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| For immediate publication |
| 2004.08.02 |
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Young Driver Training Program
12th for Ikemachi, Mitsuhashi in Baja España
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July 24, Aragon, Spain - After competing in this year's Dakar Rally in January as part of Nissan's Young Driver Training Program, Yoshio Ikemachi and Jun Mitsuhashi started training for the 2005 Dakar Rally by participating in the Baja España from July 22 to 24.
This year's event was held in the north-eastern Spanish region of Aragon, the 21st Baja España since it began in 1983. Covering more than 800km over three days including a prolog run, the event is used as a test-run by many drivers who will enter the Dakar Rally, and this year 97 cars took part. Ikemachi and Mitsuhashi entered with the aim of gaining some practical experience by taking turns as driver and co-driver, making their challenge in a T2 class Nissan Pathfinder.
Conditions were tough in the blisteringly hot Aragon region, with daytime temperatures reaching 40 degrees (C) as the prolog got underway on day one to determine the starting order for the main stage. Behind the wheel, Ikemachi could only manage 31st place after being held up by slower cars at the 4km point of the 10km and then hampered from overtaking by narrow roads and dust.
Ikemachi remained at the wheel throughout the second day, consisting of two laps of an approximately 160km course. He caught up with the car in front at the 30km point and tailed it for over 100km. Just after passing the car ahead on lap two, a mechanical problem forced him two-wheel drive, although he still managed to finish in 15th place. However, his position fell to 25th after a penalty for a 12-minute delay in reaching the goal due to drive shaft repairs.
On day three, Mitsuhashi took over the driving duties for two 250km laps. He had improved to 19th by the end of lap one and was making further progress on lap two, but 50km from the end a recurrence of the previous day's mechanical trouble forced him two-wheel drive again. Nevertheless, he stuck at his task and, with his rivals pulling out one by one, crossed the line in 12th place. Only 33 of the 97 starting cars, or 34%, finished this grueling race.
"I've been driving a Patrol until now, but this time I was in a Pathfinder. Although it took a little getting used to, it was powerful and easy to handle," said Yoshio Ikemachi. "Last year I drove 800km all by myself, but I drove much less this year as I was sharing the wheel with Jun Mitsuhashi. In the T2 vehicle, however, even the shorter distance was tiring. The rough road surfaces put a big strain on the car, and with many competitors pulling out, it was great practice for us just to finish the race."
"Navigating is difficult work," said Jun Mitsuhashi. "You have to be able to convey what you've learned to the driver so that he can understand it the same way. But being able to communicate in Japanese made it easy to describe and understand various detailed points. This event was tougher than I'd expected. Things like the heat, the dust, and being unable to pass on the narrow course made it even more difficult than Dakar."
"Ikemachi and Mitsuhashi took part as a warm-up, to get their preparations underway for next year's Dakar Rally," said Kozo Watanabe, NISMO Managing Director. "It was very important this time to finish properly, so I think they did a good job. And, by sharing the driving, I think they were able to recognize each other's strong points. This has set them some challenges for the rest of their training."
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RESULTS - 2004 BAJA ESPAÑA ARAGÓN
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| Pos. |
No. |
Class |
Car |
Driver
CO-Driver |
Time/Gap |
| 1 |
300 |
T2 |
Mitsubishi Pajero EVO |
Carlos Sousa
Henri Magne |
10:10:03 |
| 2 |
301 |
T2 |
BMW X5 |
Kharifa Al Mutawei
Alain Guehennec |
+01:37 |
| 3 |
302 |
T2 |
Mitsubishi Pajero |
Jose Luis Monterde
Rafael Tornabell |
+23:55 |
| 4 |
304 |
T2 |
Nissan Pathfinder 50 |
Marco Tempestini
Giacomo Inocenti |
+27:34 |
| 5 |
362 |
T2 |
BMW X5 |
Carlos Sotelo
Victor Bofill |
+39:02 |
| 12 |
328 |
T2 |
Nissan Pathfinder |
Yoshio Ikemachi
Jun Mitsuhashi |
+1:23:54 |
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