Stephane Peterhansel Quotes

"When you think of how hard it is to win a Dakar, it's incredible that I've been able to win ten of them. It's been a long time, I've been waiting for five years to win again!"

"To take the victory in South America is a huge relief, it ranks among my best triumphs. Moreover, the race was very close during the first week and there was always a lot of pressure. Winning the rally for Team X-Raid makes it even more special, since Sven Quandt has been waiting for years for this to happen."

"I don't know what I could do to go one better! Beating this record is going to be difficult... for the others! This race is stressful, exciting and fascinating, and it's also very rewarding at the end. Now I'm going to party with the entire team and then we'll see. My finest victory will always be my first win in the motorcycle category, but this one has something special to it. I was starting to doubt myself, to think I was growing too old for this, that I'd lost it or that I wasn't made for South America... and in the end everything turned out fine!"

"But I still have a blue bandana from my motorcycling period. I didn't tell anyone, but I kept it in my pocket throughout the entire rally. It's the story of the comeback of the blue bandana."

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Dakar Delight in Lima

There was double French delight on the Dakar Rally on Sunday as Stephane Peterhansel won an unprecedented 10th title by winning the cars section and Cyril Despres wrapped up a tight motorbikes category.

Peterhansel, driving a Mini, was previously a three-time car winner and six-time motorcycle champion of the gruelling rally, but it was his first victory in the race since it moved to South America in 2009.

The Frenchman, who went into the final stage with a 43-minute lead over closest rival Nani Roma of Spain, finished 10th on the 29km special, 3:12 off American Robby Gordon’s pace.

Peterhansel covered the 8,400-kilometres-long rally, of which more than half were timed specials, between Mar Del Plata in Argentina and Lima in 38 hours, 54 minutes 46 seconds, with teammate Roma at 41:56, and South African Toyota driver Ginel De Villiers at 1.13:25.

“When you think of how hard it is to win a Dakar, it’s incredible that I’ve been able to win 10 of them,” said Peterhansel.

“It’s been a long time, I’ve been waiting for five years to win again! To take the victory in South America is a huge relief, it ranks among my best triumphs.

“Moreover, the race was very close during the first week and there was always a lot of pressure.”

The Frenchman added: “I don’t know what I could do to go one better! Beating this record is going to be difficult … for the others!

“This race is stressful, exciting and fascinating, and it’s also very rewarding at the end. Now I’m going to party with the entire team and then we’ll see.”

Peterhansel added: “My finest victory will always be my first win in the motorcycle category, but this one has something special to it.

“I was starting to doubt myself, to think I was growing too old for this, that I’d lost it or that I wasn’t made for South America … and in the end everything turned out fine!

“But I still have a blue bandana from my motorcycling period. I didn’t tell anyone, but I kept it in my pocket throughout the entire rally. It’s the story of the comeback of the blue bandana.”

The motorbike category was won by Despres, who came through the stage unscathed to finish ahead of Marc Coma, whose wrong turn on Saturday’s stage handed his rival a clear run to the title.

It was a fourth title for Despres, riding a KTM, after the stage won by Dutchman Pal Ullevalseter.

Despres clocked 43 hours 28 minutes 11 seconds in the overall timings, 53:20 ahead of Coma, with Yamaha rider Helder Rodrigues of Portugal in third at 1.11:17.

“I always pay attention to detail. I like doing my homework and, in my job, when things go OK you end up winning!” said Despres.

“This is without a shadow of a doubt the toughest Dakar I’ve ever raced in.

“It was difficult physically, but even more psychologically. Challenging yourself every morning and fighting on the course takes its toll on your mind. It’s not like a 42-km marathon; here, you have to earn your place every morning.”

Despres added: “All victories are beautiful, but this one is special because it came down to the wire and was decided at the last minute. This was an unimaginable scenario, with the leaders separated by mere seconds.

“I’ve done 90 or 85 rallies throughout my life, and this one was the one where I had to fight the hardest. Today, will leave its mark on me.”

Gordon Facing Dakar Disqualification

Robby Gordon is facing disqualification from the Dakar Rally after race stewards ruled he should be thrown out because his Hummer's engine does not conform to race regulations.

The 43-year-old American - who is pressing overall leader Stephane Peterhansel of France har

d for the car title - appealed the decision and was allowed to continue competing in the 377-kilometre 10th stage from Iquique.

However, that didn't go well for the American as he probably saw his hopes of winning in any case dashed coming in well behind not only stage winner Spanish Mini-driving Nani Roma but also Peterhansel.

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Gordon had been in tremendous form on Monday and Tuesday's stages and looked the danger man to Mini-driver Peterhansel but he lost nearly 15 minutes on him on Wednesday and even slipped to third behind Roma, who was winning his third stage of this year's renewal.

However, the combative American - a veteran of NASCAR racing in the United States - made no comment about his run-in with the stewards and instead blamed Peterhansel for not having give him enough room at one point during the stage.

"I hit a rock with both right-side tyres and as you can see this wheel is way out, so we've got some broken parts," said Gordon.

"I was passing him (Peterhansel), he didn't move over and I clobbered a rock and got two flat tyres at the same time. So, we've got our work cut out for us."

Gordon, though, insisted that Peterhansel - bidding for a 10th win in the testing race, six in the motorbikes and three-times in the cars - would have to fight every inch of the way to emerge victorious.

"Now we'll push, push, push even harder," he said.

The ultimate decision over Gordon's fate rests with the French Automobile Sport Federation (FFSA), which must deliver its verdict within two months, though the losing party could appeal that to motorsport's global governing body, the FIA.

Gordon won the ninth stage on Tuesday to cut Peterhansel's overall lead to just over finish minutes ahead of Sunday's finish in Lima.

It is believed that the stewards noticed the problem with his engine in checking it over after the stage.

The stewards believe that Gordon's modifying of the ventilation system linked to his engine improved its performance level.

Earlier Spain's defending motorbike champion Marc Coma reduced the overall lead of bitter rival Cyril Despres to just 21 seconds.

Neither won the stage - that honour went to Coma's compatriot Joan Barreda Bort - but Coma came in second to make significant headway in his bid to deprive Despres of a fourth Dakar win.

Gordon's Hummer Make Dakar News

After the rest day comes the longest stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally and the start of the northward swing along the Pacific seaboard towards the finish line in Lima. The new route aside the route between Copiapo and Antofagasta through the Atacama Desert have the mainstay of the Dakar since the move to South America. One of the toughest days of the 2012 rac saw the lead change in one class, while the order shuffled in all the others as we moved a day closer to knowing the winners.

Bikes: Coma Takes Advantage

The two man battle at the front of the bike race swung dramatically in the opening kilometres of the stage. First Coma – opening the road after winning Saturday’s seventh stage – lost time after a minor navigation error. However, the mistake meant he avoided a muddy river in which several other of the leading riders got caught in, including chief rival and overall leader Cyril Despres.

“There was a torrent of mud between the inspection of the reconnaissance car two days ago and today,” said the Frenchman. “Therefore, it did not appear in the road book and I was the first to fall into the trap. There was no way I could have avoided it.”

Despres’ issues where quickly apparent to Coma who pused as hard as he dare for much of the stage in order to capitalise on the problems for his fellow KTM rider. The combination of the time lost in the mud and the time Coma clawed back throughout the stage totalled over 17 minutes at the end of the stage. After the completion of the stage rally organisers too the decision to discount the time Despres and others – including Helder Rodrigues, and Pal Anders Ullevalseter – lost in the mud, cutting Despres’ time lost to just 9:14. However it was still enough for Coma to move into the overall lead.

“A very long special,” Coma said. “I was lucky not to lose too much time in the mud and then I saw I could open a gap, so I attacked really hard. But towards the end I noticed I had engine problems towards the end, so I took slowed down a bit to ensure I would make it to the finish. This is my 20th special victory: a nice figure. Yet it is not winning specials that counts, but winning the race. And I know there is still a long week of racing ahead.”

Quads: Alejandro’s To Lose

After leaping into a lead of over an hour thank to mistakes by his brother Marcos and Tomas Maffei, Alejandro Patronelli now looks certain to defend his class title, barring serious mishap in the remaining stages.

On the potentially difficult stage the elder of the Argentine brothers held strong, only surrendering the lead to Marcos in the closing kilometres to preserve his massive overall advantage as Tomas Maffei is over an hour behind after slipping another nine minutes into arrears on stage eight.

“A long, tough and fast stage,” Alejandro analysed. “The final part was also complicated. I am very happy and thank God I made it to the finish. I started among the motorcycles. I feared it might be complicated, but things turned out OK. I had the entire course to myself and was able to set a good pace. Most of the stage was full of rocks and my hands hurt a bit. But I am really happy. The classification is not my main concern.”

Cars: The Tale Of Two Hummers

For the first time, Robby Gordon’s team of Dakar Hummers have two truly competitive drivers, but thus far the Dakar seems intent on treating them in two different ways.

Defending champion and Hummer new recruit Nasser Al-Attiyah endured yet more niggling technical problems – the alternator, engine belt and a loose spare wheel – delaying the Qatari. When now slowed by his problems he was again the fastest man on stage, overtaking all the MINIs during the passage of the stage as he only lost eight minutes to stage winner Nani Roma after having been as far as nineteen minutes adrift after the opening exchanges.

Robby Gordon in the other Hummer, meanwhile, continues to win back time, slicing into Stephane Peterhansel’s overall lead. The American led the stage during the first half, but the MINIs of Peterhansel, Roma and Krzysztof Holowczyc were ahead by the half way point, before Gordon began to gain once more.

Roma won the stage – his second of 2012 – by just five seconds from Gordon who was over five minutes ahead of Peterhansel who was hampered by a puncture only 30km from the end of the timed section.

Peterhansel’s overall lead is now just seven minutes over Gordon in second and Krzysztof Holowczyc in third – the pair split by only twelve seconds. Roma lies fourth overall with Giniel de Villiers fifth, 37 minutes down on Peterhansel.

Trucks: Stage Win For Loprais

After consecutive second places on the two previous stages Czech driver Ales Loprais claimed his first 2012 stage win ahead of overall lead Gerard de Rooy.

De Rooy’s Iveco teammate Miki Biasion was third fastest on the day, though his problems before the rest day have rule the Italian out of challenging for the overall podium – he is more than six hours away from the overall lead – he still has the capability to add to the single stage win already to his name this year.

Loprais’ stage win has moved him to just 15 minutes down on the overall lead, with Hans Stacey also constant in third, though the Dutchman 15 minutes to De Rooy.

2012 Dakar Stage Eight Results

Bikes:

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 1 Marc Coma KTM 5:03:52 

2 6 Pal Anders Ullevalseter KTM 5:05:47 +0:01:55

3 8 Ruben Faria KTM 5:10:52 +0:07:00

4 3 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha 5:11:02 +0:07:10

5 23 Joan Barreda Bort Husqvarna 5:12:36 +0:08:44

Quads

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 252 Alejandro Patronelli Yamaha 6:14:07 

2 250 Marcos Patronelli Yamaha 6:16:45 +0:02:38

3 257 Tomas Maffei Yamaha 6:23:57 +0:09:50

4 264 Ignacio Casale Yamaha 6:33:10 +0:19:03

5 263 Sergio La Fuente Yamaha 6:45:37 +0:31:30

Cars

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 305 Nani Roma MINI 4:25:44 

2 303 Robby Gordon Hummer 4:25:49 +0:00:05

3 304 Krzysztof Holowczyc MINI 4:27:48 +0:02:04

4 302 Stephane Peterhansel MINI 4:31:22 +0:05:38

5 300 Nasser Al-Attiyah Hummer 4:33:53 +0:08:09

Trucks

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 501 Ales Loprais Tatra 5:07:17 

2 502 Gerard de Rooy Iveco 5:08:48 +0:01:31

3 511 Miki Biasion Iveco 5:19:37 +0:12:20

4 533 Artur Ardavichus Kamaz 5:21:13 +0:13:56

5 505 Hans Stacey Iveco 5:23:40 +0:16:23

Overall standings after stage eight

Bikes

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 1 Marc Coma KTM 23:24:18 

2 2 Cyril Despres KTM 23:35:44 +0:01:26

3 3 Helder Rodrigues Yamaha 24:13:19 +0:49:01

4 14 David Casteu Yamaha 24:34:10 +1:09:52

5 7 Paulo Goncalves Husqvarna 24:36:29 +1:12:11

Quads

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 250 Alejandro Patronelli Yamaha 28:45:03 

2 257 Tomas Maffei Yamaha 29::51:08 +1:06:05

3 252 Marcos Patronelli Yamaha 30:04:00 +1:18:57

4 264 Ignacio Casale Yamaha 32:01:19 +3:16:16

5 266 Rodrigo Ramirez Can-Am 33:38:07 +4:53:04

Cars

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 302 Stephane Peterhansel MINI 20:04:15 

2 303 Robby Gordon Hummer 20:11:51 +0:07:36

3 304 Krzysztof Holowczyc MINI 20:11:51 +0:07:48

4 305 Nani Roma MINI 20:16:42 +0:37:45

5 301 Giniel de Villiers Toyota 20:42:00 +0:45:25

Trucks

No. Rider Manufacturer Time Difference

1 502 Gerard de Rooy Iveco 23:14:03 

2 501 Ales Loprais Tatra 23:29:42 +0:15:39

3 505 Hans Stacey Iveco 24:02:09 +0:48:06

4 533 Artur Ardavichus Kamaz 24:12:43 +0:58:40

5 504 Ayrat Mardeev Kamaz 24:48:56 +1:34:53

Dakar Convoy Moves Through Andes

Although the day's stage had to be cancelled, the competitors of the Dakar 2012 were able to cross the Andes Mountain Range in convoy. The bikers opening the road crossed the Paso San Francisco pass in icy temperatures of -8°C.

Welcome to the southern hemisphere's summer. In Mar del Plata, the newcomers to the rally in Argentina perhaps discovered that in the southern hemisphere, January is synonymous with summer. Several days later, they also found out that in the heart of the heat-wave season, you can also come across snow storms and have to deal with the closure of road passes. Two days before the climb up to the Paso San Francisco pass, the first news about the bad weather conditions filtered through to the organisers of the Dakar. 

As the hours passed, the situation became worse in this region of the Andes Mountain Range, making it more and more unlikely that a special stage could be held on the planned route, in a state of deterioration following the assaults of the snow and rain. More importantly, on 5th January, the Chilean authorities informed the organisers of the Dakar that the border post located after the Paso San Francisco pass had been closed. Since the that road climbs to a height of 4,700 metres (and, if that was not enough, descends along hairpin bends on the Chilean side) had become too dangerous for the riders and crews on the rally, the decision to cancel the stage was taken at the end of the afternoon and announced to the competitors during a general briefing at 9 PM. 

They were convened at 8 AM for the departure of the convoy, hoping that the sky would be on their side.

With encouraging weather conditions in the early morning, the convoy was able to leave Fiambala on time. Several trucks from the rally's logistics service served as scouts, whilst the bikes were summoned first to tackle the climb over the Andes. Every half hour, organisation team vehicles and ambulances were incorporated into the convoy to make it more fluid and enhance its safety. At approximately 10 AM, the first competitors reached the mountain pass, where the temperature was slowly rising, from -8°C nonetheless. These were the main steps of “Operation Guillaumet”, named by Etienne Lavigne in homage to an aviator who survived an accident in this very same mountain range.

On crossing the border, a route to avoid the zone affected by the bad weather had been set up. The competitors headed much further north to Diego de Almagro, before arriving in Copiapo. In total, the vehicles travelled approximately 200 kilometres further than the initially planned 641 km to reach the bivouac. Although the stopwatches were tidied away today, sport will be given pride of place tomorrow, with a loop of 573 km that could enter into the annals of the rally.

Unseasonal Rain Ends Dakar Stage

The timed section of Friday's sixth stage of the Dakar Rally has been cancelled due to rain and unseasonal snow.

The 394km run from Fiambala to Copiapo, crossing the Andes mountains and entering Chile from Argentina, was planned to contain 247km of timed special.

Organisers said: "Due to the bad weather continuing over the Andes Cordillera, the Chilean authorities were forced to close, for the night, the border at Paso de San Francisco, situated at 4700 metres.

"In order to guarantee the security of the competitors and those following the rally, the organisers have decided to organise a convoy for all vehicles."

Thursday's timed fifth stage was shortened due to overnight rain making parts of the course unpassable.

The race will resume in Copiapo on Saturday with Stephane Peterhansel leading the car category, Cyril Despres the motorcycles, Gerard de Rooy the trucks and Tom Maffei the quads.

Krzysztof Holowczyc Leads Dakar

Polish driver Krzysztof Holowczyc has taken the overall lead in the Dakar Rally after the third stage from San Rafael to San Juan in Argentina was won by Mini team mate, Spaniard Nani Roma.

Roma clocked 2hours 26min 51sec over the 208km drive, finishing 1min09 ahead of Holowczyc, while Qatar's defending champion Nasser Al-Attiyah was third in his Hummer, 1min29 further adrift.

Roma, who won on a motorcycle in 2004, said: “We were lucky to start later on, follow the tyre tracks and see where to brake.

“But all in all, it's more important for us that we drove really well, rather than the stage victory,” added Roma, whose best finish in the car section was third in 2006.

It was not a good day for the overnight leader, six times Dakar motorcycle and three time car winner Stephane Peterhansel of France, who suffered two punctures and came in more than six minutes behind Roma, slipping to fifth overall and promoting top South African Driver Giniel de Villiers in the first of the 'works' Toyota Hiluxes (who finished fourth in Stage 3) to third overall.

But most improved of the South Africans was four times SA Off-Road champion Duncan Vos - rapidly coming to grips with his first Dakar - who moved up from 18th to 13th overall.

Mark Corbett in the South African-built CR4 buggy finished Stage 3 22nd position after losing about 10 minutes to the leaders and is now 18th overall.

Corbett started the day 17th and had passed the only other two-wheel drive cars ahead of them when they had their first puncture.

His navigator, Francois Jordaan, said: “We were going well, when we realised we had a slow puncture. We tried to carry on by using the onboard tyre inflater, but it didn't work and we had to stop to change the wheel.

“Then we had a second puncture and had to stop again; both of the buggies passed us, but we're not too concerned - there's still a long way to go.

“Today's stage suited the four-wheel drive Class T cars. The scenery as we near the Andes Mountains is spectacular but the course was very rough with both dry and wet river crossings and we had to contend with extreme heat and thick dust throughout the day.”

MOTORCYCLES

Three times Dakar champion Cyril Despres of France pulled off an emphatic win in the 270km third stage of the motorcycle category.

Despres - who had a bad start to the race but pulled back some time in Stage 2 - took the overall lead in the race as his main rival, KTM team mate and defending champion Marc Coma of Spain, had an awful day, finishing seventh more than 13min off the winner.

Coma was philosophical about his 'bad day at the office' which saw him take the wrong route.

“Yesterday was my day, but today definitely wasn't!” said Coma, who won Monday's stage.

“After 170km, there was a different track for the bikes and the cars. I checked the road-book and thought I was on the right track, but then I saw that wasn't the case, because the next note was after eight kilometres and it was wrong, so I turned round!

“16km is a lot! So, after that, I went on the attack to try to get back some time, but today was a difficult day, even if the scenery was spectacular...

“Well, in the end, I've lost 13 minutes. It's a lot, but when you make a mistake, you shouldn't be surprised that the gaps open up. That's racing for you.”

Despres clocked 3hours 48min 38sec to beat Dutch rider Frans Verhoeven by 8min 37sec while Portugal's Paulo Goncalves was third, a further two seconds adrift.

The 37-year-old Frenchman now holds an overall lead of 10min 12sec over Coma, who had gone into the stage nearly three minutes ahead of his team mate.

Despres refused to gloat over Coma's error.

“Over the last 50 kilometres, I couldn't see many tyre tracks, so I wasn't sure that Marc was up ahead,” he said.

“In the end, I finished first and I've been told that he chose the wrong track so that's going to be to my advantage. It's good for my position, even if I'm never happy about other people's setbacks.”

Meanwhile, French motorcycle competitor Sebastien Coue was in critical condition after crashing during the Stage 2. Coue was found in sand dunes in western Argentina, and hospital officials said it was not clear how long he had been unconscious and exposed to temperatures above 40 degrees.

The rally has already claimed three lives this year. Argentine rider Jorge Martinez Boero died in a crash in Sunday's first stage and, on the same day, the pilot of an ultralight aircraft and his son died tracking the race.

Stage 4 will be a 750km, high altitude dash to Chilecito, a stage on which one is more likely to lose the event than win it. A small lapse in concentration in the numerous canyons could have disastrous consequences while a perfect run could only generate a small lead.

It will be a true test of each driver's ability to concentrate and to remain focused over demanding distances and a further test of the durability of the various cars, before the competitors tackle the first of the killer dune stages, the run to Fiambala on Friday. 

Results from Stage 3 of the Dakar Rally from San Rafael to San Juan:

CARS

1 Nani Roma (Spain) Mini - 2hours 26min 51sec

2 Krzysztof Holowczyc (Poland) Mini +1min09

3 Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) Hummer +1min29

4 Giniel de Villiers (South Africa) Toyota +1min33

5 Robby Gordon (US) Hummer +2min08

6 Orlando Terranova (Argentina) Toyota +6min08

7 Stephane Peterhansel (France) Mini +6min23

8 Erik Van Loone (Netherlands) Mitsubishi +7min03

9 Leonid Novitzkiy (Russia) Mini +7min18

10 Erik Wevers (Netherlands) Mitsubishi +7min35

OVERALL

1 Krzysztof Holowczyc (Poland) Mini - 5hours 51min 06sec

2 Robby Gordon (US) Hummer at +54sec

3 Giniel de Villiers (South Africa) Toyota +1min40

4 Nani Roma (Spain) Mini +1min50

5 Stephane Peterhansel (France) Mini +2min41

6 Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar) Hummer +6min34

7 Leonid Novitzkiy (Russia) Mini +14min53

8 Lucio Alvarez (Argentina) Toyota +20min39

9 Ricardo Leal Dos Santos (Portugal) Mini +14min41

10 Erik Wevers (Netherlands) Mitsubishi +26min06.

MOTORCYCLES

1 Cyril Despres (France) KTM - 3hours 48min 38sec

2 Frans Verhoeven (Netherlands) Sherko +8min 37sec

3 Paulo Goncalves (Portugal) Husqvarna +8min39

4 Helder Rodrigues (Portugal) Yamaha +10min03

5 Alain Duclos (France) Aprilia +11min12

6 David Casteu (France) Yamaha +11min42

7 Marc Coma (Spain) KTM +13min04

8 Francisco Lopez (Chile) Aprilia +17min59

9 Gerard Farres (Spain) KTM +18min19

10 Pal Anders Ullevalseter (Norway) KTM +18min32

OVERALL

1 Cyril Despres (France) KTM 7hours 31min 42sec

2 Marc Coma (Spain) KTM +10min 12sec

3 David Casteu (France) Yamaha +17min16

4 Francisco Lopez (Chile) Aprilia +17min37

5 Helder Rodrigues (Portugal) Yamaha +19min49

6 Alain Duclos (France) Aprilia +20min47

7 Paulo Goncalvez (Portugal) Husqvarna +26min00

8 Pal Anders Ullevalseter (Norway KTM +26min18

9 Javier Pizzolito (Argentina) Honda +27min21

10 Jordi Viladoms (Spain) KTM +28min26

Jorge Martinez Boero Dies in Dakar

Argentine motorcyclist Jorge Martinez Boero has died after being involved in an accident on the first day of the Dakar Rally.

The 38-year-old fell on the stage between Mar del Plata and Santa Rosa de la Pampa in Argentina.

Police said Martinez Boero, who was competing in the event for the second time, died en route to hospital.

In its 33rd year, the Dakar Rally is considered one of the most dangerous rallies in the world.

The 2012 route has changed considerably with drivers and riders tasked with a daunting 5,500-mile route starting from Mar del Plata, south of Buenos Aires.

The 465-strong field navigate their way through Argentina and into Chile and Peru before reaching the finish in Lima, the Peruvian capital, on 15 January.

The event was held in Africa but moved to South America in 2009 because of security concerns in Mauritania which forced the cancellation of the 2008 event.