Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt - Mitsubishi car driver Hiroshi Masuoka of Japan and his German navigator Andreas Schultz won the Dakar Rally on Sunday, reaching this Red Sea resort in 49 hours, 8 minutes and 52 seconds of gruelling driving from the French port of Marseille.
It was the second year in a row that Masuoka, 42, had won the rally.
Second overall Sunday was the team of Jean-Pierre Fontenay of France and his navigator and compatriot Gilles Picard, 1 hour, 52 minutes and 12 seconds behind Masuoka. In third place were French driver Stephane Peterhansel and French navigator Jean-Paul Cottret, 2 hours, 16 minutes and 28 seconds behind the winner.
All three top cars were Mitsubishis, the car that has dominated this year's rally.
Masuoka and Schultz were assured of triumph after their main rival, Peterhansel, hit a rock in the Sinai desert and wrecked his front left wheel on Saturday. Peterhansel and navigator Jean-Paul Cottret of France had begun Saturday at the top of the overall standings by a margin of nearly 26 minutes.
Masuoka and Peterhansel had jostled for the lead almost since the rally began in Marseille on Jan. 1, with Peterhansel tending to be in No. 1 place for the last half of the race.
"That's what happens in motorsports," Peterhansel said on Saturday evening. "When you think the race is won, you realize that until the finish line, nothing is over."
On two wheels, Richard Sainct of France took the laurels with a time of 53 hours, 24 minutes and 32 seconds, followed by compatriot Cyril Depres, who had beaten him by two and half minutes as they raced to the foot of the Sinai peninsula on Saturday but finished overall 7 minutes and 18 seconds behind. In third place was Fabrizio Meoni of Italy, 37 minutes, 30 seconds behind.
All three ride KTMs, the bike that has dominated the top 10 positions in the rally's motorbike category.
In the trucks, the Russian team of Vladimir Tchaguine, Semion Yakoubov, Sergei Savostine won the rally in a Kamaz vehicle in 61 hours, 36 minutes and 40 seconds. Second were Andre De Azevedo of Brazil with his Czech co-drivers Tomas Tomecek and Jaromir Martinec in a Tatra truck, 1 hour, 2 minutes and 1 second behind the winner.
Third place in the trucks went to the Russian team of Firdaus Kabirov who, with his co-drivers Aydar Belyaev and Ilguizar Mardeev, had won four stages in a row from Wednesday through Saturday. Their late success in a Kamaz improved their standings, but not enough to displace the commanding lead of the Tchaguine team, and they finished 1 hour, 25 minutes and 4 seconds behind.
The race was staged over 18 days, with the last stages across the sand dunes and desert mountains of north Africa. - Sapa-AP
