Carlos Sainz resisted Volkswagen teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah's late challenge to clinch his first Dakar Rally victory. Al-Attiyah had reduced Sainz's lead – which at one stage reached 10 minutes – to just under three minutes going into the final stage. But although Al-Attiyah was fastest again on today's San Rafael to Buenos Aires leg, he could not do enough in the final 206 kilometers to overhaul the former World Rally Champion, who wrapped up victory with a cushion of 2m12s. America's Mark Miller finished third, to complete 1-2-3 for VW as it repeated its 2009 win.
Sainz had held the lead from stage five onward, as VW took command of the second half of the rally following a strong early challenge from the X-raid BMW team. The BMWs had the pace to take the fight to VW, but not the consistency. Stage one winner Nani Roma crashed heavily on the second day, Guerlain Chicherit had to play catch-up from the start following severe electrical problems, and a broken propshaft on stage five cost Dakar legend Stephane Peterhansel a growing lead. Peterhansel and Chicherit at least fought back to fourth and fifth, ahead of Carlos Sousa in the best of the ex-works Mitsubishis now run by the JMB Stradale team.
Last year's winner Giniel de Villiers was only seventh for VW after a string of early problems, while NASCAR regular Robby Gordon had a troubled Dakar in his Hummer and had to settle for eighth overall this time.
Stage 14:
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah VW 1h19m42s
2. Carlos Sainz VW + 36s
3. Guerlain Chicherit BMW + 43s
4. Stephane Peterhansel BMW + 1m08s
5. Mark Miller VW + 1m39s
6. Giniel de Villiers VW + 1m41s
7. Robby Gordon Hummer + 1m58s
8. Orlando Terranova Mitsubishi + 2m28s
9. Robert Baldwin Hummer + 3m15s
10. Nicolas Misslin Mitsubishi + 4m20s
Overall:
Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Carlos Sainz VW 47h10m00s
2. Nasser Al-Attiyah VW + 2m12s
3. Mark Miller VW + 32m51s
4. Stephane Peterhansel BMW + 2h17m21s
5. Guerlain Chicherit BMW + 4h02m49s
6. Carlos Sousa Mitsubishi + 4h31m45s
7. Giniel de Villiers VW + 5h10m19s
8. Robby Gordon Hummer + 6h02m24s
9. Orlando Terranova Mitsubishi + 6h04m47s
10. Guilherme Spinelli Mitsubishi + 6h13m41s