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| For immediate publication |
| 2004.11.08 |
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Jun Mitsuhashi Overall Winner in Shamrock Rally
Yoshio Ikemachi Takes Fourth Place
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At the AMV Shamrock Rally held in Morocco from November 1 to 6, overall victory went to Jun Mitsuhashi while 4th position was claimed by Yoshio Ikemachi. The two drivers entered this race as part of their Dakar Rally Young Driver Training Program, sponsored by Nissan Motorsports International (HQ: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Yuichi Sanada), an affiliate of Nissan Motor Corporation. Fifty cars, from T1 Class unmodified production cars to T3 Rally Raid buggies, entered the four-wheel category. Mitsuhashi and Ikemachi were both making their final adjustments ahead of the 2005 Dakar Rally in race specification Nissan X-Trails (T2 class: modified production cars) from the France Nissan dealership Team Dessoude.
Mitsuhashi started day one in eighth place after suffering minor trouble in the initial prologue run. He dropped back to 10th place overall after rescuing another competitor whose car was stuck, but by day two he was in the lead and battling fiercely from start to finish with the T3 buggies. Despite some repeated bad luck on day five - first getting stuck and then suffering a puncture - he was back in the first place on the sixth and final day, crossing the finish line with a lead of around 12 minutes.
Looking back on the race, Mitsuhashi said, "Last year was my first time here and I finished third, so this time my target was to win. T3 buggies have no air restrictors and can generate 300 horsepower, and their weight is about half that of an X-Trail too. So I focused on racing according to a strategy that suited my car. I set myself three goals for this race: not to crash the car, not to get a puncture, and to win. I did get a couple of punctures, but basically I'm very satisfied because the race went according to plan. This is a big boost for me with the Dakar Rally coming up."
Meanwhile Ikemachi, fourth overall in the prologue run, was penalized on day one for failing to pass through this event's unique 'secret' checkpoint, subsequently falling to 29th position. By the end of day two, however, he surged through the field and finished 2nd in the special stage and 5th overall. Despite some minor problems such as a sticky brake pedal, he managed to finish the event in 4th position overall (and 2nd in the T2 Class for petrol-powered cars).
"We were racing on all different kinds of surfaces, including sand dunes and rocky stretches, which was great practice for the Dakar Rally", said Ikemachi. "I tried to drive according to the condition of the terrain and road surface, sometimes flying at high speed and other times taking it very slowly and carefully. We experienced everything from coming off the course and getting stuck to minor mechanical trouble, so perhaps all our 'rejection' work is finished. This was good practice too for my co-driver Takuya Sugimura in his first Rally Raid."
Both drivers will remain in Morocco until November 20, during which they are scheduled to start comprehensive and intensive training for Dakar.
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RESULTS - AMV Shamrock Rally, 1-6 Nov.
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| Pos. |
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Class |
Time |
| 1 |
403 |
J. Mistuhashi / S.Poncet |
NISSAN |
T2 |
25:21:31 |
| 2 |
402 |
F. Alard / L. Fouquet |
Buggy |
T3 |
25:33:15 |
| 3 |
412 |
B. Andrieux / Micquiaux |
TOYOTA |
T2 |
27:27:32 |
| 4 |
418 |
Y. Ikemachi / T. Sugimura |
NISSAN |
T2 |
29:12:16 |
| 5 |
445 |
S. Posteau / Antonioll |
NISSAN |
T2 |
29:32:53 |
| 6 |
436 |
P. Pinchedez / Thiercelin |
NISSAN |
T3 |
30:15:07 |
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