Peterhansel claims Dakar triumph

Peterhansel has also won the rally on a motorbike

Stephane Peterhansel earned his third Dakar Rally driving title on Sunday despite not winning a single stage.

Mitsubishi driver Peterhansel, who has also won the rally six times on a bike, was seven minutes ahead of defending champion Luc Alphand in second place.

Frenchman Cyril Despres won the motorbike rally for the second time in three years, coming home 34 minutes ahead of David Casteu.

Giniel de Villiers won the last driving stage and Janis Vinters won the bike.

Peterhansel's success, his third in four years, saw Mitsubishi win the two-week international event for the seventh year running.

He stayed well out of the pack in the final stage, coming home in 51st place.

KTM rider Despres also took it easy, finishing 56th out of 132 starters.

He was gifted the lead on Friday when runaway leader Marc Coma crashed out, assuring a seventh straight win in the motorbike event for his team.

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Stage 15 result (cars):

1 G de Villiers (SA) Volkswagen 7:42
2 C Sainz (Spn) Volkswagen 7:44
3 R Gordon (US) Hummer 8:08
4 C Sousa (Por) Volkswagen 8:24
5 J-L Schlesser (Fr) Schlesser-Ford 8:25
6 F Loix (Bel) Buggy 8:35
7 J Kleinschmidt (Ger) BMW 8:44
8 M Petersen (US) Buggy 8:49
9 M Barbosa (Por) Proto 8:51
10 N Roma (Spn) Mitsubishi 8:59

Dakar rally final placings (cars):

1 S Peterhansel (Fr) Mitsubishi 45 hours 53 mins 47 secs
2 L Alphand (Fr) Mitsubishi @ 7:26
3 J-L Schlesser (Fr) Schles-Ford-Raid @ 1:33:57
4 M Miller (USA) Volkswagen @ 2:10:16
5 H Masuoka (Jpn) Mitsubishi @ 2:44:31
6 N S Al Attiyah (Qtr) BMW @ 3:31:59
7 C Sousa (Por) Volkswagen @ 5:10:54
8 R Gordon (US) Hummer @ 7:04:07
9 C Sainz (Spn) Volkswagen @ 7:25:45
10 S Henrard (Bel) Volkswagen @ 8:28:29

Stage 15 result (motorbikes):

1 Janis Vinters (Ltv) KTM 8:42
2 P A Ullevalseter (Nor) KTM 8:49
3 H Rodrigues (Por) Yamaha 9:07
4 J de Azevedo (Brz) KTM 9:10
5 E Croquelois (Fr) Yamaha 9:12
6 D Casteu (Fr) KTM 9:14
7 T Bethys (Fr) Honda 9:27
8 D Willemsen (Ned) Yamaha 9:31
9 P Goncalves (Por) Honda 9:34
10 K Merkit (Tur) KTM 9:36

Dakar rally final placings (motorbikes):

1 C Despres (Fr) KTM 51:36:53
2 D Casteu (Fr) KTM 52:11:12
3 C Blais (US) KTM 52:28:59
4 PA Ullevalseter (Nor) KTM 53:14:50
5 H Rodrigues (Por) Yamaha 54:07:34
6 J Vinters (Ltv) KTM 54:21:14
7 M Marchini (Fr) Yamaha 54:37:20
8 T Bethys (Fr) Honda 55:03:26
9 J Katrinak (Slk) KTM 55:17:03
10 J Czachor (Pol) KTM 56:00:57