Click above for high-res gallery of awesome rally shots
After all the trials and tribulations, the first event in the Central Europe Rally took place this past weekend and Carlos Sainz took the overall win behind the wheel of a heavily prepped Volkswagen Touareg 2, while NASCAR driver Robby Gordon's team finished 10th.
The race, which spanned some 1,670 miles across Hungary and Romania, took Sainz and his co-pilot, Michel Perin, 11 hours, 18 minutes and 8 seconds to traverse, followed by the team of Stephane Perhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret driving a Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, while Dieter Depping and Timo Gotschalk came in third, behind the wheel of another Touareg 2.
Gordon, whose total time was 1 hour, 25 minutes and 38 seconds behind Sainz, completed the race with the help of a HUMMER H2 and Andy Grider at his side. The full race results can be viewed after the jump, and we've assembled a gallery of some seriously awesome shots from the Central Europe Rally below.
[Source: Rallysportmag]
Tentative final results, Central Europe Rally
1. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn (E/F), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 11h18m08s
2. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (F/F), Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, + 2.01m
3. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk (D/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, + 6.34m
4. Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard (F/F), Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, + 7.28m
5. Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz (P/D), Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, + 33.45m
6. Bruno Saby/Alain Guehennec (F/F), BMW X3 CC, + 46.30m
7. Robert Baldwin/Kevin Heath (USA/USA), Hummer, + 56.02m
8. Philippe Gache/François Flick (F/F), SMG, + 1h07m08s
9. Miroslav Zapletal/Valdimir Nemajer (CZ/CZ), Mitsubishi L200, + 1h12m19s
10. Robby Gordon/Andy Grider (USA/USA), Hummer, + 1h25m38s
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Phil L. @ Apr 28th 2008 2:16PM
I've been following this rally - but mostly because of its Dakar connection. The route was short on the kind of awe-inspiring helicopter shots for which the Dakar is famous. Too many long liasons with short specials in this event. Repeating a route - even in reverse - just doesn't cut it for competitive drama.
But this really was really a consolation rally, organized in haste, for those who had spent a year planning and training for the cancelled Dakar. I can forgive its flaws.
I'm waiting for next January and South America. Please let there be lots of difficult terrain - and fierce competition. And - please - some stability in Africa, so we can return to the desert someday.
Farris @ Apr 28th 2008 2:22PM
Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution?
I didn't know that Mitsu made other vehicles (besides the Lancer) in Evo state... is it a nomenclature they only use for racing, or do they sell other Evos in the Japanese market?
Duders @ Apr 28th 2008 2:25PM
Many different companies have evolution models that they use as homoligation specials for racing
Tourian @ Apr 28th 2008 2:27PM
Lancer (Carisma) and Pajero (Montero/Shogun) are about the only two vehicles Mitsubishi competes with in motorsports right now. They have sold a few examples of a Pajero Evolution, but I don't think a version of it is currently available for sale now. They do it to meet whatever rules a governing body might set so they can compete with that particular model which most likely doesn't require it to be offered year after year.
nagmashot @ Apr 28th 2008 2:52PM
The Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution is like the Volkswagen Touareg 2 a tube frame fully build race car that has nothing (absolutly NOTHING!!!) to do with the production model street version.
The real name of the Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution is MPR 13.
thechnicel specs
4.0l V6 with airrestrictor
270hp at 6600rpm
417Nm at 5800rpm
5speed sequenziell race tranny
chassie: tube frame race chassie
body: 2door full carbon
empty weight: minimum 1825kg +160kg driver codriver +400kg fuel
range: rule requires a minimum range of 800km
chassie in detail
http://www.autobild.de/ir_img/53113949_84688e8d66.jpg
http://www.autobild.de/ir_img/53113948_0cb35b2a11.jpg
dan spalinger @ Apr 28th 2008 2:44PM
Robby Gordon won two specials in the event and again proved himself to be amongst the best drivers in the world--but Autoblog fails to mention the more impressive feat of BJ Baldwin driving the other racing H3 and finishing AHEAD of RG in 7th...given BJ has never competed in a "rally" style race he truly drove the snot out of the vehicle and I can't see how Robby doesn't invite him back to run the South American "Dakar" in '09...
Tom @ Apr 28th 2008 2:48PM
by the way... it's spelled Hungary
PaulPaul @ Apr 28th 2008 3:37PM
hummer h2 in a race... O_o
Yago Bal @ Apr 28th 2008 4:08PM
...It's not actually a Hummer H2...
Tom Gabriele @ Apr 28th 2008 5:29PM
the vw looks so bad ass, but that hummer is just FUGLY
kind of like the street versions...
Smeagle @ Apr 29th 2008 2:05AM
It looks good from underneath.
jr @ Apr 28th 2008 5:38PM
Is it just me, or does that Hummer look an awful lot like an H3, not H2? I realize it's hard to tell in race-modified guise, but the upper bodywork looks H3.
Also, are there regulations in rally around tires? The tires on the VW and Mitsu don't look particularly high-tech.
Nixk @ Apr 28th 2008 10:07PM
Both Robby's and BJ's Hummers are the same as the VW and Mitsu vehicles - special built race vehicles w/ a tube chassis and lots of wheel travel.
CarlosMC @ Apr 29th 2008 2:13PM
I guess that's because high-tech isn't about looks..
Nick @ Apr 28th 2008 10:12PM
Actually, the H2 is a great race truck. Team HUMMER races it in stock class. Last weekend it took first in class, beating 11 other full size trucks. The H3 Alpha took first in full stock SUV and the H3 took first in stock mini SUV. www.rodhallracing.com
JAkob @ Apr 29th 2008 2:01AM
Just remember.
The VW is a 5-cyl diesel and almost everyone else (if not all) runs gasoline.
/J
nagmashot @ Apr 29th 2008 2:59AM
Mitsubishi raced diesel powered Pajero Evolution too(it ended in a accident and could not finish at stage 2 or 3)
Most of the cars racing this Rally were diesel powered
VW Touareg 2
VW Buggy TDI
BMW X3 CC
Isuzu D-Maxx
Nissan D40 Navara
BMW gave a simple reason to race with diesel engines.. 30-40% lower consuption
CarlosMC @ Apr 29th 2008 2:22PM
Mousse isn't allowed in Dakar anymore, though.
CarlosMC @ Apr 29th 2008 2:23PM
This was a reply to jr.