14 April 2003 - 17:18 Masuoka takes Mitsubishi's third victory in Baja Italy Cross-country rally world cup

Masuoka wins in Italy. The Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and Ralliart Inc. began their campaign for victory in the 2003 FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies in dramatic fashion. Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka and new French co-driver Gilles Picard won the 11th Baja Italy after inheriting the lead eight kms from the end of the final selective, when team mate Stephane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret were delayed with broken steering. Masuoka's win was Mitsubishi's third in the 11-year history of the Baja Italy.

Peterhansel was fastest on all three selective stages on Saturday in his Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution and began the final pair of 105 kms competitive sections on Sunday, 4m 37s ahead of Japanese team mate Hiroshi Masuoka in a second Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution.

Masuoka clawed five seconds back from his team mate in the fourth 105 kms selective - a shortened version of the previous day's 130.9 kms section, which shared the same start and finish zone. His arrival at the stage finish boards ahead of his French team mate signalled a dramatic turnaround.

“I cannot believe it", said Masuoka. "This happened on the Dakar Rally two months ago and it has happened again. I was not pushing. I was being patient. It is unbelievable for Stephane to have problems again. He was the fastest driver this weekend. It is a big surprise for me".

A devastated Peterhansel had the scant consolation of second place with Jean- Paul Cottret in his Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution / Montero Evolution. "I drove the first stage today at normal speed", said Peterhansel. "It is easier to make a mistake if you are consciously trying to drive more slowly. I had a good lead at the end of the first leg and the priority was to conserve this. Then, about 10 kms from the end of the stage the steering felt strange. We had broken the steering and I had to limp to the finish. I cannot believe it could happen again".

Portugal's Carlos Sousa and co-driver Henri Magne began the final day in third position in their L200 Strakar and completed Mitsubishi's clean sweep of the podium places.

"I am pleased to finish third", said Sousa. "This was a good result. We had a small scare on Saturday morning when Henri thought that he could smell smoke inside the car, but there was no problem. It has been a good start to the season". Belgian Stйphane Henrard (Volkswagen) displaced Frenchman Thierry Magnaldi (Honda) to take fourth overall, despite navigational delays on the first stage. Magnaldi was delayed still further on the final stage. Spaniard Josй-Luis Monterde and Pole Lukasz Komornicki reached the finish in fifth and sixth places overall in their Ralliart-prepared Mitsubishi Pajeros / Monteros. Germany's Andrea Mayer had been lying inside the top 10 in a third car before hitting problems after the second selective on Saturday when a broken front differential mounting was discovered and there was insufficient time to carry out emergency repairs. Transmission work was carried out before the restart on Sunday and Mayer ran at the back of the field for testing purposes with a three-hour time penalty imposed.

Volkswagen's Jutta Kleinschmidt lost her place inside the top five when she was handed a 40-minute time penalty on Saturday for missing a passage control. She finished seventh.

The majority of the major retirements took place on Saturday. Belgian Grйgoire de Mevius suffered the ignominy of an engine mounting breakage on the first stage and team mate Luc Alphand had a dramatic day. He was badly delayed by navigational problems on the first stage, was third quickest in the second and then suffered prop shaft failure in the third.

Nissan's Khalifa Al-Mutaiwei was inside the top five for the first two selectives, but the V6 engine in the Pick-Up cried enough on the third.

The actual competitive action was based around race control at the Observatory Ariete in Vivaro. Leg one offered three 130.9 kms sections on the dried river bed and the route was modified for a pair of 105.6 kms selectives on Sunday.

Franco Dal Bello on Honda winning Italian Baja

Franco Dal Bello has dominated the Italian Baja 2003. The driver from the Team Giletti Assimotor with his Honda 450 HM has impressed on this selctive and difficult ralle. Coming from Pordenone, he has been winning all the six special stages during the three days of racing. He has never left a sign of weakness during that time. He leads with 4.24 min. ahead of Enzo Manenti on his Husqvarna of Team CF Racing Husqvarna and 16.30 min. in front of Matteo Graziani.

Graziani on KTM of Team Collina Motori was one of the favourites. Due to a crash during the last tests before the rallye, he had to stop his prepartion because he was hurt at the arm and hand. He never had any chance this year of winning that race like last year without having the form of last year. Fourth place man is another driver from the region, Simone Zanon on his Yamaha 426 from the Racing Project , followed by Mauro Benedetti on his Honda 250 and Roberto Zanzi of Team KL Giofil 3000 the first driver with a Kawasaki arriving at the finish line.

Behind them on the seventh place we find Mauro Uslenghi on his Suzuki and eith place goes to veteran Antonio Colombo with his KTM. Paolo Ceci on his KTM, who managed to be second overall last year, had to be satisfied to reach the ninth place ahead of Massimo Chiesa, also driving a Kawasaki. All drivers agreed that the race this year had been very hard indeed, the most difficult one during the last years. A very fast circuit but having a lot of difficulties; dry rivers, stones, numerous ditches and jumps which caused many troubles and problems for the competitors, exept for France Dal Bello who did not make any mistake. This demonstrates the strong and good performance of the driver with the new Honda 450, which the team Giletti Assomotor has prepared for him for the whole season. He drove a Husqvarna in the years before. Franco Dal Bello had already won the Baja Del Cellina, also in Pordenone, in September last year. He moves for the second time on the top position of the podium.

Great success for the quads; for the first time, Angelo Montico with his Yamaha Banshee has been first in his class and thirteenth overall within the bikes. He leads Luis Henderson with his Polaris Predator and Jurgen Mastrocola with his Yamaha Raptor on third place. For the first time, Polaris Italia organises a special Cup Quad Polaris. The best placed in this category Q 2 was Henderson and in the category Q 1 the trophy goes to Luca Raga with his Polaris Scrambler.

13/03/2003

LAST TEST BEFORE THE START TOMORROW FIRST SPECIALE FOR MOTOBIKES AND PROLOGUE FOR CARS

Brugnera – At 5.00 h, as stated in the official program, the verifications of the eleventh edition of the Italian Baja have started. This race is valid for the Cross-Country Worldcup , for the European Trophy for Bajas and Italian Championship in that discipline for both cars and motobikes. Due to a major accident on the highway this morning, many drivers have been arriving late. Some of them had to give first aid. Many of the car trailers had to be stationned in special areas along the highway. Those arriving this evening, have been taken the chance for a last test before the race. Other have taken the chance to visit the region. Brugnera hosts the world competition for the first time. The city has prepared itself for offering the numerous competitiors a most comfortable stay. The hotel Ca’ Brugnera, logistical center of the rallye, welcomed also lots of spectators coming to see the cars and possibly collecting autographs from the drivers.

This morning, many teams have taken advantage of the beautiful wheather to test their cars again; Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, BMW and also Thierry Magnaldi with his Honda Buggy have tested the last modifications to the cars after the Dakar. The target of that test is to check following: steering, tires, speed, suspension etc. Tomorrow afternoon the prologue, the major target is gaining an early starting position, in order not to drive in the really thick dust. The official start of the cars at the Parc Villa Varda in Brugnera is at 3.30 p.m. The prologue of 7 km will be started at the Observatory Ariete near Vivaro at 4.30 p.m. The results will give the starting order for the first stage on Saturday. Each driver trying to get the best time to take advantage of starting ahead of all the rest. A spectacle is guaranteed..... The program for the motobikes is somewhat different. The competitors arriving tomorrow morning in Brugnera for the scrutineering planned from 7.30 a.m. to 12.00 h. After that, they are leaving the Parc Villa Varda at 1.30 h p.m. to drive to the Observatory Ariete near Vivaro for the first two special stages of 24 km each. The results giving the preliminary classification of the first day with the different time distances.

15/03/2003

PETERHANSEL AND DAL BELLO IN THE LEAD AT ITALIAN BAJA

Vivaro – Stephane Peterhansel on a Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution II has taken top position at the eleventh Italian Baja after the first three special stages of today. The frenchman has taken the lead this morning with a phantastic first special stage, leaving his teammate Hiroshi Masuoka with 4 minutes delay, at the end of the day with a total 4.34 min. The frenchman has won all three stages of 130 km each and finds himself on top of the classification with 4.34 ahead of Masuoka, holding an advantage of 9 minutes on third placed Carlos Sousa on a Strakkar. Today, we had enourmous amounts of dust at the Observatory, but <> did not have any problems with that because he was driving first for most of the day. Only at the end of the second lap, he had some problems when passing a motobiker. The track of this year, that’s what everybody said, is very hard but also very selective and difficult compared to the last years. A lot of drivers had to retire, one of these excellent drivers being Gregoire de Mevius with the BMW X-Raid, who broke an engine support which destroyed the steering and forced him to stop. Luc Alphand having trouble on the last lap with the central differential. Jutta Kleinschmidt with Volkwagen Tarek has lost a lot of places in the classification because she missed a stamp control in the first lap and got a penality. Al Mutaiwei with the Nissan Pick-up had to stop in the last lap with a broken engine, differential and gearbox.

The best placed italian in the classification is Edi Orioli with the Nissan Tecnosport on sixth place overall. He is very satisfied with that result while facing with waiting for the last two laps of 105 km each. In the motobike category, after the two special stages of today, France Dal Bello remains first with his Honda 3.32 Minutes ahead of Enzo Manenti on a Husqvarna, Franco Dal Bello has won the two specials of today without any dust problems because he started first. We have seen a lot of retirements today also for the motobikes. A lot of drivers will be remembering the Italian Baja this year as one of the hardest and most difficult ones for the last years. Tomorrow is the last day of the race; this is the third stage for the motobikes and the second for the cars. The motobikes starting first at 07.30 h and they have to drive one lap of 105 km, followed by a spectacular Super Speciale of 8 km. The cars have to do two laps of 105 km each, the start being at 09.15 h. The race finishes at the Observatory and the drivers have a liasion to Trieste for the prize giving, planned for 18.00 h on

16/03/2003

THEATER AT THE ITALIAN BAJA MASUOKA WINNER AHEAD OF PETERHANSEL WHO HAD A CRASH IN THE LAST LAP

Vivaro – Like a theater was the final of the Italian Baja 2003 , rallye valid for Cross-Countryn Worldcup, the European Trophy for Bajas and teh Italian Championship for Cross-Country Rallies. Stephane Peterhansel, who has been all the time in front position during the whole race from the first special stage, has hit a tree about eight kilometers close to the finish line and Hiroshi Masuoka and his co-driver have taken the victory without any problems.

“ I do not know what to say” answered Peterhansel at the finish line, I have done something wrong in my life. This is the second time in a row after the Dakar this year, that I lost the last special stage. I know that there are three Mitsubishis on the podium, but I am not satisfied with my second place. Stephane Peterhansel is down, while Hiroshi Masuoka was exited; he was expecting to reach that position before the last stage. Carlos Sousa finished third with his Mitsubishi Strakkar and had a perfcet debut in this car, having not a problem. Surprise on the fourth place where we find the Volkswagen Tarek Buggy of Stephane Henrard who has taken the place of Thierry Magnaldi on his Honda Buggy. Magnaldi has broken a suspension at the back and was blocked for more than one hour with the assistance for finishing at the 24 th place. On fifth position we find the spaniard Jose Luis Monterde with his Mitsubishi Pajero, who has done a race without any troubles. Edi Orioli lost the sixth place because of electrical problems with his Nissan Patrol of the Team Tecnosport in the middle of the last stage. He finished on the thirteenth position and lost his place of best italian, which was taken from teh team Lorenzo Codeca and Fabio Ferro with a Mitsubishi who has also first in the new Mitsubishi Trophy Off Road 2003. Good performance form Jutta Kleinschmidt; starting this morning from the sixteenth position she showed two good special stages and gained nine positions. Another surprise also from the polish driver Lukasz Komornicki with Mitsubishi Pajero, finishing on sixth position. The portugese Felipe Campos with his Toyota finished eigth ,Helder Oliveira with a Nissan Patrol of the Team Promotech ninth and Dominique Housieaux is the best placed driver of Team Tecnosport on his Nissan Navara Pick-up. Winner of the Suzuki Challenge was Andrea Luchini with Silvano Fattori on a Suzuki Vitara.

Press Release - Italian Baja