French driver takes seventh Dakar win

STEPHANE PETERHANSEL paid tribute to another Dakar Rally great after claiming a remarkable seventh win on the epic event.

The Frenchman has won six Dakar titles on motorbikes but added the car title to his collection after successfully negotiating stage 17 yesterday to clinch victory from Hiroshi Masuoka, his Mitsubishi team-mate.

Afterwards Peterhansel hailed Hubert Auriol, whose seven wins he equalled this year.

He said: “Hubert often said he would like me to win. Now it’s done but he’ll always stay my hero.

“It’s a great relief and a lot of happiness, that I share with my co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret. On a bike you’re alone but this time we built the win together.

“My last victory on a bike was six years ago and after what happened last year, it wasn’t easy for me to win this year.

“It was a tough race but all went well. We took the leadership quite quickly and that allowed us not to take too many risks after that.

“We all know that on a Dakar each stage can mean a problem. Even when we were 10 minutes behind Masuoka, I kept calm, relaxed. We knew that a lot of things would happen.

“My victory isn’t due to luck. Mitsubishi works all along the year. We do preparation races and weeks of physical tests. I believe Nissan has the same possibilities but the difference is due to experience and a way of working. It’s great to work with such a team. It’s a real team win.”

Colin McRae, who had been blighted with mechanical problems over the last half of the event, performed impressively having been stranded in the desert on three occasions after trouble with his Nissan.

Those difficulties prevented the Scotsman from claiming a top placing but he crowned his journey across two continents by clinching the final stage today, a short affair around the city of Dakar. He finished 20th overall.

Joan Roma won the motorcycle section from Richard Sainct. Cyril Despres was third.