Mini: Fifth victory at Dakar Rally 🎥
ALWAYS AHEAD Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Cruz won the Dakar Rally for the third time after 2010 and 2018. They brought Mini its fifth triumph in the legendary long-distance stage. The two Spaniards in the Mini John Cooper Works Buggy won the Dakar premiere in Saudi Arabia after around 7500 kilometers with a lead of 6'21 minutes [...]
The two Spaniards in the Mini John Cooper Works Buggy won the Dakar premiere in Saudi Arabia after around 7500 kilometers with a lead of 6'21 minutes over last year's winner Nasser Al-Attiyah in a Toyota Hilux. The desert fox from neighboring Qatar and his French co-driver Mathieu Baumel missed out on victory due to a time-consuming navigation error on the tenth stage on Wednesday, January 15.
Toyota attack fended off
The day before, they closed to within 24 seconds of Sainz/Cruz, who had led from the third stage onwards. It was not until the twelfth and final special stage on Friday that Al-Attiyah/Baumel set a best time in this year's cross-country rally.
Sainz and his team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel were the day's fastest four times each. The 13-time Dakar record winner Peterhansel and co-driver Paulo Fiuza (P) rounded off the mini-success in third place, 9'58 minutes behind Sainz.
Maximum mini yield
The Mini vehicles were at the top of the overall standings after each of the twelve stages. After Latvian Zala's opening success, the overall lead changed hands to Argentinian Orlando Terranova (both John Cooper Works Mini Rally) on the second leg, before Sainz took command with his first stage win on the third leg and never relinquished the top position thereafter.
Fortunately, Alonso did not hit a spectator in this accident. The Toyota did not suffer any major damage in the soft sand.
Spectacular rollover by Alonso
As the best-known rookie of the 42nd Dakar Rally, Fernando Alonso stood out in two ways. On the one hand, he achieved several top placings in individual stages with former motorcycle winner Marc Coma as navigator in the Toyota Hilux. Secondly, the two-time Formula 1 world champion and Le Mans winner produced a spectacular sideways roll on the tenth stage. The Spaniards crossed the finish line in 13th place overall, 4 hours 42' behind their victorious compatriots.
With 4th place by the Arab Yazeed Al Rajhi, 5th place by the South African Giniel de Villies and 7th place by the Dutchman Bernhard ten Brinke alongside Al-Attiyah's second place and Alonso's classification, Toyota Gazoo Racing achieved an excellent team result with its five South African-built Hilux V8s like Mini x-Raid.
