The 44th edition of the Dakar Rally has come to an end after stage 12. Sam Sunderland has been crowned champion in motorcycles. Pablo Quintanilla has not been able to reduce the distance that separated him from the British, despite achieving victory in the last special stage of the championship, and had to settle for second place. The final podium was completed by the Austrian Matthias Walkner. There has been no last minute surprise in cars. Nasser Al-Attiyah has won a Dakar that had been put in his face from the first stages. Sébastien Loeb was unable to fight the Toyota rider and had to settle for second place. The Saudi Yazeed Al-Rajhi completes the podium of the category.
sam sunderland He has achieved a new Dakar in addition to the one he achieved in 2017. He also leaves Saudi Arabia with one more special victory in his record, the one he achieved in stage 8. The ‘motard’ was exultant after reaching the finish line: «I’m very happy. These last stages have been difficult and stressful, due to the navigation. It was so complicated and, at times, it didn’t go well. Sometimes I thought my head was going to explode. In the last ten minutes I wasn’t even sure I was going to win.. When I hear myself say that I’ve just won my second Dakar, I get emotional… it’s a dream come true. This year I haven’t had my best season, but when you win the Dakar it’s because you’ve earned it I’m very happy”.
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Paul Quintanilla He had to settle for second place at the end, at a distance of 3 minutes and 27 seconds from the lead, despite having given everything on the last day: «The race was very difficult and I gave everything. It’s a good result for me with a new team. We have fought from the beginning. It has been tough physically and mentally, but I am very happy with my results during the race. I would like to thank the whole team for their incredible work throughout the two weeks. Also to all those who support me, especially the Chileans who always write to me. I think that It has been my most stressful Dakar. The second week has been marked by strategy and it has been difficult. The most important thing is to give your best. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t.”
Matthias Walkner He was very satisfied with his performance after the end of the competition. The Austrian completed the podium in a category that has kept rally fans in suspense until the end: «If someone had guaranteed me to enter the ‘top 3’ before the rally, I would have signed. A lot of things can happen on the track and it’s a lot of hours on the bike. Kevin Benavides has had problems, Daniel Sanders suffered a fall. Anything can happen. There are always good and bad times, so in the end I’m glad everything went so well, even if it was stressful.. We have been first and third with a new bike, which is very good. I’m going to celebrate this podium that almost tastes of victory. I have given everything during the 12 stages.
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Nasser Al-Attiyah He is already the champion of his fourth Dakar after an almost perfect competition in which he has hardly made any mistakes: «It has been an incredible Dakar for us. Our last victory dates back to 2019 and we are satisfied with the new T1+ regulations. Matthieu and I did a good job and got the victory. For two years in Saudi Arabia we have been second, so we are happy to have done it this year. Toyota Gazoo Racing has done an excellent job of developing this new car in a year. We have not had a single problem throughout the race. From the first day we have taken time and then we have been able to manage the advantage. We are very happy. I think that in a week or ten days we will start thinking about the next Dakar».
sebastien loeb has not been able to carry out a comeback that, from the beginning, seemed very difficult. The Frenchman has fought until the last moment, but he must once again settle for second place in the general classification, as was the case in 2017: «I think we have had a good rally. We had a problem at the beginning and with the time differences that have occurred, we could not recover it. We tried to attack throughout the test, so it’s not like we can be blamed for anything. It’s part of the game. It is a motor sport and you have to accept it. We could only scratch some time. Nasser has a lot of experience and a co-driver who doesn’t make many mistakes, so he managed the race well. Despite everything, I really enjoyed it, because every time we managed to get some time out of it, we were happy.”
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Yazeed Al-Rajhi He closed the podium in the category, thus achieving his best result in a Dakar. The Saudi has made a magnificent performance in front of his audience. He was happy and grateful for it at the end of the competition: «I am very happy and I would like to thank those who accompany me: to my team, to the mechanics, to Jean-Marc Fortin, but also to the organizers who know a lot about the subject. I manage to get on the podium, but the most important thing is that all the competitors have been able to enjoy the race in Saudi Arabia. I am also very happy for the spectators who have been able to see us and, of course, also for this first podium. If God wants, we will no longer get off him.
‘Vest’ Lopez has been proclaimed Dakar champion again, this time in the T3 category, ahead of Sebastian Ericksson and Cristina Gutiérrez: «I have been very conservative. We went from less to more. It’s a drag race. We were able to make a good navigation and we did not have much problem, we did not lose time. Finally, this competition is won by the most constant, the one who had the fewest problems. We were the team that, by far, was the most consistent. We didn’t break up, we did a good job and that made us win. Last year was different, because we went attacking, attacking, attacking. Now we were keeping that it is very different. Another way to manage the competition, but ultimately we enjoy it just the same.”