Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel clinched today Sunday his 10th Dakar rally raid victory. By doing so, he also gave MINI his maiden win at the prestigious event.
Peterhansel, driving an X-raid MINI in 2012, won the event six times in the motorcycle category and dominated this year's edition of the race despite suffering from a few punctures early on.
Peterhansel crossed the finish line in Lima, Peru with an advantage of 40 minutes over the second place finisher, his X-raid MINI teammate Nani Roma.
South African Giniel de Villiers drove his Toyota to third place overall in front of the MINI of Russian Leonid Novitskiy.
Poland's Krzysztof Holowczyc, driving a MINI as well, was also a win contender at first, but tumbled down the order with mechanical problems in the middle of the second week. He eventually finished the event in 10th place overall.
Hummer drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Robby Gordon showed impressive pace but both suffered from mechanical woes. Al-Attiyah retired early in the first week while Gordon competed under appeal following a row over a tire inflation system on his Hummer.
Overall classification (Final) – Dakar
1. Stephane Peterhansel (MINI)
2. Nani Roma (MINI) at 41m56s
3. Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) at 1h13m25s
4. Leonid Novitskiy (MINI) at 2h11m54s
Robby Gordon (Hummer) at 2h16m53s
Peterhansel, driving an X-raid MINI in 2012, won the event six times in the motorcycle category and dominated this year's edition of the race despite suffering from a few punctures early on.
Peterhansel crossed the finish line in Lima, Peru with an advantage of 40 minutes over the second place finisher, his X-raid MINI teammate Nani Roma.
South African Giniel de Villiers drove his Toyota to third place overall in front of the MINI of Russian Leonid Novitskiy.
Poland's Krzysztof Holowczyc, driving a MINI as well, was also a win contender at first, but tumbled down the order with mechanical problems in the middle of the second week. He eventually finished the event in 10th place overall.
Hummer drivers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Robby Gordon showed impressive pace but both suffered from mechanical woes. Al-Attiyah retired early in the first week while Gordon competed under appeal following a row over a tire inflation system on his Hummer.
Overall classification (Final) – Dakar
1. Stephane Peterhansel (MINI)
2. Nani Roma (MINI) at 41m56s
3. Giniel de Villiers (Toyota) at 1h13m25s
4. Leonid Novitskiy (MINI) at 2h11m54s
Robby Gordon (Hummer) at 2h16m53s