Sthephane Peterhansel, the Dakar King has taken his 12th Dakar victory ahead of defending Champion Al-Attiyah.
Over 4,000 kms across the South American continent spread over 14 days, with 13 special stages set to test man and machine to and beyond the limit. Stephane Peterhansel, a Dakar Rally legend with multiple titles claimed his 12th victory with co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret on the 38th Dakar rally for Team Peugeot, their first since 1990.
Cars: Peterhansel was crowned champion after the Frenchman and his co-driver finished the 13th and final rally stage, in a relaxed 13th place 7 mins behind stage winner and former WRC legend Sebastian Loeb who's title contention was lost after his crash on stage 8.
"Crossing the finish line was a release after the extremely stressful last three days. I'm also delighted to write a new page in the history of Peugeot because the guys in the team have been working their socks off for two years.” Said the Dakar King, Peterhansel after claiming his title for the 12th time.
Peterhansel claimed his victory with an overall lead of 34 min 58 secs over defending champion, the Qatari MINI ALL4 driver, Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Bikes: The Australian rider Toby Price claimed his first Dakar victory for KTM ahead of fellow Slovakian KTM rider, Stefan Svitko with a total lead of 39 mins 41 secs. Pablo Quintanilla finished 3rd in category with a 48 min, 48 second deficit to Price. Price is the first Australian to achieve the Feat and that too on his second Dakar run.
After his victory Price said; “Winning in my second participation is awesome, but being the first Australian to win the Dakar is just insane. I would've never imagined this two years ago. Finishing the rally is already a triumph."
Quads: The Patronelli Bothers took category win and runner up with Marcos taking the crown. Elder brother, Alejando Patronelli has to settle for runner up as the Argentinian couldn't match his younger brothers pace by just 5 mins and 23 secs.
Baragwanath, the South African Quad rider won the final stage and also claimed the final Quad category podium spot. The Argentinian sibling duo destroyed the competition in category for Yamaha as the gap between the Patronelli borthers to the rest of the field was a surreal 1 hour, 36 mins when compared to how close their personal competition was.
Trucks: The trio of Iveco drivers, De Rooy, Torralardona and Rodewald claimed the crown for the Truck category of the 38th Dakar rally. The trio finished an hour and 10 mins ahead of the Kamaz team trio Mardeev, Belyaev and Svistunov. a further half hour behind was the second Iveco truck of Villagra, Perez Companc & Memi who took 3rd spot in category to complete the Dakar podium winners of the year.
Also Read: Dakar Stage 12: Hirvonen takes stage win, Perterhansel closes in on title
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