PARIS, Jan 15 - Mitsubishi allowed their underdogs to shine in the 11th stage of the Dakar-Agadez-Dakar rally, which saw Frenchman Jean-Pierre Strugo win ahead of Thailand's Pornsawan Siriwitanakun on Wednesday.
The two Mitsubishi drivers took advantage of the tactical race between their team leaders to steal the honours in the 577-km stage from Kidal to Timbuktoo.
But the real fight for final victory kept raging as Japan's Kenjiro Shinozuka took the overall lead back from French team mate Jean-Pierre Fontenay by a mere 45 seconds.
With four days left in the rally, the competition is still open as Frenchman Bruno Saby, also in a Mitsubishi, is just 9:35 minutes behind the leading pair.
In the motorcyle section, American Jimmy Lewis, forced to abandon the race when he took part for the first time last year, won his first stage on a KTM nine minutes ahead of Spaniard Oscar Gallardo on a Cagiva.
"I'm really very happy. Overall I found the stage easy,'' said the 38-year-old Californian.
"It was a very technical, physical stage, kind of like super cross. It really was like the courses I ride in the United States.''
Lewis retained fourth place overall and is more than two-and-a-half hours behind leader Stephane Peterhansel of France on a Yamaha, who was fourth in the stage.
