Stephane Peterhansel, the biggest winner in Dakar Rally history, wrapped us 14th Dakar Rally and yet another record in Saudi Arabia.

Peterhansel, 55, who has six wins on bikes and eight in cars, won this year’s event in Saudi Arabia by a margin of just under 14 minutes, along with co-driver Edouard Boulanger.

The win was Mini’s sixth in the Dakar Rally since 2012 and second win in a row for it’s current version JCW buggy. It the victory also came 30 years after his first Dakar win on a Yamaha YZE 750T motorcycle in 1991 when the route was from Paris to Dakar, Sengal.

The 2021 race was held in Saudi Arabia and covered 7,646 kilometers (4,751 miles). The course looped around much of the country and began and ended in the city of Jeddah.

Nasser Al-Attiyah finished runner-up in a Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux. Carlos Sainz, driving X-Raid-built Mini JCW buggy, finished third, one hour behind Peterhansel.

Peterhansel is the first driver in a single category with eight car wins after previously sharing that record with Vladimir Chagin, winner of seven truck titles. Chagin’s last win in trucks at Dakar came in 2011.

“It was a really tough one this year and there is always more pressure when you are the leader for so long,” Peterhansel said. “We had everything to lose but we did a really precise race, almost perfect. It’s working really well inside the cockpit, it’s a good feeling to have Edouard (Boulanger) sat next to me. This was his first Dakar in a top car and he did a really excellent job.”

In the truck class, Dmirty Sotnikov, 35, won for the first time after finishing runner-up in both 2017 and 2019. His overall victory included five stage victories.

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2021 Dakar Rally

Final overall standings

Car

Bike

Truck

Lightweight vehicle

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