Masterofthe Desert Two-time Dakar Rally champion Hiroshi Masuoka (left) with the author at Thailand’s Bira Circuit. --Popong Andolong

JACKIE STEWART’S hand was the first hand of a world motorsport champion that I had shaken. That was in 1999, during the inaugural of the Sepang Formula One Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Although at that time Stewart wasn’t the reigning Formula One champion anymore, the handshake still gave me a thrill. You don’t get the chance to talk to a living legend too often, much more grasp his hand in a tight, warm handshake. Afterward, Stewart gave me a personalized letter opener placed in a delicate blue box, with his vintage signature in it. Pure silver!

Ford made it all possible.

The second world motor-racing champion I had the honor to shake hands with was Michael Schumacher. Also at Sepang. In 2001. Schumi was then the reigning world Formula One champion, and the handshake was a knockout. Schumi would proceed to win seven straight Formula One titles, the most by anyone since the F1’s birth in 1950 in Silverstone, the United Kingdom, won by Nino Farina of Italy.

Honda made it all possible.

From an Englishman (Stewart) to a German (Schumacher), now comes the ace from Japan, Hiroshi Masuoka.

No, Masuoka is not, was never, a Formula One champion.

Rather, he is “only” the champion of the Dakar Rally. 

You win the Dakar Rally once, you are made.

Yet, consider: Masuoka is a two-time winner, capturing the Dakar title in 2002 and 2003.

Who can top that?

To say that the Dakar Rally is the world’s most difficult motorsport ever is an understatement. 

If the Formula One is motorsport’s Mount Everest, the Dakar Rally is the Himalayas.

If the Formula One is motorsport’s Taj Mahal, the Dakar Rally is motorsport’s Vatican.

In the Dakar Rally, it’s like comparing the race with the coliseum battles in olden Rome: brutal because it was man versus beast, Christian against lion.

Masuoka can be that rare breed in your dreams.

In 2001 he was initially listed as a runner-up, but a one-hour penalty slapped on Masuoka’s Mitsubishi teammate Jutta Kleinschmidt, who won the race, moved him up to first place. After an appeal and hearing two months after the awarding ceremonies, stewards confirmed Kleinschmidt as the winner.

“That was one of the high points in my racing life,” he said. Usually, about 200 vehicles answer the starting gun in the Dakar Rally.  About only 35 percent of the starters—roughly 70 cars—would limp past the finish line.

It is so extremely dangerous that racers could die in the Dakar Rally, if not maimed for life, with just one mishap.

In 2006 in Morocco, Masuoka suffered an accident that reduced his Pajero to a total wreck after it hit a big hole at 160 kph.

“Luckily, my codriver [Frenchman Pascal Maimon] and I escaped with minor scratches only,” Masuoka said.

It happened on the fourth day of the 15-day race. He was running second, just six seconds behind the leader.

“Normally, I would see that hole as we wear special glasses that could see danger areas from 200 meters away in the desert,” he said.

Sand dunes can be as high as 50 meters, with a 40-degree incline. Temperature during the race is very high so that we check our water all the time.”

50 percent of the way, they race without an air con.

The race starts at 8 a.m. and, after about 600 km—more than half of the trip is off-road and runs mostly in the desert—it is finished at about 5 p.m.

“We are averaging 190 kph during every race day,” he said.

The Dakar Rally is run yearly, over a period of at least 15 days.  No less than 10,000 km is covered, mostly off-road.

One time, terrorists in Nigeria held up the entire convoy, captured all the vehicles and left all the drivers, crew and support teams all by themselves. 

Last year, an accident claimed the life of a driver. Before that, a landmine planted by terrorists exploded and killed a driver and his codriver.

This year, because of another terrorist threat, the Dakar Rally was canceled.

Masuoka and I shook hands last week, on the morning of July 30, at the Bira Race Circuit in the Thailand beat resort city of Thailand (ojo).

So large was Masuoka’s hand that my hand virtually disappeared during the handshake.

If Stewart was a thrill and Schumacher was a knockout, Masuoka was both a thrill and a knockout.

But unlike my encounters with Stewart and Schumacher, the one with Masuoka had a monumental dimension: Upon the instigation of my boss, Popong Andolong, Masuoka granted me a rare, one-on-one interview.

Here are excerpts:

How old are you?

I am 48 years old and will turn 49 on March 13.  

When was your Dakar Rally debut? Who inspired you to become a participant?

I began in 1987. Jackie Ickx, the former Le Mans champion and a Dakar Rally champion, was my inspiration. He was tough and very skillful and his discipline was extraordinary. 

How long do you train?

Almost one year. For as long as the race is not yet on, I train. I jog a lot. I run a lot. 

What type of vehicle do you use?

Every year, I use a new vehicle [Pajero]. Everything is new, including the engine. 

How much does one Pajero cost for the race?

No less than $1 million. 

What do you eat during the race?

Nothing. We drink sports drink only and, usually, three liters of water. We lose two kilos but we recover them with our five-hour sleep at night. I eat sushi and ramen for dinner. No eating during the race to avoid pu-pu while race is on [laughs]. 

What do you do at night before you go to bed?

We spend time mapping out our strategy the next day. How many spare tires, liters of water, to be brought. The route must be scrutinized to the hilt. 

What can we expect from the Dakar Rally next year?

The race will be from Chile to Argentina, climbing the Andes Mountains 3,000 meters above sea level—the highest-ever peak for the Dakar Rally. We finish in Buenos Aires. 

I heard you have only one child. Why?

I have only one child, a 17-year-old son, because I am always out of the house [laughs] working and training for the Dakar Rally.    

Is the pay good racing for Mitsubishi in the Dakar Rally?

Very, very good. Mitsubishi pays so well, that is why I have stuck with Mitsubishi since I began with them at age 22. When I retire from active racing—which will probably be five years from now [laughs], I will still be with Mitsubishi developing cars for the Dakar Rally, as well as training young drivers wishing to compete in the Dakar Rally. 

How much does a Dakar Rally champion earn?

Normally, 10 thousand European dollars [roughly $14,000]. 

Isn’t that a bit small?

Yes, it is. It isn’t the money, though. Just to be part of the Dakar Rally is enough for me. And my priceless satisfaction, really, is in winning the race. For the life of me, the Dakar Rally is the ultimate in happiness. All the hardships in training, the dangers and sacrifices during the race, they are all wiped away, deleted, when I finally climb the podium to be declared the champion!

What a man, a magic man!

What a memorable interview.  

Mitsubishi made it all possible.

IN very much the same manner that it entered the competitive automotive market several years back, Hyundai is tackling difficult times with a bold and fearless move.

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Chinacrisis 

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BARACK OBAMA, who upset Hillary Clinton for the US presidential derby in the recent electric Democratic primary, has a 20-point lead on the issue of lowering gas prices in America.

JACKIE STEWART’S hand was the first hand of a world motorsport champion that I had shaken. That was in 1999, during the inaugural of the Sepang Formula One Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Although at that time Stewart wasn’t the reigning Formula One champion anymore, the handshake still gave me a thrill. You don’t get the chance to talk to a living legend too often, much more grasp his hand in a tight, warm handshake. Afterward, Stewart gave me a personalized letter opener placed in a delicate blue box, with his vintage signature in it. Pure silver!