Mitsubishi Pulls out of the Dakar

Hi AJB
Yes, but where will it end.

Cheers

Stephen

Hi Geoff
How are things going, good I hope. Next years event will be quit different by the sounds of things. A good bit of competition is good for everybody, and I hope that this is not going to be the type of thing that we can expect from future entrants.

I would have thought that for its reputation, that someone will pursue the Mitsubishi Team, perhaps under a private sponsorship.

Another thing that Overlander also state is

"While it is easy for MMC to blame the economy, we would have told them that when you throw away 25 years of racing success to replace a 4WD with a suburban hatchback, things can only go bad"

This may get a few more thinking.

Cheers

Stephen

G'day Stephen, I enjoy Dakar immensely & its sad to see Mitsi
pull out of something they have influenced significantly. One
is hardly surprised by Overlander not praising them up, you need
to be branded something else to get their biased blessing. I assume
they refer to that Outlander thing, & may well be right, but that
hardly applies to Pajero, that appears to be maybe under rated,
but still destined to doom now that Mitsi are not building cars
here anymore. Its probably imported like most but people fear
lack of service & parts. I will have to follow the fortunes of
Isuzu...not a bad effort with the Dmax....oldbaz

The Dakar was not run in Africa This year for security reasons. It was run in South America.

Hi Old Girl,
Like John said above, it is still called the Dakar, but will now be driven in South America. In 2008, the event was cancelled due to Terrorist Threats. For the safety of all those concerned, the North African Continent was deem too dangerous and this year, 2009 marked the first time that the Dakar was held away from its original areas in Africa and now the foundations are set for all future events to be held in South America.

As for Mitsubishi pulling out, it is not an Australian thing, but the Japanese Headquarters. I had a great passion for those Mitsubishi boys, as watching it for years, you get to know the drivers first hand. Like I said above, I hope that some private company takes the Mitsubishi team up.

Cheers

Stephen

Stephen read what i wrote. Im not stupid.

Hi Old Girl
I have not referred that you are stupid. When referring about the Dakar, this is the type of race that is not followed by everybody and some people could not care less about it. You would be surprised of the number of people that I have spoken to that do know know what the Dakar is or where it is run.

Your quote "Dakar not in Dakar next year for security reasons" to me sounds like you were not aware that the 2008 event was cancelled for those very reasons and this year the event was held in South America.

I am not having a go at you, just letting others that may not be aware of what is happening to this event.


Cheers

Stephen

Hi Bruce,
Yes it was great to see the Australian Team doing so well. It is a real pity that the smaller entrants do not get the publicity as the big international entrants. We will all be following the Isuzu Team if they race again next year.

Come on Aussie.

Cheers
Stephen