DRIVER
Born January 16th 1966, Married, one child.

After a brilliant career with Mitsubishi, Carlos Sousa has been driving for Nissan since the 2005 Dakar (during which he drove a Team Dessoude N03 Pickup). He will now be back, but this time he will drive the N05 version of the Navara. A more powerful car, able to compete with the best. For the first time, his navigator will be Jean-Marie Lurquin, who was his rival for many years, most notably during the now legendary duels with Jean Louis Schlesser. Even if the winner of the 2003 World Cup for Cross Country Rallies has not had much experience with the Navara, he will be able to count on Jean Marie Lurquin’s experience, as the Belgian finished the 2005 Dakar in 4th place in this very car.

DRIVER
Born July 2nd 1970

Jun’s career started in bikes in the 1990’s. After a number of successes in Japan in Endurance racing, he discovered rally raids, and fell under the charm of this area of the sport, the symbol of adventure and extreme effort. He took part in three editions of the Dakar, and finished 12th overall in 2002. In 2003, he joined the Nismo programme for training young Japanese drivers. Placed in Team Nissan Dessoude to complete his training, he took part in his first four-wheeled event in September 2003, in the Pharaohs Rally. This Dakar will be his third with a car and for the first time he will be co-driven by the expert Jacky Dubois.

DRIVER
PROF2

Born in Tokyo’s Ota district on November 20, 1948, began rally driving at the age of 18 while still at university. In 1970, began racing as a member of Mitsubishi’s factory team and in 1975 debuted in his first rally outside Japan. In 1976, he became the first Japanese to finish 6th overall in the Safari Rally. With a promising career ahead of him on the international stage, he was forced to turn his back on rallying with the withdrawal of Mitsubishi Motors from rallying activities. Then, in 1986, he entered the Paris-Dakar Rally with actor Yosuke Natsuki, and in 1987 came 3rd overall in the Dakar. With a 2nd overall win in 1988, decided to enter the World Rally Championship (WRC), and in 1988 became the first winner of the new Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. This paved the way to two consecutive wins in the WRC Rallye Cote d-Ivoire (1991 and 1992). Then, in 1997, won the Paris-Dakar Rally. However, in 2000 he crashed spectacularly in the Paris-Cairo (that year’s Dakar) Rally. While it was feared that he would never make a comeback, he overcame his injuries and from September of that year moved to Paris with the intention of focusing on rallying activities. He currently resides in Paris as a free-lance driver.

DRIVER
Born on May 1st 1973, single

French Rally Champion in 2002, vice champion in 2003, Benoît Rousselot, aged 32, has a fine rally career record. But the driver from Nancy decided to give a new start to his career by turning towards all-terrain rallies. He joined Team Nissan France Dessoude for the 2005 Dakar. Mission accomplished for his first participation, as he reached the end of the event. With the support of Nissan France, Benoît took part in the World Cup for Cross Country Rallies this year, competing in four events in the Production category. For the 2006 Dakar, his navigator will be Sylvain Poncet, who was the co-driver for Jun Mitsuhashi last year.

DRIVER
Born June 16, 1976 at Llambilles (Girona).
Wife Susana and son Telm.

Marc Blazques is a hard-working driver who climbed to the top of the Spain Rally Championship ladder after racing in qualifying categories of independent championships. His spectacular and aggressive driving style has made him one of the rally circuit’s most popular drivers — fans just love watching his daring maneuvers from the roadside. Since his win at the Volante RACC, Marc has remained under the tutelage of the Royal Automobile Club of Catalunya as its official driver. In 2002, he took the opportunity to join the Nissan Rally Raid Team and to compete as an official team member in various WRC races. His flair has not passed unnoticed. After seeing his performance at the Baja Espana and the Baja Portugal where he drove many kilometers in second place, the team’s officials praised his adaptation to a new level of competition. His return to all-terrain rally competition has been a complete success with two victories at the 2004 Spain Rally Championship in the T1 and Diesel categories and an excellent 22nd placing at the 2005 Barcelona-Dakar Rally, where he finished second among the rookies and pocketed four stage victories in his category. In the 2005 season, his success continued with three overall victories (Catalunya, Baja Portugal and Linares). Together with other excellent classifications, this allowed him to win the FIA International Baja Championship and to finish second in the Spain TT Rally Championship.