The Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Dakar rally team has completed its shakedown sessions and is ready to advance to the pre-race scrutineering and documentation on January 4-5. The race itself kicks off from Lisbon on January 6, and will mark the competition debut of the new Mitsubishi MPR13 rally cars, which are based on the newly-restyled Pajero SUV.
While we love the look of the new gull-winged Pajero rally raider, we're just as enthused to see the first action photos of the team's support car, a rally-prepped Mitsubishi Delica D:5 minivan. We count the Delica D:5 as one of our favorite JDM Vehicles That We Can't Have, and seeing the blocky van in full Repsol/Ralliart livery brings a smile to our faces. The Dakar Rally is a great event and involves a wide variety of vehicles, from bikes to pickups to SUVs to...well...Unimogs. Throw in the new Mitsu minivan and you have a veritable Star Wars cantina of race and support vehicles.
That's a good thing, and we'll try to follow Dakar '07 as closely as possible. (That pesky NAIAS is gonna get in the way for the first few days, though...)
Click here for a gallery of the Repsol/Ralliart Pajero and Delica.
[Source: Ralliart]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
chewy @ Dec 26th 2006 6:02PM
Checked out their site, pretty neat. But VW with its Touareg Race 2 is back better than ever with 285 hp and 440 lb-ft with their 2.5 TDI, the Mitsubishi uses a 4 liter gasoline V6 for 270 horsepower and 308 lb-ft. Should be a nice battle, hopefully we will se some of it on TV here.
Todd S. @ Dec 26th 2006 6:25PM
Does anybody know who and when will be televising this the Rallye in January?
smokeydog001 @ Dec 27th 2006 9:50AM
For those of us who have grown up with NASCAR & NHRA, is there a good Rallying 101 site for educational purposes?
Robert Burns @ Dec 27th 2006 11:17AM
I believe the race will be shown on the OLN network.
Vinny @ Dec 27th 2006 4:15PM
www.dakar.com may have what you're looking for. I also found this on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakar_Rally
blitzkrieg79 @ Dec 28th 2006 4:29PM
Post #1, VW had a HP and torque advantage a year ago and yet they didn't win the rally. It's not always about the engine but the overall structure and suspension of the car considering they do most of the driving off-road (desert). Mitsubishi has better turbos and better mechanicals.
Phil L. @ Dec 29th 2006 8:46AM
Dakar coverage in the US will be on OLN, starting January 6th.
Tommy Brosnan @ Jan 7th 2007 12:34PM
Please keep the information comming as I think there is not enoigh of the Daker shown on tv. Keep up the good work