Safari success for Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

Plug-in hybrid Outlander claims class victory and 19th outright in 2014 Australasian Safari desert rally.

Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia's Outlander PHEV completed the Australasian Safari desert rally on Saturday after making it through eight days of competition in the Western Australian outback.

The team say this is the first time a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) has finished an Australian motorsport event.

The Outlander PHEV - driven by first-time Safari competitors Steve Glenney and Bernie Webb - took top honours in its Hybrid and Dual Fuel Vehicle class and crossed the finish line in Kalbarri 19th outright.

The Outlander performed strongly in the opening stages of the rally. After starting 15th following the prologue, the PHEV found itself in 9th outright at the conclusion of Leg 4.

Unfortunately, their service truck suffered five – yes five - flat tyres on its transport stage to the bivouac in Exmouth resulting in the team having a troubled Leg 5. A collision during Leg 6 also severely damaged the PHEV’s front suspension and a front driveshaft.

However, after an overnight repair the PHEV recorded the second fastest time outright in the final stage into Kalbarri, to soften the blow of the previous two days.

Steve Glenney was impressed with the PHEV's performance during the Safari, saying the event was more difficult than he originally thought.

"It’s hard to appreciate just how difficult and punishing the Australasian Safari is until you’ve experienced it first hand – it’s an epic event," he said.

"To put it into perspective, one leg of the Safari is equivalent to kilometres travelled in a weekend-long Australian Rally Championship event, so we’ve effectively done six rounds of the ARC in one week."

As is common in motorsport, the data gathered from the Outlander PHEV's Safari expedition will be taken back to the factory and used to further develop Mitsubishi's road cars.