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Porsche s 959 was victorious in the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally. Porsche
The 2021 Dakar Rally wrapped up on January 15, after 14 days and 7646 kilometers (4751 miles) traversing the unforgiving desert terrain of Saudi Arabia. Fifty-five-year-old Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel, the most successful competitor in Dakar’s history, won his eighth title in the car class (he also won the bike class six times in the 1990s), and Argentinian Kevin Benavides became the first South American rider to win the two-wheeled category. Russian Dmitry Sotnikov won the truck class. French rider Pierre Cherpin died from injuries sustained on the event’s 7th stage.
This was only the Dakar’s second running on the Arabian peninsula, but it was the 43rd iteration of the world-famous rally. The raid has gone through three continents over the decades, but its reputation for toughness and danger has never wavered. This year also marks 35 years since the 1986 running of the event, a year which gav
Rally Dakar 2021 is officially over, with Argentinean Kevin Benavides taking the win. It’s a historic moment for Benavides; no Argentinean – or indeed South American – rider has ever won the Dakar in the motorcycle class. The 32-year-old rode his first Dakar Rally in 2016, racing for the Honda South America Rally Team, finishing his debut race in 4th place. Benavides has been with Monster Energy Honda Team ever since. This year, the Argentinean won the fifth stage giving him the overall lead, and fought for the victory till the end.
“It was absolutely crazy. I started third and after fifty kilometers, I was in the front, opening the stage. I feel that everything was complicated because Ricky started to catch up with me. I started to push a lot, all day, and stayed focused. I went at one hundred and ten percent, but now it’s true: I’ve won the Dakar – I’m so, so happy! I did some mistakes, for sure. I think it’s impossible to do a perfect Dakar. The important thing
Spain double as Sainz back on course as Barreda seals hattrick 1 minute read
Sports Desk, Jan 8 (efe-epa).- The sixth stage of the Dakar Rally on Friday saw a Spanish double win, as Carlos Sainz (Mini) recovered from disappointing recent performances to victory in the cars and Joan Barreda (Honda) took his third stage win of the race in the motorbikes category.
Sainz’s performance on the 100-kilometer route between Al Qaisumah and Ha Il puts him back on track after twice getting lost in recent days, scuppering his chances of retaining his title.
At the finish line, he cut 7.16 minutes off the Qatari Al Attiyah and 7.36 minutes off the leader, the Frenchman Peterhansel. In the general classification he is third, more than 40 minutes away from the leader, a likely insurmountable advantage.
Stage 5: Peterhansel sets cars pace, Benavides takes lead in bikes 1 minute read
Sports Desk, Jan 7 (efe-epa).- France’s Stephane Peterhansel, “Monsieur Dakar” as he is known for his 13 victories in the so-called world’s toughest rally, kept the lead in the cars category after the fifth stage, in which reigning champion Spanish Carlos Sainz, again fell behind after getting lost.
The big news of the day came in the motorcycle category: the Argentinean Kevin Benavides, sporting a broken nose after coming off his bike, got to the finish line in first to take the lead in the general standings.
Peterhansel retains lead as Al-Attiyah claims Dakar fourth stage win
Issued on:
06/01/2021 - 14:26 3 min
Riyadh (AFP)
France s Stephane Peterhansel remained atop the overall standings despite Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah claiming his third stage win of the Dakar Rally on Wednesday.
Al-Attiyah completed the 337km special fourth stage, as the caravanserai travelled a total of 813km from Wadi Ad-Dawasir to Riyadh, in 2hr 35min 59sec, just 11sec ahead of Peterhansel, a 13-time champion nicknamed Mr Dakar .
It left the Toyota-driving Qatari 4:58 off Peterhansel in the overall standings. It wasn t an easy stage. We lost a minute to an error, but we were hardly the only ones to make a mistake and we quickly got back on track, said Al-Attiyah, an Olympic skeet bronze medallist at the 2012 London Games.