Rally Raid
Dakar 2015: Coma and Al-Attiyah crowned champions!
Marc Coma, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Ayrat Mardeev were all confirmed 2015 Dakar Rally winners.
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The 13th and final stage of the 2015 Dakar Rally was a shortened affair in Argentina on Saturday, as torrential rain made for extra difficult conditions that forced a curtailed special stage on the route from Rosario to Buenos Aires.
The motorcycles only reached checkpoint two – 101km into the special – before the results were finalised, while the cars, who set off later, only completed 34km of their special stage, as the finish line was rearranged for the first checkpoint.
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Dakar 2015 Stage 13 Video Highlights
Watch all the action from the Stage 13 of the 2015 Dakar Rally.
Bikes: Five-star Coma is the King of Dakar
Coma started the day with a 17-minute lead over Paulo Gonçalves in the overall standings, and with the aim of avoiding any mistakes set off to bring his KTM home safely.
It wouldn't have been a particularly encouraging outlook for any of the riders, as they faced extremely slippery conditions thanks to the heavy rain, and as the course began to reach dangerous levels grip the organisers opted to stop the race at CP2.
Coma came in fifth fastest, only three minutes behind Gonçalves, as the formalities were confirmed and he was able to start celebrating a fifth success.
Gonçalves and Price joined Coma on the final podium, the Australian claiming a top-three finish in one of the most impressive Dakar debuts in recent memory.
Stage 13 Classification:
1. Ivan Jakes (KTM), 52m 6s
2. Stefan Svitko (KTM), +45s
3. Toby Price (KTM), +1m 7s
4. Paulo Gonçalves (Honda), +1m 15s
5. Marc Coma (KTM), +3m 11s
Dakar 2015 Final Standings:
1. Marc Coma (KTM), 46h 3m 49s
2. Paulo Gonçalves (Honda), +16m 53s
3. Toby Price (KTM), +23m 14s
4. Pablo Quintanilla (KTM), +38m 38s
5. Stefan Svitko (KTM), +44m 17s
Marc Coma: 2015 Dakar Rally champion
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Marc Coma:
It's amazing. Not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined this would happen in my lifetime. Of course it's a great feeling [to win five].
"When you have the right people around you, with the right bike… We worked very well together and this is the reason why, year after year, we are here fighting for the victory.
"Now it's time to enjoy this achievement with family, friends, the team, because we have put a lot of energy into this! Now it's a very good moment, so we have to enjoy it.
"We had to change our strategy completely and push, and after that the rhythm of the race changed completely. We knew it was a long race, we knew that managing the marathon stages was very important, and I think that at that point we made the difference to our competitors. Both marathon stages went without problems for us, no mistakes, and the pace was high all the time."
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Ayrat Mardeev celebrates his first Dakar win
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Nasser Al-Attiyah and Matthieu Baumel
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
Stephane Peterhansel (left) did an impressive job
© Flavien Duhamel/Red Bull Content Pool
Cars: Al-Attiyah doubles up with second Dakar crown
After the bikes had confirmed that conditions were incredibly treacherous, the four-wheeled special stage was cut down to just 34km and the finish-line set at checkpoint one.
With Nasser Al-Attiyah holding a 35-minute lead over Giniel de Villiers in the standings heading into the final day, the task was made all the more straightforward for the Qatari, even if conditions were trickier than normal.
Robby Gordon won the final stage, seeing off Leeroy Poulter and Emiliano Spataro, and with Al-Attiyah sixth – only losing five-seconds to fifth placed De Villiers – there was little math needed to declare the 2010 Dakar winner champion once again.
It capped off a dominant 2015 Dakar for Al-Attiyah, who was the man to beat from the outset.
Stage 13 Classification:
1. Robby Gordon (Gordini), 13m 16s
2. Leeroy Poulter (Toyota), +25s
3. Emiliano Spataro (Renault), +29s
4. Orlando Terranova (Mini), +31s
5. Giniel De Villiers (Toyota), +34s
Dakar 2015 Final Standings:
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Mini), 40h 32m 25s
2. Giniel De Villiers (Toyota), +35m 34s
3. Kryzsztof Holowczyc (Mini), +1h 32m 1s
4. Erik Van Loon (Mini), +3h 1m 52s
5. Vladimir Vasilyev (Mini), +3h 12m 41s
Nasser Al-Attiyah:
It's a fantastic feeling. I am really so happy right now. We really had a lot of confidence when we came here, and Matthieu (Baumel, co-driver) and the team did a great job every day.
"This was the reason we won Dakar without making any mistakes or having any problems with the car. This is really a great moment.
"I want to thank everybody, the supporters, the organisers, it's been amazing because it was not easy. This was a great effort from the team. Everybody shares in this victory."
Team Peugeot-Total's first Dakar ended with an encouraging flourish as Stéphane Peterhansel confirmed an 11th-placed overall finish, just missing out on the top-10 following an impressive showing from the Frenchman and his PEUGEOT 2008 DKR machine throughout.
Cyril Despres, five-times winner on two wheels, rounded off his first Dakar in a car by achieving his goal of completing the event and will head back to Europe having learned plenty for his next attempt.
Trucks: Mardeev takes first Dakar title
As had the cars, the truck drivers took on a 34km sprint to the final finish line, as their final stage was also trimmed down considerably.
Hans Stacey took a third consecutive stage win to round off his Dakar in style, but despite that the Dutchman was unable to hold onto fifth in the overall standings, as Dmitry Sotnikov overhauled him.
Stacey was impressive, beating compatriot Marcel van Vliet by over a minute on the shortened course, but the day – and the 2015 Dakar – belonged to Ayrat Mardeev, who completed the stage podium to stand atop the final classification as this year's champion.
The KAMAZ driver was joined in the overall top three by EduardNikolaev and Andrey Karginov for an all-Russian, all-KAMAZ rostrum as Mardeev claimed his first Dakar crown.
Stage 13 Classification:
1. Hans Stacey (Iveco), 20m 31s
2. Marcel Van Vliet (MAN), +1m 21s
3. Ayrat Mardeev (KAMAZ), +2m 23s
4. Dmitry Sotnikov (KAMAZ), +2m 45s
5. Eduard Nikolaev (KAMAZ), +3m 32s
Dakar 2015 Final Standings:
1. Ayrat Mardeev (KAMAZ), 42h 22m 1s
2. Eduard Nikolaev (KAMAZ), +13m 52s
3. Andrey Karginov (KAMAZ), +51m
4. Ales Loprais (MAN), +1h 56m 37s
5. Dmitry Sotnikov (KAMAZ), +2h 24m 32s
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