Dakar 2021 Stage 12 | Stephane Peterhansel takes crown for the 14th time

Stephane Peterhansel along with co-driver Edouard Boulanger of the X-Raid Mini JCW team have won the 2021 Dakar Rally in the car category. This will be his eight title win in the car category and 14th overall at the Dakar rally. His first Dakar victory was 30 years ago in 1991. Peterhansel has put on a stellar show for everyone to see and has consistently stayed on the top of the overall rankings from Stage 1. Nasser Al-Attiyah, despite his valiant efforts and five stage wins in the 2021 Dakar, couldn’t close the gap between himself and Peterhansel, but it is safe to say that he came really close.

Carlos Sainz of team X-Raid Mini JCW finished the stage fastest, in 02:17:33 hours. In second place, 02:13 minutes slower than Sainz, was Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah with co-driver Matthieu Baumel. Title winner Stephane Peterhansel finished the stage in P3.

Yazeed Al Rajhi of Overdrive Toyota was having a great drive today, trailing Sainz for a long time into the stage until disaster struck and his engine broke down some distance from the finish line. He had to stop and wait for assistance which meant he finished the stage a full 54 minutes slower than Sainz. Nani Roma of team BRX also had a good outing and finished the stage in P11. The 2021 Dakar Rally has been a roller coaster of emotions and all the competitors deserve all the glory and rest coming their way after having tough two weeks in the scorching sun, traversing the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

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