004. In his successful partnership with Stephane Peterhansel, Jean-Paul won the Dakar Rally for the second time in 2005 and finished second overall in the Patagonia-Atacama Rally.

After participating in six Dakar rallies, Jean-Paul admits that the 2006 edition was one of the most difficult, mainly in terms of navigation. The Peterhansel-Cottret team finished in fourth position. Success returned for the following races: they won the Tunisia Rally and finished second in Dubai. Like any good co-driver, Jean-Paul is now in full preparation for the 2007 Dakar, immersed in the satellite maps, GPS and road books of the previous races.

In January 2007, he won the Dakar with Peterhansel for a third time before spearheading a Mitsubishi one-two on last summer's Baja Espana and navigating Peterhansel to a fourth success in the United Arab Emirates.

Spaniard Joan 'Nani' Roma Cararach has taken part in ten Dakar rallies, the realisation of a childhood passion. “When I was young my mother gave me a present of the Yearbook of the Dakar,” he says. “I started to follow the race watching on TV and magazines. It was a dream to think about winning the race.” Joan went on to win the Dakar Rally on his motorbike in 2004 and first took part on four wheels in 2005.
Joan was born in 1972 and currently lives at Folgueroles in Spain. He is married with two daughters.The 1994 European Enduro Champion had a career as a professional enduro rider with both the BMW and KTM factory teams before joining the Mitsubishi team for the 2005 Dakar Rally at the wheel of a Mitsubishi Pajero* Evolution, where he finished sixth overall. He has followed that up with fourth places in South America and Morocco. Joan now wants to achieve a four-wheeled dream. “I still enjoy going on the bike, but the important thing for me now is to try and win the Dakar on four wheels.”

A talented, courageous young driver, Nani has been gaining experience and progressing quickly. After finishing third in the 2006 Dakar Rally, he came in second in the Patagonia-Atacama Rally and the Transiberico Rally, following an exciting dual with Giniel de Villiers (Volkswagen). Nani is determined do his utmost to reach the top spot on the podium during the 2007 Dakar.

On the 2007 Dakar Rally he finished in 13th place overall. Later in the year, he came in second overall on the Transiberico Rally in June and second again on July's Baja Espana, while sickness forced him to miss much of the 2007 UAE Desert Challenge.

Lucas Cruz Senra was born in Barcelona in December 1974 and lives in Ripollet, in the Catalunya region of Spain. He is a computer engineer who speaks several languages. He entered the rally world in 1994, taking part in the Catalunya Championships for two seasons. He persevered for seven years before obtaining his first victory, in the Spanish Rally Championships’ Murcia City Rally, driving for the Carlos Sainz Junior Team. His first international success came the same year, when he won the Rookie category with the ex-Ralliart driver José-Louis Monterde; the team came in first in the amateur category of the 2001 Dakar. Lucas was chosen in June 2006 by Nani Roma as his official co-driver within the Mitsubishi Motors Team, bringing with him six years of experience acquired in the FIA World Rally Championships and in international cross country rallies. He takes over from Henri Magne, which is not an easy task given the experience and skill of his predecessor. Lucas is a good recruit and will now be proving himself during the next few races.
He then attended the second MMSP test session in Morocco and signed a contract with Mitsubishi to partner Nani Roma in the 2007 Dakar Rally and finished 13th overall before taking second place on June's Transiberico Rally and on July's Baja Espana.

Hiroshi Masuoka has taken part in the Dakar Rally for 18 consecutive years. He won overall in 2002 and 2003. Hiroshi was born in Japan in 1960 and now lives in Irurna, Saitama, Japan with his wife and son. He first began off-road racing in 1979 and first attempted the Dakar in 1987. He says that the desert is both a friend and enemy for him. “Every day I learn something new and that makes it such a challenge.” In 1990 he finished first in the T2 category. Between 1995 and 2000 he finished inside the top 10 on six occasions, including a pair of fourth places in 1997 and 1998. The highlight of his desert career was in 2002, when he became only the second Japanese driver to win the Dakar Rally, with the Mitsubishi team. Hiroshi won again in 2003, and finished runner-up behind team mate Stephane Peterhansel in 2004. He retired from the 2005 Dakar Rally with engine problems. “Last year was unlucky for me,” he says. “It was a big mistake with the suspension settings in the soft sand and then we had a problem with the engine. This time it feels good.”

Ambassador of the Japanese brand, Hiroshi had a difficult 2006 season due to various technical problems. He nevertheless remains an essential element of the Mitsubishi Motors Team and will play a key role in the drive to win the next Dakar.

In addition to his contribution to the team's development programme in 2007, Hiroshi contested January's Dakar which he finished in sixth position after losing time following a clutch change on SS6.

Pascal Maimon is one of the most experienced individuals in the world of cross-country rallying. Born in 1960, he lives in France and is married with three children. Pascal began in motorsport by working on prototype French and World Rally Championship cars for Citroën between 1978 and 1981. He tackled the Dakar for the first time with Jacques Houssat in a race assistance truck. He joined Bruno Saby and Mitsubishi for the 1992 Paris-Cape Town event. Ten years’ later, he won the Dakar Rally with Mitsubishi and Hiroshi Masuoka, in the highlight of his career so far. Pascal joined Masuoka again to finish third overall in the Rally of Tunisia. He is now Masuoka's regular co-driver.

After winning the Dakar in 2002 and putting in more than 8,000km this past year, Pascal has but one thing in mind: to win again! This tandem rounds out the Mitsubishi Motors Team for the hard fought Lisbon-Dakar Rally.
The pair was forced out of the 2006 Dakar Rally by an accident which damaged their Pajero's tubular frame. In 2006, they both took part in the Tunisia Rally, the Marocco Rally and the UAE Desert Challenge before contesting the 2007 Dakar in which they finished in sixth position.