Top Cars

You're looking at the replacement for Team Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart's venerable rally version of the Pajero sport ute. The Japanese automaker's rally team has just revealed its newest cross-country rally vehicle based on the Lancer, dubbed simply the "Racing Lancer". The Racing Lancer will makes it debut at the 2008 FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup in Portugal at the end of October. There it will show off its new turbo diesel engine, specifics of which have been withheld though the new mill has logged over 8,000 km during testing and limited competition. Mitsubishi's new motor marks yet another instance of diesel power gaining prominence in motorsport just like Audi did in the American Le Mans Series with its oil-burning R8 and R10. And just like Audi, Mitsubishi's decision to use a turbodiesel in the Racing Lancer is part of a larger plan that has but one objective: win the 2009 Dakar rally.