São Paulo – The Qatari rally driver Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his second Dakar Rally win last Saturday (17th) in Baradero, Argentina, after leading for almost two straight weeks. Attiyah led from the start and was only overtaken by teammate Orlando Terranova due to a penalty after the first stage. Racing for the X-raid team, the Qatari driver regained the lead the following day, and stayed ahead until the end.
Attiyah finished sixth in the final stage, securing the overall victory. The driver had already won the rally in 2011 with Volkswagen. This was also the fourth consecutive year that a Mini vehicle from the X-raid team has won the Dakar Rally. The information was released by the Qatar News Agency (QNA), quoting the website of British weekly magazine Autosport.
“I’m delighted I’ve won the Dakar!,” Attiyah said, according to the rally’s official website. “It’s fantastic because we’ve dominated the race from the beginning and were able to control the rally throughout,” he said.
The driver also said he was in good physical and mental conditions going into the race, considered one of the hardest, if not the hardest in motorsports. He asserted that he “just wants more.”
South Africa’s Giniel di Villiers, racing with Toyota, finished second overall, over 35 minutes behind the Qatari driver. Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc finished third, also driving a Mini for X-raid.
The final special of the rally was shortened from 174 km to 34 km due to heavy rains. The United States’ Robby Gordon won the stage, finishing 31 seconds ahead of South Africa’s Leeroy Poulter and 34 seconds ahead of Argentina’s Emiliano Spataro. Attiyah finished the final special in sixth, crossing the line 48 seconds after Gordon.
Peugeot had a disastrous return to the Dakar Rally, with France’s Stephane Peterhansel finishing the final special in 12th and failing to make it into the top ten overall. Marc Coma, from Spain, secured his fifth Dakar win in the bikes category; Airat Mardeev, from Russia, won in trucks and Rafal Sonik, from Poland, won in quads.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum.
