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Kia Announces Entry in the Paris Dakar Cairo 2000

20 October 1999

Kia Announces Entry in the Paris Dakar Cairo 2000; Sportages Will Race Across Grueling 10,000-Kilometer Course

    IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 19 -- Two Kia Sportage sport-utility
vehicles have been entered in the Paris Dakar Cairo 2000, one of the world's
most difficult motorsports events.  Entered by Baja Automotive Adventures, the
Sportages will be driven by the only Americans entered in the event thus far
and will compete in Class T3.1.
    One Sportage will be driven by two-time SCORE Class 3 desert racing
champion Darren Skilton, who will be accompanied by co-driver Sue Mead, an
automotive journalist from Massachusetts.  The other Sportage will be driven
by former SCORE Trophy Truck champion Curt LeDuc.
    The rally gets underway Jan. 6, 2000, and will cross six countries and
10,000 kilometers during the 18-day race.  The competing teams will do battle
with some of the most difficult terrain in the world, first crossing Senegal
before tackling Mali.
    The competitors will have to cross the Tenere, and then pass through the
lonely, wind-blown reaches of southern Libya.  Finally, if their machines are
still in operating condition, the competitors will race across the cathedral
dunes of Egypt.  From oasis to oasis, the rally route will lead all the way to
the foot of the pyramids in Cairo for a grand finale.  Most consider simply
finishing the event to be a huge victory.
    "The Dakar Rally is the ultimate challenge for me as an off-road racer,
and it has been a dream of mine," Skilton says.  "I've driven the Sportage in
desert races for three years, and I believe we have a great chance to succeed
in this event."
    As the rally unfolds, Skilton's co-driver Sue Mead will provide reports to
various radio and TV outlets covering the event.  "I've competed in many
vehicle endurance events, "Mead said, "but this will be the highlight of my
career."
    Kia crew members include off-road veterans Troy Johnson, Glen Plake, Larry
Hawkins, James Fisher and Gavin Skilton.
    Kia Motors America is the U.S. sales, marketing and service arm of Kia
Motors Corp. in Seoul, South Korea.  Kia sells its Sephia compact sedan,
Sportage sport-utility vehicle and Sportage 2-Door Convertible at more than
500 dealerships in 49 states.