Rosario, Argentina - Dakar Rally legend Stephane Peterhansel celebrated his 12th title on Saturday as KTM rider Toby Price became the first Australian to etch his name on the gruelling event's roll of honour.
Peterhansel, 50, avoided any late drama to cross the finish line of the 13th and final stage at Rio Cuarto and French manufacturer Peugeot its first win since 1990.
“It's extraordinary,” said the Dakar's all-time record winner. “The pressure was very high, but we came through. Some of my wins count more than others, but this one's definitely in the top three.”
Price, 28, who came third in 2015 on his Dakar debut, dominated the motorcycle category of the two-week race after taking the second stage.
“Being the first Australian to win the Dakar is just insane,” Price said. “I don't know what to say, I don't know what to think... I'm in shock, I never would've thought I could win this race in my second participation. This is incredible for my family, my friends and my fans back in Australia!”
The rider from New South Wales finished fourth on the final day to wrap up the title and supply his KTM team with a 15th consecutive crown.
He had a tidy 39 minute cushion over Slovakian team-mate Stefan Svitko with Chilean Pablo Quintanilla 48 min adrift in third.
While Price was savouring opening his Dakar account, Peterhansel was adding a new chapter to his love affair with the iconic event he first competed in back in 1989.
He won the first of his six titles on two wheels in 1991 and his 11th victory behind the wheel of a Mini in 2013.
Peterhansel made what ultimately proved to be a decisive step towards the 2016 title on Thursday's drive from Belen to La Rioja.
With his Peugeot team-mate and arch rival Carlos Sainz coming to a grinding halt 30km from the end of the timed section, he ended the day a full one hour clear of 2015 winner, works Mini driver Nasser Al-Attiyah.
Peterhansel took the title with more than half an hour to spare from Al-Attiyah after safely coming in ninth behind final stage winner Sebastien Loeb.
“It's too early to think about the future,” he said.
“One thing's for sure, getting the same number of victories on a bike and in a car was the last big goal in my career. Now that it's done, I don't think there are many things left to motivate me.”
For Peugeot this was a superb achievement, coming just two years after its return to the iconic event following a 26 year absence.
FINAL-DAY DRAMA
The final stage may only have been 180km long, but what it lacked in distance, it made up for in suspense for the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team. Dakar veteran Giniel de Villiers in the leading V8 Hilux had multiple World Rally Championship winner Mikko Hirvonen in a Mini pushing hard to knock him down to fourth place, but clinched third by posting a time just 3m08s behind stage winner Sebastien Loeb (Peugeot).
"We knew Mikko would be fast on the final stage," said an elated De Villiers from the finish podium in Rosario. "It some sections that would have been very familiar to him, having competed in WRC rounds in Argentina. So we pushed, but to a safe limit, and kept it tidy.”
Hirvonen was fast, stealing an early march on De Villiers and opening a gap of two minutes, but the South African managed to protect his third place, slightly closing the gap to Hirvonen by the end of the stage.
It was a second consecutive podium finish for De Villiers, who finished second in 2012, third in 2013, fourth in 2014 and second again in 2015.
Leeroy Poulter in the second official Toyota entry finished fifth on Stage 13, keeping hard-charging Mini driver Nani Roma behind him, to maintain his fifth place in the overall standings - Poulter's best result yet, having finished 33rd in his first Dakar in 2014 and 16th in 2015.
"We’re very happy with this year's race,” beamed Poulter after driving his Hilux over the finish podium on the banks of the Paraña River in Rosario.
“The only disappointment was losing out on the stage win yesterday, but other than that we have every reason to be pleased."
Poulter led for more than five hours during the gruelling Stage 12 of the race, narrowly losing out on his first stage victory as a result of a tightening corner that was obscured by the dust of a slower competitor.
RAW PACE
For Yazeed al Rajhi in the third works Hilux, the 2016 Dakar held more challenges than they had anticipated. He caused quite a stir with their raw pace in 2015, running third place until he was forced to retire on Stage 11, when they were forced to retire.
This year, he again proved to be a force to be reckoned with, but lost a significant amount of time on Stage 10 after losing a wheel, which dropped him out of contention.
“Yazeed posted very good stage times early in the race,” commented team principal Glyn Hall. “He was third fastest on Stage 6, but in the he opted for a more conservative approach over the last two stages, ensuring a solid 11th place in the overall standings."
Mark Corbett in the leading Century Racing CR5 prototype buggy finished 29th on the final stage, 18 minutes behind Loeb, but that was enough to retain his 17th postion overall. Team-mate Colin Matthews also drove a conservative final stage to post the 33rd fastest time, 22 minutes slower than Loeb’s, and make up one place to 37th in the overall standings.
Sean Reitz in the Red-Lined Nissan Navara came home 39th for the day, also making up a place in the standings to take home36th overall.
Only 66 cars out of 170 starters made it to the end of the gruelling 9597km race.
MOTORCYCLES
Of the 152 bikes that started, 84 made it to Rosario. The top lady finisher was multiple world enduro and trials champion Laia Sanz, 15th overall, while the sole surviving South African entry, KTM rider Kobus Potgieter, achieved his best stage finish yet with 73rd on the final stage, retaining his 80th postion overall
Team Rhide SA lead rider Brian Baragwanath finished his Dakar Rally with a bang, winning the final stage by nearly eight minutes (his third stage win of 2016) to move back up to third overall behind local heroes the Patronelli brothers, with Marcos Patronelli taking the quad category of the Dakar Rally for the third time.
Baragwanath’s team-mate Ted Barbier finsihed 15th, moving up a place to 21st in the overall standings out of 23 quad finishers and 49 starters.
Yamaha dominated this class of the race with the top four and nine of the top 10 finishers on 700cc Raptors.
AFP