Return takes place after a seven-year breakthrough through partnership with the Spinelli Racing team, driven by Guiga Spinello, who, together, are the biggest winners of the category among cars, with five titles.

Mitsubishi Motors is officially back in the motorsport. The brand will have an official team during the 31st edition of the Sertões Rally, which starts in August and will have the L200 Triton Sport Racing to compete in the T1 category.

The return as a team to motorsport takes place after a seven-year hiatus and takes place through a partnership with Spinelli Racing, a team that has the driver Guiga Spineli, the fifth champion of the Sertões and the biggest winner of the competition among the cars. The driver also accumulates participations in the Dakar Rally where, twice, he was among the top 10 overall.

The team also has the sponsorship of Fairfax Seguros and the support of the engine preparation company Dacar Motorsports.

The 2023 edition of Brazil’s largest rally marks the 20th anniversary of the brand’s first title as an official team and also of Guiga in the competition.
The announcement comes just days after the three-diamond brand globally announced its participation with the Mitsubishi Motors Ralliart team in Asia Cross Country Rally 2023, a competition that starts in Thailand and travels across the continent.

The layout of the L200 Sport Racing that will be used at the Sertões also refers to the Ralliart, Mitsubishi Motors’ legendary racing division, winner of the world’s leading rallies.

At this year’s Sertões, Guiga will race with the experienced Portuguese navigator Paulo Fiuza, an athlete who has already competed in major competitions for the Mitsubishi Motors team of Brazil, winning an eighth place in the 2015 Dakar alongside driver Carlos Sousa. Fiuza and Guiga have already competed together in a stage of the 2014 Baja Aragon World Cup in Spain.

Both will face one of the most challenging rallies in the world, as the 2023 edition of the Sertões will run 3,800 kilometers on floors of sand, grassland and land beaten by the northeast of Brazil.

For Guiga Spinelli, “It’s always an honor to be able to wear again a Mitsubishi Motors official team jacket at a time when we celebrate the return of the brand as an official competition team and also my return to the Sertons Rally. My five titles in this competition were won aboard a Mitsubishi vehicle, as well as my best result in a Dakar. I’m excited about this return with future plans and confident we’ll do our best.”

Mitsubishi Motors’ return to motorsport officially reinforces the brand’s commitment to using all the information and learning that racing cars are subjected to in extreme situations such as the Sertões to develop a product line up to their customers’ demands, from the professional agribusiness, who needs a robust vehicle to be used as a working tool, to outdoor sports practitioners, who access places that few vehicles can access.

Synonymous with robustness and high performance, the brand is the biggest champion of the Sertons Rally and also of the Dakar Rally, with 12 titles in each of the competitions.

To Mauro Correia, CEO of Mitsubishi Motors in Brazil, “The brand’s participation in the 2023 edition of the Sertões is just the first step to mark our return to high-level rally competitions. We are very pleased to make this announcement and resume the brand’s success story in motorsport.”

The Sertões Rally 2023 starts on August 11 in the city of Petrolina (PE) and lasts until the 19th of the same month, with the arrival at Praia do Preá, in Ceará.

Automatic translation from the original Brazillian Portuguese version
Source: HPE Automotores / Spinelli / RF1 Jornalismo