Interviews after completion of the Dakar 2007

Stéphane Peterhansel – Mitsubishi
It wasn’t the easiest of all my victories! Sometimes I won with more than 30 minutes lead, this time it was a very close call till the end. At first, we got roughed up by Volkswagen. We had to keep our heads clear and the race was won by the book eventually. Then, there was the struggle with Luc, which was tricky because it remained a close call till the end. Actually it was pretty stressful. I’m not bothered about not winning any special stage. When your aim is final victory, you don’t think about stages. I learned that with my first victory on a bike in an African rally where I also won at the end without winning a single stage.

Luc Alphand – Mitsubishi
What I recall is that the team did a great job and that we are finishing with two cars ranking first and second in the overall rankings. In the beginning, we wanted to win to pay tribute to Henri Magne, who died in the Morocco Rally and today I am also thinking about him even if it’s only a small solace for him and for his family. As for being second, well, I cannot complain too much because in the last three Dakars, I finished second twice and won once. It’s not so bad actually, all the more so that Stéphane is a great competitor. But it doesn’t mean he can’t be beaten. I haven’t said my last word. The race was long and I made several small mistakes. In this game, it’s not the one with the fastest car who wins, it’s the one making the least mistakes. Maybe I made one more mistake than he did.

Jean-Louis Schlesser - Schles/Ford
Of course I’m very happy. I’m not going to complain, am I? What is interesting is that I am first in two-wheel drive. Two-wheel drive cars have much lower budgets than others and the legislator has to help us. Not just for me but for all of those racing in this category. With this result I will go home stronger and come back to win next year. The Dakar will always be the Dakar! Arriving here is always awesome. The race was long and hard. Let’s not forget that this year there were pretty demanding special stages, that the pace was fast from the outset on, that there was a very long marathon stage to Tichit and another to Nema. Quite a Dakar! This is why the result is so dear to me.

Mark Miller – Volkswagen
It’s nice to be at the end. You have a funny feeling when you get to Lac Rose, no matter where you stand in the rankings. Volkswagen really did a good job on this Dakar. I had come here to win so being 4th is still a disappointment. We just didn’t get lucky. But we did prove that we had the speed, and that we were a good team. So it’s promising for the future.

Hiroshi Masuoka – Mitsubishi
I’m very happy it’s over. Mainly because over the last two years I didn’t finish. I hoped to be in the top three so there could be three Mitsubishi on the podium but it was not possible unfortunately. We had bad luck for a day with our mechanical problems, just a day, but it’s all it takes to loose a Dakar. I have faith for the future. This year, I was racing my 20th Dakar and I will be back with the hope of winning the race for my 21st.