MINI has secured its fourth consecutive overall win at the Dakar Rally with MINI ALL4 Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah taking outright victory.
MINI FILLED four of the top five spots at the Dakar Rally with MINI ALL4 Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel winning five of the 13 stages (MINI ALL4 Racing won 11 of the 13 stages) to claim outright victory (Al-Attiyah finished third in 2014).
“I promised last year when I was on the podium that I’d be back to win, and now I’m here,” said Al-Attiyah. “It was very hard to lead the race from the very beginning and to continue keeping this position on the long distance. Also because the race was really hard. I’m very happy about this great result and I want to thank and congratulate all mechanics and the team for the great job they have done during the two weeks. The MINI ALL4 Racing is an incredible car and it was again very nice to drive.”
Al-Attiyah/Baumel were joined at the top of the table by Krzysztof Holowczyc/Xavier Panseri (PL/FR) in third place overall, while Erik van Loon/Wouter Rosegaar (NL/NL) came in a strong fourth after entering the “Dakar” in the MINI ALL4 Racing for the first time. Vladimir Vasilyev/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RU/RU) – overall winners of the 2014 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country-Rallies in the MINI ALL4 Racing – finished fifth. Aidyn Rakhimbayev/Anton Nikolaev (KZ/RU) also ranked among the top ten, securing ninth place overall. Nine of the 10 MINI ALL4 Racing cars that started the race made it across the finishing line in Buenos Aires.
“Our goal this year was to achieve another great overall team result and, with five MINI ALL4 Racing finishing the 2015 Dakar Rally in the top ten, nine MINI ALL4 Racing reaching the finish line, eleven stage victories with four different drivers and Nasser winning the world’s toughest marathon rally, we have successfully met all our targets. During the 2015 Dakar Rally, we have certainly seen the best MINI ALL4 Racing ever, and I am already looking forward to seeing it compete in the 2015 long-distance World Cup in preparation for the 2016 Dakar Rally,” said Senior Vice President MINI, Jochen Goller.
Peugeot’s fairy tale return to Dakar with its Peugeot 2008 DKR wasn’t to be with Stephane Peterhansel, its most successful competitor, finishing the race in 11th place. His team mate, Cyril Despres, finished in 35th. Peterhansel was philosophical about the result, “The car has been very reliable but I’ve made a few mistakes, which is just part of racing at Dakar … We have learned a lot and for the future I am sure the car will be very competitive”.
