Summary (1997 - Dakar - Agades - Dakar)

Dakar organiser Hubert Auriol, who had also planned the event in 1996, took a completely new approach for 1997. A decision was made to change the rules and to exclude all T3 prototypes from the competition for this year. The previous years had shown the dominant performance of the high-tech machines, which were increasingly being called the F1s of the desert. Auriol's intention was to give all teams, whether professional or private, an equal chance of victory. Mitsubishi started with three Pajeros and debuted a new Challenger, all of which belonged to the T2 class. This year, 100 cars, 127 motorcycles and 55 trucks set off from Dakar to race for 16 days through the scorching heat of four African countries. For the first time in 19 years, the competition took place exclusively in Africa, starting in Dakar and leading right across the continent to Agades. From there it went back again to Dakar, with the drivers having to cross 8,000 km of the toughest terrain the continent had to offer. The Mitsubishi team led from the start, and when they reached Agades after 3,500 km of hard work, only seconds separated the three leading Pajeros. The competition was tough for Mitsubishi, and they were pressured not only by their rivals Jean-Louis Schlesser and Jutta Kleinschmidt in their SEAT buggies, but also by Nissan, Toyota and the Korean manufacturer Ssangyong. The hardest part of the rally began when the field reached Nema, where team boss Ulrich Brehmer declared that from this point on the leading Pajero could no longer be challenged. On Sunday, 19 January 1997, after 15 days and more than 8,000 km of the most demanding motorsport event in the world, Kenjiro Shinozuka shot along the sandy beach near the capital of Senegal and around the Pink Lake to add another chapter to the successes of the Mitsubishi team. He became the very first Japanese driver ever to win the Dakar, and he did so in the Mitsubishi Oil Ralliart Pajero of all cars. In the scorching heat of Senegal, thousands of spectators began to cheer as the Japanese hero climbed onto the podium with his French co-driver Henri Magne. It was a memorable performance by the Mitsubishi team, whose cars made up the top 4 of the overall standings.

Final standings

Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Overall time
1	205	Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero	61.58.31
2	200	Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 00.04.16
3	202	Saby	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 00.09.12
4	220	Masuoka	Mitsubishi Challanger	+ 02.25.27
5	206	Kleinshcmidt	Schlesser Original	+ 04.35.51
6	204	Servia	Nissan	+ 05.15.14
7	216	Strugo	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 06.20.08
8	208	Guedes	Nissan	+ 09.23.13
9	268	Argazzi	Nissan	+ 09.40.41
10	224	Souza	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 10.14.58