Summary (1999 - Granada - Dakar)

This year's Dakar once again offered a picture of strong Mitsubishis, but in the end Jean-Louis Schlesser managed to prevail against the Pajero superiority and shot over the finish ramp first after 18 days. Second place went to the Spaniard Miguel Prieto, who recorded his best result so far and happily said afterwards: When we set off, I never thought that we could finish second. Both my Mitsubishi Pajero and the Ralliart support team were perfect. Next year I will come back and win. But for now I am just looking forward to seeing my wife again. Equally overjoyed with her third place, Jutta Kleinschmidt added: It was great when we led in the first half of the rally, but I am also very proud of third place. I am very happy to be here and now I will concentrate on winning next year. In the heat of the Sahara and the murderous humidity of the African bush, many of the 88 original Pajeros failed under the adverse conditions and only 40 reached the finish. From the start it was already clear that the Mitsubishis were under heavy pressure this year, for the competition had not been sleeping and so there were potential winners in the camps of Nissan, Toyota and of course Schlesser. Potential for the history books was also shown by the all-female duo of Kleinschmidt and her Swedish co-driver Tina Thörner, who as the very first women's team led the Dakar for stretches. The battle for the lead that had broken out between Prieto and Schlesser was decided on the twelfth stage. The two fought a race that was more reminiscent of Formula 1 than of a two-week marathon spectacle, but during this sprint a collision occurred and Prieto could no longer drive at the limit with the damaged car. Schlesser nevertheless had only half an hour's lead when he crossed the finish line in Dakar. Former Dakar winner Kenjiro Shinozuka finished fourth after being plagued by punctures in Morocco and running out of fuel 60 km before the stage finish in Tidjikja. Jean-Pierre Fontenay, who finished ninth, was also among the unlucky ones. First he was struck by punctures and then he had to cover the 625 km between Bir Mogrein and Altar without a windscreen. He said afterwards, unimpressed: I had bad luck this year. Although my Mitsubishi Pajero was great, I suffered from many unfortunate coincidences. But I will try to cheer myself up and look forward to coming back and doing better next year.

Final standings

Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Overall time
1	200	Schlesser	Schlesser Megane	70.26.35
2	207	Prieto	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 00.33.38
3	208	Kleinschmidt	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 01.42.02
4	202	Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 02.25.34
5	206	J-M. Servia	Schlesser Megane	+ 03.39.28
6	203	Masuoka	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 05.16.28
7	217	Peterhansel	Nissan Patrol	+ 06.11.21
8	204	De Lavergne	Nissan Patrol	+ 06.26.22
9	201	Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 08.32.39
10	205	S. Servia	Nissan Patrol	+ 12.15.40