Dakar: Peterhansel wins in Cars, Benavides clinches in Bikes

Peterhansel grabbed the lead after the second of the 12 stages and never surrendered it thereafter, eventually claiming victory by 14m51s from the factory Toyota of Al-Attiyah.

Peterhansel and his navigator Boulanger only took one stage win, but showed great consistency and didn’t make any major mistakes. Third-placed Sainz and Cruz took three stage wins and had a deficit of 1:01:57 hours to the winners at the end.

Peterhansel added another chapter to his impressive Dakar record. He has now won the rally six times on a motorcycle (1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998) and eight times in a car (2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2021). MINI took four consecutive wins with the MINI ALL4 Racing between 2012 and 2015, and now for the second time in a row with the MINI JCW Buggy after 2020.

At this year’s edition, in addition to Peterhansel and Sainz, a third MINI crew finished in the top ten. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS) and Dmitry Tsyro (UKR) crossed the finish line in sixth place in the MINI JCW Rally. A total of eight MINI cars competed in Saudi Arabia in 2021, six of which reached the finish line.

– Peterhansel first contested the world’s most fearsome off-road race in 1988 on a Yamaha motorbike and won six titles on two wheels before switching to cars to reel off another seven desert victories in Africa and South America.

– This time around for Saudi Arabia’s second edition, the 55-year-old had to keep three-time champion Al-Attiyah at bay with the Qatari only able to take seconds out of his 15m05s overnight lead by the Jeddah finish line.

– It is Peterhansel’s third car victory in a Mini with Al-Attiyah second and last year’s winner Carlos Sainz of Spain winning the final stage to round out a star-studded podium with Poland’s Jakub Przygoński fourth, South African Giniel De Villiers eighth and Frenchman Cyril Despres 10th after the 8,000-kilometer odyssey.

– Peterhansel also now stands alone as the biggest winner in a single category with eight car wins after Monsieur Dakar had previously shared that record with Vladimir Chagin, winner of seven truck titles.

– He revealed: “It was a really tough one this year and there is always more pressure when you are the leader for so long. We had everything to lose but we did a really precise race, almost perfect. It’s working really well inside the cockpit, it’s a good feeling to have Edouard (Boulanger) sat next to me. This was his first Dakar in a top car and he did a really excellent job.”