Publications
Partners
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar claimed his first Dakar Rally title and Spanish rider Marc Coma won the race for the third time on a motorcycle as the two-week trek wrapped up here on Saturday.
Al-Attiyah finished second at the end of stage 13, the final leg of the event, and VW swept the podium. "We did it," al-Attiyah said. "I’m so happy."
Carlos Sainz of Spain, the 2010 champion, won the stage by 38sec from al-Attiyah to hold on to third overall. South African Giniel de Villiers was second overall, 49min41sec behind al-Attiyah. Sainz finished 1hr20min38 back on aggregate.
CAREER-TOPPING MOMENT
Coma (KTM) finished fifth in the final stage, 2min16 behind winner Frans Verhoven of Belgium. Coma was 15min04 ahead of Cyril Despres in the overall standings with Helder Rodrigues of Portugal third, 1hr40min20 back.
al-Attiyah, second in 2010 to Sainz, called the victory "the biggest moment of my career" and said would it help put Qatar on the map. In fact the tiny emirate on the Arabian Peninsula made bigger news last month when it was awarded football's 2022 World Cup.
"It means a lot to win a Dakar, for me, for my people, for my country and for my team," al-Attiyah added. "It is a great victory. It's hard to explain everything that goes through your head but it is a very nice feeling.
“We demonstrated that VW has the strongest team in the world. It is the third time the team has won a Dakar... I think that now people will finally know where Qatar is located.
al-Attiyah took the lead from Sainz by winning Monday's Stage 8 in Chile's Atacama desert. It pushed him five minutes ahead of the Spaniard. al-Attiyah clinched his victory when he won Thursday's Stage 11. Sainz crashed and broke his right front suspension on the leg, which cost him more than an hour and any chance of a repeat victory.
Both al-Attiyah and Coma were all but assured of victory going into the final stage but Coma said even then he could not relax. "What was really tough was that I could not let my guard down, not even for a second," the Catalan said. "Truth is that with the race and the permanent tension I did not have time to think about anything else in a long time."
Coma, who won in 2006 and 2009, called this race "particularly difficult”.
"As anyone in the Dakar, we had tough times," Coma added. "So I am going to get some rest and think about the future."
Coma moved into the lead by winning Stage 4, giving him a narrow two-second edge on Despres. The Frenchman was later penalised 10 minutes on the stage for not following starting procedures, leaving him 10min02 behind. He never recovered.
QUADS - THE REAL HEROES
In quads – the real heroes of any Dakar - Argentine Alejandro Patronelli was the overall winner. He finished 59min53 ahead of fellow Argentine Sebastian Halpern and 6min17:38 in front of Lukasz Laskawiec of Poland. Patronelli's brother Marcos won the overall title in 2010.
Official awards will be presented on Sunday (January 16) in Buenos Aires, about 200km from Saturday's finish. The rally left the Argentine capital on New Year’s Day.
Argentine officials said before the race that they expected it to return to Argentina in 2012 year. Some reports suggested a new route with Brazil possibly being included.
2011 was the third consecutive year of the rally being run in South America. It was traditionally run in Europe and Africa but moved after 2007 because of violence.
The 2008 race was cancelled just before the start.
Dakar Rally results after Saturday's 13th and final stage, a 181km special (645km total) from Cordoba to Buenos Aires.
Cars
Stage 13 results
1 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/VW) 1hr46min08
2 Nasser al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (QAT/GER VW) +0min38
3 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (POL/BEL/BMW) +1min25
4 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk Von Zitzewitz (RSA/GER/VW) +1min58
5 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA/VW) +2min02
6 Stephane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/BMW) +2min57
7 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BRA/Mitsubishi) +3min58
8 Erick Van Loon/Harmen Scholtabers (NED/Mitsubishi) +6min26
9 Alfie Cox/Jorgen Schroder (RSA/GER/Nissan) +8min47
10 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA/Nissan) +8min59
Overall final standings
1 Nasser al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (QAT/GER VW) 45hr04min07
2 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk Von Zitzewitz (RSA/GER/VW) +49min41
3 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/VW) +1hr20min38
4 Stephane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/BMW) +1hr43min48
5 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (POL/BEL/BMW) +4hr11min21
6 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA/VW) +4hr54min42
7 Ricardo Leal Dos Santos/Paulo Fiuza (POR/BMW) +6hr50min07
8 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato +7hr57min18
9 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BRA/Mitsubishi) +8hr23min37
10 Matthias Kahle/Thomas Schuenemann (GER/SMG) +15hr11min56
Motorcycles
Stage 13 results
1 Frans Verhoeven (NED/BMW) 1hr25min07
2 Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) +0min05
3 Jean Azevedo (BRA/KTM) +0min19
4 Cyril Despres (FRA/KTM) +0min44
5 Marc Coma (ESP/KTM) +2min01
6 Henk Knuiman (NED/KTM) +2min47
7 Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP/KTM) +3min05
8 Pal Ullevalseter (NOR/KTM) +3min51
9 Jacek Czachor (POL/KTM) +4min38
10 Miran Stanovnik (SLO/KTM) +5min16
Overall final standings
1 Marc Coma (ESP/KTM) 51hr25min00
2 Cyril Despres (FRA/KTM) +15min04
3 Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) +1hr40min20
4 Francisco Lopez (CHI/Aprilia) +2hr09min45
5 Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP/KTM) +3hr07min03
6 Pal Ullevalseter (NOR/KTM) +3hr32min56
7 Jean Azevedo (BRA/KTM) +3hr59min38
8 Ruben Faria (POR/KTM) +4hr13min01
9 Alexis Cody Quinn (USA/Honda) +4hr52min10
10 Jacek Czachor (POL/KTM) +6min13min41
Al-Attiyah finished second at the end of stage 13, the final leg of the event, and VW swept the podium. "We did it," al-Attiyah said. "I’m so happy."
Carlos Sainz of Spain, the 2010 champion, won the stage by 38sec from al-Attiyah to hold on to third overall. South African Giniel de Villiers was second overall, 49min41sec behind al-Attiyah. Sainz finished 1hr20min38 back on aggregate.
CAREER-TOPPING MOMENT
Coma (KTM) finished fifth in the final stage, 2min16 behind winner Frans Verhoven of Belgium. Coma was 15min04 ahead of Cyril Despres in the overall standings with Helder Rodrigues of Portugal third, 1hr40min20 back.
al-Attiyah, second in 2010 to Sainz, called the victory "the biggest moment of my career" and said would it help put Qatar on the map. In fact the tiny emirate on the Arabian Peninsula made bigger news last month when it was awarded football's 2022 World Cup.
"It means a lot to win a Dakar, for me, for my people, for my country and for my team," al-Attiyah added. "It is a great victory. It's hard to explain everything that goes through your head but it is a very nice feeling.
“We demonstrated that VW has the strongest team in the world. It is the third time the team has won a Dakar... I think that now people will finally know where Qatar is located.
VW TOTAL TRIUMPH: VW’s Nasser al-Attiyah (right) and co-driver Timo Gottschalk (left) celebrate with team chief Kris Nissen after winning the overall 2011 Argentina-Chile Dakar Rally car category. Image: AP
Both al-Attiyah and Coma were all but assured of victory going into the final stage but Coma said even then he could not relax. "What was really tough was that I could not let my guard down, not even for a second," the Catalan said. "Truth is that with the race and the permanent tension I did not have time to think about anything else in a long time."
Coma, who won in 2006 and 2009, called this race "particularly difficult”.
"As anyone in the Dakar, we had tough times," Coma added. "So I am going to get some rest and think about the future."
Coma moved into the lead by winning Stage 4, giving him a narrow two-second edge on Despres. The Frenchman was later penalised 10 minutes on the stage for not following starting procedures, leaving him 10min02 behind. He never recovered.
LET'S HEAR IT FOR GINIEL: South Africa's Giniel de Villiers finished second overall in the 2011 Dakar - despite the atrocious conditions.
QUADS - THE REAL HEROES
In quads – the real heroes of any Dakar - Argentine Alejandro Patronelli was the overall winner. He finished 59min53 ahead of fellow Argentine Sebastian Halpern and 6min17:38 in front of Lukasz Laskawiec of Poland. Patronelli's brother Marcos won the overall title in 2010.
Official awards will be presented on Sunday (January 16) in Buenos Aires, about 200km from Saturday's finish. The rally left the Argentine capital on New Year’s Day.
Argentine officials said before the race that they expected it to return to Argentina in 2012 year. Some reports suggested a new route with Brazil possibly being included.
2011 was the third consecutive year of the rally being run in South America. It was traditionally run in Europe and Africa but moved after 2007 because of violence.
The 2008 race was cancelled just before the start.
Dakar Rally results after Saturday's 13th and final stage, a 181km special (645km total) from Cordoba to Buenos Aires.
Cars
Stage 13 results
1 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/VW) 1hr46min08
2 Nasser al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (QAT/GER VW) +0min38
3 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (POL/BEL/BMW) +1min25
4 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk Von Zitzewitz (RSA/GER/VW) +1min58
5 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA/VW) +2min02
6 Stephane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/BMW) +2min57
7 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BRA/Mitsubishi) +3min58
8 Erick Van Loon/Harmen Scholtabers (NED/Mitsubishi) +6min26
9 Alfie Cox/Jorgen Schroder (RSA/GER/Nissan) +8min47
10 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato (FRA/Nissan) +8min59
Overall final standings
1 Nasser al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk (QAT/GER VW) 45hr04min07
2 Giniel de Villiers/Dirk Von Zitzewitz (RSA/GER/VW) +49min41
3 Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz (ESP/VW) +1hr20min38
4 Stephane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA/BMW) +1hr43min48
5 Krzysztof Holowczyc/Jean-Marc Fortin (POL/BEL/BMW) +4hr11min21
6 Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford (USA/RSA/VW) +4hr54min42
7 Ricardo Leal Dos Santos/Paulo Fiuza (POR/BMW) +6hr50min07
8 Christian Lavieille/Jean-Michel Polato +7hr57min18
9 Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (BRA/Mitsubishi) +8hr23min37
10 Matthias Kahle/Thomas Schuenemann (GER/SMG) +15hr11min56
Motorcycles
Stage 13 results
1 Frans Verhoeven (NED/BMW) 1hr25min07
2 Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) +0min05
3 Jean Azevedo (BRA/KTM) +0min19
4 Cyril Despres (FRA/KTM) +0min44
5 Marc Coma (ESP/KTM) +2min01
6 Henk Knuiman (NED/KTM) +2min47
7 Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP/KTM) +3min05
8 Pal Ullevalseter (NOR/KTM) +3min51
9 Jacek Czachor (POL/KTM) +4min38
10 Miran Stanovnik (SLO/KTM) +5min16
Overall final standings
1 Marc Coma (ESP/KTM) 51hr25min00
2 Cyril Despres (FRA/KTM) +15min04
3 Helder Rodrigues (POR/Yamaha) +1hr40min20
4 Francisco Lopez (CHI/Aprilia) +2hr09min45
5 Juan Pedrero Garcia (ESP/KTM) +3hr07min03
6 Pal Ullevalseter (NOR/KTM) +3hr32min56
7 Jean Azevedo (BRA/KTM) +3hr59min38
8 Ruben Faria (POR/KTM) +4hr13min01
9 Alexis Cody Quinn (USA/Honda) +4hr52min10
10 Jacek Czachor (POL/KTM) +6min13min41