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January 16, 2005. Stage 16 (Special Stage 9): Dakar - Dakar |
| The 17th day after setting out on New Year’s eve from Barcelona in Spain,
the 2005 Dakar Rally caravan reached Lac Rose in the outskirts of Dakar, the
goal of the rally. After a 37-kilometer liaison from the hotel Méridien,
reached the day before, the teams raced the customary 31-kilometer final special
starting on the Atlantic Ocean beach. While few overall placings could be expected
to change in such a short stage, each crew racing this stretch — the final
glory stage of the race — must have been thinking of all that had happened
over the past 17 days. Nearly 90 of the 160-plus four-wheel vehicles that started
from Barcelona had now fallen by the wayside, leaving 75 survivors on the shores
of Lac Rose. Not only the winners, but all the vehicles who completed the course
went up the finish ramp, where they were applauded by the many spectators attending
the close of the first big motorsports event of the new year. Jun Mitsuhashi
finished the rally 28th in this stage, and 11th overall. In the Team Nissan France
Dessoude to which he belonged, Mitsuhashi achieved 2nd place after Carlos Sousa.
As a Nissan driver, he was third after Giniel de Villiers, who achieved 4th place
overall. And as a Japanese driver, Mitsuhashi ranked no. 1 in the race.
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Yoshio Ikemachi
Nissan Rally Raid Team
NISSAN X-TRAIL T2 |
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Jun Mitsuhashi
Team Nissan Dessoude
NISSAN X-TRAIL T2 |
< Jun Mitsuhashi >
“It’s finished. We’ve finally reached Lac Rose! The vehicle
made it through a very punishing course, so was quite beaten up, but somehow
it made it through. Although it was entered in the Superproduction class, this
X-Trail is quite close to a commercial vehicle, so for it to finish 11th overall
is a very significant achievement. I would like to say thanks to everyone in
the team who assisted me and to all the people in Japan who supported our efforts.
Thank you all very much. With the regrettable turn of events last year, it is
especially gratifying that we finished the course this time. Today I will celebrate
with a nice cold beer.
As I explained yesterday, I started today’s final stage with Robby Gordon
of the Volkswagen team. As soon as we started, Robby quickly pulled away but
after that he got bogged down on the beach. Thinking only about finishing, I
rushed past, wondering what had happened as I stared at his stranded vehicle.
In the end, I was four seconds faster. With him being a superstar and driving
a fast prototype, it was quite a good feeling!” |
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