Date of birth: 3/13/1960 Resident in: Irurna – Saitama – Japan Nationality: Japanese
Sporting career
1987
29th overall in the Dakar Rally
1990
10th overall in the Dakar Rally (1st in T2 category)
1992
20th overall in the Paris-Le Cap
1994
4th overall in the Dakar Rally
1995
10th overall in the Dakar Rally
1996
6th overall in the Granada-Dakar Rally
1997
4th overall in the Dakar Rally
1998
4th overall in the Paris-Granada-Dakar Rally
1999
6th overall in the Granada-Dakar Rally
2000
6th overall in the Dakar Rally
2001
2nd overall in the Dakar Rally
2002
1st overall in the Dakar Rally 2nd overall in the Rally of Morocco
2003
1st overall in the Baja Italy in a Mitsubishi Pajero* Evolution 1st overall in the Dakar Rally in a Mitsubishi Pajero* Evolution
2004
1st overall in the UAE Desert Challenge in a Mitsubishi Pajero* Evolution 2nd overall in the Dakar Rally in a Mitsubishi Pajero* Evolution
2005
3rd overall in the Rally of Tunisia in a Mitsubishi Pajero* Evolution Forced to retire from the 2005 Dakar Rally, mechanical problems
2006
Entered the Rally of Tunisia, Rally of Morocco and UAE Desert Challenge Forced to retire from the 2006 Dakar Rally, following an accident
2007
6th, Dakar (Mitsubishi Pajero* Evolution)
2008
Central Europe Rally (in a Mitsubishi Montero Evolution) (retired) Baja España Aragón (in a Mitsubishi Montero Evolution) (retired)
Biography
Hiroshi Masuoka was born in Japan in March 1960 and now lives in Iruma, Saitama, Japan, with his wife Chiaki and son Shoichiro. He first began off-road racing in 1979 and attempted the Dakar Rally for the first time in 1987.
In 1990, he finished first in the T2 category and then took fourth position four years later. Between 1995 and 2000 he finished inside the top 10 on six occasions, the highlight being a pair of fourth places in 1997 and 1998. He made the podium (2nd) the following season in a Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero, but his finest hour came in 2002 when he became only the second Japanese driver in history to win the Dakar Rally with the official Mitsubishi team.
Hiroshi followed that success up with a second consecutive victory in 2003, in addition to a late win in the Baja Italy. He then finished runner-up behind team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel in 2004.
After a few quiet months, he returned to action in October 2004 to win the UAE Desert Challenge for the first time at sixth attempt, but retired from the 2005 Dakar Rally with engine problems.
His second event of the 2005 season netted the Japanese driver third position in the Rallye de Tunisie and he went on to attend both of Mitsubishi’s Moroccan test sessions, as well as the team’s fitness programme in Chamonix, France, before contesting the Baja Portalegre in October as a final shakedown test for the 2006 Dakar.
An accident in Morocco ruined his chances of taking a third victory on the event in five years, but he set several competitive stage times on the Rallye du Maroc in early June and was again an integral part of the development team during Mitsubishi’s test sessions in Morocco in June and September 2006.
In addition to his contribution to the team’s development programme in 2007, Hiroshi contested January’s Dakar which he finished in sixth position after losing time following a clutch change on SS6.
During the 2008 season, and after the Dakar was called off, Masuoka went to the first round of the Dakar Series in March. In the Central Europe Rally, held in Hungary and Romania, the Repsol driver took the Mitsubishi MPR 14 out for the first ever time, this is the latest version of the Mitsubishi Montero Evolution that has a turbo-charged diesel engine under the bonnet. In spite of demonstrating that it was very competitive, a stroke of bad luck meant that he had to retire on the third stage, when he was changing a wheel off the timed section. Another participant who had taken the wrong track drove over Pascal Maimon`s foot, his co-driver, forcing them to withdraw. In the next round the Repsol driver went to the Baja España and there Lady luck turned her back on Masuoka again. After going off the track on one of the special sections he saw another car come off in exactly the same place, it rolled over and a small fire started, in a few minutes both cars were a pile of ashes, but fortunately nobody was injured.
During the run-in to the end of the season Masuoka and the rest of the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team members have been in Morocco developing the new Racing Lancer with turbo-charged diesel engine, the car that will be taken to the Dakar 2009. After the latest physical training sessions the veteran Repsol driver is totally prepared to tackle the challenge of racing in the toughest race in the world on a different continent.
