Dakar - Cars: Peterhansel earns 10th Dakar crown
France's Stephane Peterhansel eased to a 10th Dakar Rally victory as he coasted home on the final stage to win the cars classification.
Mini driver Peterhansel, who won six motorcycle Dakars for Yamaha in the Nineties, added a fourth cars title as the leading GC drivers coasted home safely, with team-mate Nani Roma finishing second overall and Giniel de Villiers of Toyota third.
It was Peterhansel's first triumph in the Dakar since it arrived in South America due to security concerns. His previous wins in the cars section - all for Mitsubishi - were in 2004, 2005 and 2007.
American Hummer driver Robby Gordon claimed the 29km special on the final stage between Pisco and Lima in Peru in a time of 22 minutes 43 seconds.
Mini's Ricardo Leal dos Santos of Portugal was second, 21s back, with Pole Krzysztof Holowczyc third (38s).
South African De Villiers was fourth, Spaniard Roma eighth and Peterhansel 10th.
"When you think of how hard it is to win a Dakar, it's incredible that I've been able to win ten of them," said the champion.
"It's been a long time, I've been waiting for five years to win again! To take the victory in South America is a huge relief, it ranks among my best triumphs. Moreover, the race was very close during the first week and there was always a lot of pressure.
"Beating this record is going to be difficult... for the others. This race is stressful, exciting and fascinating, and it's also very rewarding at the end.
"My finest victory will always be my first win in the motorcycle category, but this one has something special to it. I was starting to doubt myself, to think I was growing too old for this, that I'd lost it or that I wasn't made for South America... and in the end everything turned out fine.
"But I still have a blue bandana from my motorcycling period. I didn't tell anyone, but I kept it in my pocket throughout the entire rally. It's the story of the comeback of the blue bandana."
De Villiers was delighted to be the best non-Mini driver.
"Our aim was to crack the Top 5, since we knew we were at a disadvantage with regard to the Minis," he said.
"Our car was designed based on the future rules, so we had a power deficit compared with them, especially on sandy surfaces. But our car was completely reliable and our team did a fantastic job.
"This is an excellent result, finishing on the podium on our first try tastes like a win. The rules are going to change next year, so we'll be even closer and the battle will be awesome. There's no doubt we'll try and win next year."
Comment 1 - 12 of 12
Has never been the same since it left "Dakar" shame since i used to watch it
Robby Gordon showed that the Hummer was the fastest of all. It will be interesting to see what he shows up in next year given the Hummer as a brand no longer exist. He showed that even with the tire inflation system disabled he could kick the Mini in the rear. Given the rule changes for next year I doubt he or most of the factory teams will be back.
No Brits at all on any of the leaderboards,bunch of wimps need foreigners to drive their rally Mini's.
I wonder what Robbie Gordon has to say about MINI now. He had said they were for girls. Now he can't keep his keep his hummer upright.
shame Robbie Gordon Had to drive so hard.His car was given a Real hard time ,If he turned the wick down slightly i recon he would have won fairly easily.
As for De Villiers i say this a success and keep it up and fly the S.A flug high brother.
TT from Botswana.
This year the 'Dakar' has finally been degraded to a sponsor paid set up,I'm disgusted! Thierry Sabine would turn in his grave if he could see this apalling display of arrogance
Mini rules AGAIN!!!
France rules.
robby gordon has been robbed
justanass
cheater whiner certainly no gentleman
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