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:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robby Gordon | Speed Energy Racing | HST/Chevrolet | 13m16.s |
| 2 | Leeroy Poulter | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 25.s |
| 3 | Emiliano Spataro | Renault | 29.s | |
| 4 | Orlando Terranova | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 31.s |
| 5 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 34.s |
| 6 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Qatar Rally Team | Mini/BMW | 39.s |
| 7 | Bernhard Ten Brinke | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 48.s |
| 8 | Krzysztof Holowczyc | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 49.s |
| 9 | Erik van Loon | Xdakar | Mini/BMW | 57.s |
| 10 | Vladimir Vasilyev | Vasilyev Racing Team | Mini/BMW | 1m01.s |
LEADING OVERALL POSITIONS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Qatar Rally Team | Mini/BMW | – |
| 2 | Giniel de Villiers | Toyota Imperial Team South Africa | Toyota | 35m34.s |
| 3 | Krzysztof Holowczyc | Monster Energy Rally Raid Team | Mini/BMW | 1h32m01.s |
| 4 | Erik van Loon | Xdakar | Mini/BMW | 3h01m52.s |
| 5 | Vladimir Vasilyev | Vasilyev Racing Team | Mini/BMW | 3h12m41.s |
| 6 | Christian Lavieille | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 3h15m58.s |
| 7 | Bernhard Ten Brinke | Overdrive Toyota | Toyota | 3h42m02.s |
| 8 | Carlos Sousa | Mitsubishi Petrobras | Mitsubishi | 3h44m59.s |
| 9 | Aidyn Rakhimbayev | Mini/BMW | 4h08m44.s | |
| 10 | Ronan Chabot | Toys Motors – SMG | SMG/GM | 4h42m36.s |
