Al-Attiyah secures second successive Dakar win

Autosport

Nasser Al-Attiyah secured his second victory in the Dakar Rally after nearly two weeks of domination of the 2015 event.

The Qatari took the lead early on and only lost it to X-raid team-mate Orlando Terranova due to a penalty after the first stage.

After he regained it on the following day, Al-Attiyah stayed on top and secured a commanding win at the end of the event on Saturday.

Third place in the final stage of the rally was enough for Al-Attiyah to clinch overall victory, his second following the 2011 one with Volkswagen.

Al-Attiyah’s win also means an X-raid Mini has won the Dakar for four consecutive years.

Giniel di Villiers finished in second place in the Toyota, over 35 minutes behind the rally winner. Krzysztof Holowczyc completed the podium in another X-raid Mini.

The final special of the rally was shortened to just 34km due to heavy rains, and it meant the stage finished at the first control point.

American Robby Gordon took victory by 31 seconds from Leeroy Poulter and by 34 from Emiliano Spataro. Al-Attiyah finished the special in sixth, 48 seconds behind.

Peugeot’s disastrous return to the Dakar ended with Stephane Peterhansel outside the top 10 after finishing in 12th place in today’s stage.

In the bikes category, Spaniard Marco Coma secured his fifth Dakar victory, while Airat Mardeev won in trucks and Rafal Sonik in quads.

LEADING STAGE 13 TIMES:

PosDriverTeamCarGap
1Robby GordonSpeed Energy RacingHST/Chevrolet13m16.s
2Leeroy PoulterToyota Imperial Team South AfricaToyota25.s
3Emiliano SpataroRenault29.s
4Orlando TerranovaMonster Energy Rally Raid TeamMini/BMW31.s
5Giniel de VilliersToyota Imperial Team South AfricaToyota34.s
6Nasser Al-AttiyahQatar Rally TeamMini/BMW39.s
7Bernhard Ten BrinkeOverdrive ToyotaToyota48.s
8Krzysztof HolowczycMonster Energy Rally Raid TeamMini/BMW49.s
9Erik van LoonXdakarMini/BMW57.s
10Vladimir VasilyevVasilyev Racing TeamMini/BMW1m01.s

LEADING OVERALL POSITIONS:

PosDriverTeamCarGap
1Nasser Al-AttiyahQatar Rally TeamMini/BMW
2Giniel de VilliersToyota Imperial Team South AfricaToyota35m34.s
3Krzysztof HolowczycMonster Energy Rally Raid TeamMini/BMW1h32m01.s
4Erik van LoonXdakarMini/BMW3h01m52.s
5Vladimir VasilyevVasilyev Racing TeamMini/BMW3h12m41.s
6Christian LavieilleOverdrive ToyotaToyota3h15m58.s
7Bernhard Ten BrinkeOverdrive ToyotaToyota3h42m02.s
8Carlos SousaMitsubishi PetrobrasMitsubishi3h44m59.s
9Aidyn RakhimbayevMini/BMW4h08m44.s
10Ronan ChabotToys Motors – SMGSMG/GM4h42m36.s

Al-Attiyah secures second successive Dakar win

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