The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. In 2011, Mitsubishi Motors was the sixth-largest Japanese automaker and the 19th-largest worldwide by production. Since October 2016, Mitsubishi has been one-third (34%) owned by Nissan, thus a part of the Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popularly referred to as the 'Evo', is a sports sedan and rally car based on the Lancer that was manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1992 until 2016. There have been ten official versions to date, and the designation of each model is most commonly a Roman numeral. All generations use two-litre intercooled turbo inline four-cylinder engines and all-wheel drive systems.
Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles were limited in terms of power, weight, allowed technology and overall cost. Group A was aimed at ensuring numerous entries in races of privately owned vehicles.
The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport is a mid-size SUV produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors using the Pajero nameplate since 1996 that has spanned over three generations and based on the Triton pickup truck. Mitsubishi has formerly used the Mitsubishi Challenger name in Japan and some international markets, but since the third generation, the Pajero Sport/Montero Sport/Shogun Sport was the name used instead.
The Mitsubishi Pajero is a full-size SUV manufactured and marketed globally by Mitsubishi over four generations — introduced in 1981 and discontinued in 2021. The Pajero has generated more than 3.3 million sales in its 40-year run. The name will live on with the smaller Pajero Sport, which is based on the Mitsubishi Triton/L200/Strada. Despite the similarity in name, the Pajero Sport share none of the original Pajero's underpinnings and are smaller in overall size.
Ralliart is the high-performance and motorsports division of Mitsubishi Motors. It was responsible for development and preparation of the company's rally racing and off-road racing vehicles, as well as the development of high-performance models and parts available to the public. Ralliart scaled down its business activities in April 2010, though the brand will continue to be used by Mitsubishi.
The Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 was the range-topping version of Mitsubishi Motors' Galant model, available in the sixth (1987–93), seventh (1993–96) and eighth (1996–2002) generations of the vehicle. Originally introduced to comply with the new Group A regulations of the World Rally Championship, it was soon superseded as Mitsubishi's competition vehicle by the Lancer Evolution, and subsequently developed into a high-performance showcase of the company's technology.
The Mitsubishi Pajero Junior is a mini SUV produced by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors between October 1995 and June 1998 for the Japanese domestic market only. Based on a lengthened Minica platform, it was a larger version of the Mitsubishi Pajero Mini, a kei car. The biggest visual difference from the Pajero Mini is the wide fender trims and wider tyres, giving it a more purposeful appearance. It did benefit from moderate ownership costs to Japanese buyers, due to the exterior dimension being within the favorable compact size class according to Japanese Government dimension regulations, and the small displacement engine obligated a minimal annual road tax, although at reduced advantage compared to the kei car-based Pajero Mini.
The Mitsubishi Nessie is a concept automobile co-developed by Italdesign Giugiaro, The Linde Group and Mitsubishi Motors, and exhibited at the 2005 Geneva Auto Show. It is the latest in a line of SUVs, space-wagons and alternative architectures designed by Giugiaro dating back to 1978 and the Lancia Megagamma, with more recent examples including the Giugiaro Touareg (2002), Maserati Kubang (2003) and Volkswagen Tarek (2003).
All Wheel Control (AWC) is the brand name of a four-wheel drive (4WD) system developed by Mitsubishi Motors. The system was first incorporated in the 2001 Lancer Evolution VII. Subsequent developments have led to S-AWC, developed specifically for the new 2007 Lancer Evolution. The system is referred by the company as its unique 4-wheel drive technology umbrella, cultivated through its motor sports activities and long history in rally racing spanning almost half a century.
The Mitsubishi Colt 800 is the first of a series of passenger cars with a fastback/hatchback design produced by Mitsubishi Motors from November 1965. It was introduced as a two-door fastback sedan, the first such design in the Japanese market. The series was discontinued in 1971, after the introduction of the company's Galant sedan but without a real replacement.
The 2006 Dakar Rally, also known as the 2006 Paris-Dakar Rally, was the 28th running of the Dakar Rally event. The 2006 event ran from 31 December 2005 to 15 January 2006. It started from Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, before finishing in Senegal. The format included speed restrictions on motorcycles and trucks and reduced use of global positioning systems. Competitors included double world rally champion, Carlos Sainz.
Hayden Paddon is a New Zealand rally driver. He was PWRC world champion in 2011 and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008, 2009, 2013, 2018 and 2021.
The Mitsubishi Lancer WRC is a World Rally Car built by Ralliart, Mitsubishi Motors' motorsport division, to compete in the World Rally Championship. The previous Lancer Evolution series were homologated for the Group A class, and their competitiveness against World Rally Cars from other manufacturers was therefore limited.
The Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is a compact crossover SUV produced by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since October 2017. It was previewed by the XR-PHEV and XR-PHEV II concepts, revealed in 2013 and 2015. The production version was first introduced at the 87th Geneva Motor Show in March 2017. It slots between the RVR/ASX/Outlander Sport and Outlander in Mitsubishi's crossover lineup.
Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero is a Spanish dentist and rally raid driver who in 2017 became the first Spanish female car driver to finish the Dakar Rally. In 2021 she was the second woman to win a stage in Dakar Rally history. She participates in the Extreme E electric cross-country series, driving for Lewis Hamilton's Team X44.
Mitsubishi Motors Brasil, known officially as MMC Automóveis do Brasil Ltda., is the Brazilian operation of Mitsubishi Motors. Since its inauguration, it has sold more than 200 thousand vehicles in Brazil and now has an annual turnover of around R$ 4 billion, being one of the 100 largest companies in the country.
In relation to motorsport, Group T2 is a set of technical specifications for series production cross-country cars used in off-road Cross-Country Rallying. The group is governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and defined in appendix J, article 284 of its International Sporting Code. The cars must use a bodyshell and apart from safety features such as a roll cage and upgraded suspension and wheels, must retain features of the series production car unlike the thoroughbred race prototypes in Group T1, which have more freedom surrounding the chassis build and other parts. The cars in T2 must be homologated with a series production build requirement of 1000 identical units.
