Rally Dakar 2005

Repsol Drivers. Luc Alphand
Career highlights: 1983: World Junior Champion in the Downhill at Sestrieres    1994: 7th overall at the Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Downhill and Super-GiantFirst career win at Val d’Isére1995: Ranked number one in the world in Men’s Downhill.1996: Bronze medallist at the World ChampionshipsRanked number one in the world in Men’s Downhill1994/1997: Member of the French alpine skiing team1997: Winner of the Alpine skiing World CupNumber 1 in the World ranking List, Downhill and Super-G1998: Winner of the pro US tour, Downhill competition1998: First participation in the Dakar Rally1999: Winner of the pro US tour, Downhill competitionWinner of the T1 category in the Dakar Rally2002: 7th overall in the Dakar RallyWinner of the T1 Diesel category with a Mitsubishi PajeroCompetes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans2003: 9th overall in the Dakar Rally.Winner of the category Proto Diesel with BMW         1st overall in the Baja Spain and Baja GermanyCompetes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans2004: 4th overall in the Dakar Rally. Winner of 2 stages with BMWJoins the Mitsubishi Motors factory team for the 2005 Dakar Rally16th overall in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche GT3RS  Luc ‘Lucho’ Alphand was born in Briançon, France, in August 1965 and currently lives at Serre-Chevalier. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s he became one of the most famous World Downhill skiers of all time, taking 12 World Cup victories and being crowned Champion  of France on nine occasions. Twice a winner of the pro US Tour and a world ranked number one skier, ‘Lucho’ switched to four-wheel cross-country rallying in 1998, when he took part in the Dakar Rally for  the first time. The following season he won the T1 category and went on to finish seventh overall and first in the T1 diesel section in 2002, in addition to taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2003, he finished ninth overall in the Dakar Rally and won the Proto Diesel category, before taking outright victories in a BMW X5 in both the German and Spanish Bajas. Last January he entered the history books by taking the first outright fastest time for a diesel car in the Dakar Rally and finished fourth overall with co-driver Henri Magne. He joined the Mitsubishi Motors team in the summer to test and develop the Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution and will represent the team for the first time in the 2005 Dakar.