Al-Attiyah, Baumel wins Dakar Rally
Credit to Author: MIKE POTENCIANO| Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2019 16:25:50 +0000
Nasser al-Attiyah and Matheiu Baumel in their Toyota Hilux again conquered the Dakar Rally after traversing 5,000 kilometers of sand, rocky mountains and rough roads. This was Toyota’s maiden triumph in the Dakar Rally, touted as the ultimate test of man and machine.
The 2011 Dakar champion al-Attiyah erased bad memories when his Toyota broke down in 2017. He finished second behind Mini’s Carlos Sainz in 2018. And Toyota got its wish in only three years with a win that saw the al-Attiyah and Baumel lead by more than 46 minutes at the end of 10 grueling stages.
“Everybody wants to win the Dakar. But we felt when we came that in Peru, a 100-percent Peru rally, with no other country, there would be a lot of sand dunes, so we could do what we know we’re good at,” al-Attiyah told Agence France-Presse.
Mini’s Nani Roma and Alex Haro came in at second overall and managed to lead their older vehicle to the finish line. Roma won the event in 2014 and was very consistent in the 12-day rally. His Mini 4×4 was older than the newer Mini Buggies of rally legend and 2018 Dakar winner Carlos Sainz and three others in the team.
Third place went to rally legends and Dakar Rally first timers Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena with their privateer Peugeot buggy. Loeb’s climb to the final podium spot was a result of fantastic runs that netted him four stage wins after getting lost for more than two hours in the early part of the rally.
Defending champion Sainz won the last stage but that was not enough to compensate for his big losses early on. He fell victim to navigational and technical problems that left him more than four hours behind the leader. He finished at 12th place with more than two hours taken back in the remaining stages.
Another Dakar legend was Mini’s Stephane Peterhansel who won three stages posing great challenge to the victors. However, he suffered an accident in the penultimate stage and his navigator David Castera was hospitalized. Luckily, Castera escaped spinal injury but that was the end of their participation in the rally.
There were three Toyotas, five Minis, one Peugeot and one Ford Raptor in the top 10 standings. There were 100 participants that started on January 6 in Lima, Peru, but only 55 reached the finish line at Lima after 12 days of rallying.
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