Toby Price wins second Dakar; Nasser Al-Attiyah bags his third in car section

Lima, 17 Jan 2019: Toby Price of Red Bull KTM Factory team won his second Dakar on Thursday. Has won the last stage of the Dakar 2019 and wins the world’s biggest rally-raid for the second time, following his triumph in 2016. It was a performance of genuine class from the KTM rider who left everyone in his wake in Lima, beating José Cornejo by 2’21 to crown 10 extremely difficult days for the Australian who rode throughout the race with an injury to his scaphoid bone, which occurred several weeks before the Dakar.

Peru welcomed the 41^st edition of the Dakar that finished today in Lima after 10 punishing stages, the outcome of which was victory for a heroic Toby Price in the bike race, Nasser Al-Attiyah with his third title in the car category thanks to his exemplary strategic poise, Nicolás Cavigliassounprecedentedly dominating the quad category, Francisco “Chaleco” López succeeding in his comeback and conversion after six years of absence with a win in the SxS race and Eduard Nikolaev picking up his fourth title in the truck race.

Beyond the winners, 179 riders, drivers and crews (75 bikes, 15 quads, 76 cars, 20 SxS and 13 trucks) reached Lima to enjoy a podium ceremony at the end of the day on Magdalena beach, where it all started.

Bikes: What a fine story was told thanks to the monstrous determination and bravery shown by Toby Price. Taking part in his fifth Dakar with a wrist that was still sore after fracturing his scaphoid bone several weeks before the start, the Australian grinned and bore it, focusing on consistency rather than the verve that his rivals showed, as they picked up stage victories. Gritting his teeth day after day to stay in contact with the best, the winner in 2016 finally took the lead in the general standings the day before the finish and offered spectators a genuine recital with a stage victory in Lima. This allows him to write a second Dakar rally on his role of honour and an 18^th in a row for his employer KTM. Indeed, for the Austrian firm, this was an especially satisfying triumph with its three official riders on the podium in Peru. Matthias Walkner, the title holder, took second place, while Sam Sunderland, the winner in 2017, rounded off a podium that again sees Honda absent. Yet, Joan Barreda had offered high hopes to HRC with a superb start to the rally before coming undone, while Ricky Brabec was surprisingly comfortable for 8 stages… until the engine on his Honda broke. It was a cruel disappointment for the American one year after having suffered the same fate, similar to the misfortune that rained down on Adrien Van Beveren, whose Yamaha also gave in on him so near to the finish. In the end, it was Pablo Quintanilla who resisted the KTM clan for the longest amount of time, before his hopes collapsed due to a fall on the last stage of this uncompromising Dakar…

Cars: One single duo managed to avoid all the pitfalls, find the balance between performance and driving safely and grasp all the subtleties of the navigation to which they were subjected. It was the crew made up of Nasser Al-Attiyah behind the wheel and MathieuBaumel as co-pilot. On completion of the ten stages, three of which he won, the Qatari driver also won the Dakar for the third time, thanks to a carefully crafted scenario and a superb understanding of strategy. One by one, the “Prince of the desert” distanced his direct rivals, striking a big blow on his adversaries on the Super Ica stage (stage 8), where he took care to start a considerable distance behind his rivals. Always in control, the boss of the race observed his pursuers do battle in the dunes, whether it wasStéphane Peterhansel, Sébastien Loeb or Nani Roma, before setting the historical record straight in Lima. Toyota, the constructor which has most probably entered the largest number of vehicles in the history of the Dakar, won the car category for the first time to reward the efforts of Team Overdrive, which had previously been prevented from reaching the top step on the podium by the Peugeots or the Minis, firstly with Giniel de Villiers or also last year with Al-Attiyah. As for the X-Raid team, in the end, the 4×4 Mini achieved the firm’s best results, with Nani Roma in 2^nd position and Jakub Przygonski again stepping up a notch in the hierarchy by climbing to 4^th place. The challenge to win for Sébastien Loeb genuinely seemed possible in light of the gaps that he was capable of opening up when everything was running smoothly. However, navigational mistakes and mechanical problems put paid to his hopes for victory. He finished the rally with four extra stage wins on his roll of honour and another place on the final podium (3^rd).

 Side by Side: A battle well and truly took place in the Side by Side category, which swelled threefold in number in 2019 (with 30 crews at the start), thanks to the arrival of prestigious competitors, such as former biker Francisco López, who had previously failed to conquer the title on two wheels (3^rd in 2010 and in 2013) but did not let the chance slip through his fingers for his first participation in the SxS category. After a discrete start to the rally, “Chaleco” put on an imperial display ahead of title holder Reinaldo Varela and former biker GerardFarrés (3^rd in 2017), while Sergey Karyakin, Casey Currie or Ignacio Casale had already lost a lot of ground. The most successful comeback kid on the Dakar 2019, with three stage victories to add to his already impressive roll of honour (11 specials on a bike),“Chaleco” nailed Chile’s colours even further on to the mast of the rally, with a triumph that follows on from countryman IgnacioCasale’s two successes in the quad race (in 2014 and 2018).

Quads: The race was soon dominated by Argentinean Nicolás Gavigliasso. It would be euphemistic to say that the rider from Córdoba sailed through this edition of the Dakar because he quite simply won nine out of ten stages on the 2019 edition, an unprecedented feat in the history of the most famous rally-raid, for all of the categories put together. What’s more, at the age of 27 years old, the Yamaha rider was only taking part in his second Dakar this year. “It wasn’t easy,” declared Nico at the finish to the last stage. “I worked hard before this Dakar. It’s only my second Dakar, but I kept pushing, I wanted to finish in front. Now I’m number one in the quad race and I’m so, so happy”. Jeremías González Ferioli, second in the general standings 1 hour 55 minutes behind the winner, was Cavigliasso’s sole rival who managed to win a special, on the third stage. Taking part in his fourth Dakar, the young 23-year old rider from Córdoba was not able to put his countryman under pressure. Behind the two Argentineans, Frenchman Alexandre Giroudfinished on the third step of the podium.