Europe 1 with AFP 6:31 p.m., January 15, 2023

Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) won his fifth Dakar rally-raid by car on Sunday, at the end of the 14th and final stage in Dammam (Saudi Arabia), during which Argentinian Kevin Benavides stalled, on the thread, his second Dakar on a motorcycle.

Triple winner of stages this year and already winner of the famous rally-raid in 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2022, Al-Attiyah won his fifth Dakar on Sunday.

He was more than an hour ahead of Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive) and young Brazilian Lucas Moraes (Toyota), 25, who was taking part in the competition for the first time.

In the lead since the third stage of the rally-raid which started on December 31 from the shores of the Red Sea near Yanbu, the 52-year-old driver saw a boulevard open up when his main competitors successively bit the Saudi dust.

"I am very happy to win the Dakar again and to have kept my title. The weather conditions of this Dakar were really difficult for everyone. Mathieu (Baumel, his co-driver) did a wonderful job", reacted Al -Attiyah.

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Loeb left behind

Sébastien Loeb said goodbye to a final success in stage 2, trailing one hour and 26 minutes behind due in particular to three punctures.

Although he failed again in his quest for the Dakar, the nine-time WRC world rally champion nevertheless marked the history of the famous rally-raid by snatching six consecutive stage victories in this edition, an unprecedented performance.

"After the start of the rally we had, we couldn't have hoped for much better than that. Regularly, Nasser, it was unplayable, he had a very good race and no mistakes", greeted the Alsatian 48 years old.

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"A dream" for Benavides

For his part, Stéphane Peterhansel (Audi) and big favorite retired on January 6 after an accident in which his co-driver Edouard Boulanger was injured.

Blocked the same day in the same place, the Spaniard Carlos Sainz could not overcome the more than 28 hours of penalties imposed then and finally threw in the towel, on January 10, during the 9th stage.

On the motorbike, the scenario was much more breathtaking and it was the Argentinian Kevin Benavides, after 15 days of fierce battle, who finally beat on the wire during the final stage, the Australian Toby Price .

On Sunday's arrival in Dammam after almost 45 hours of racing and more than 8,000 km traveled in the ultra-conservative kingdom, Benavides finally beat the Australian by 43 seconds.

"It's incredible. It's a dream, it's my second victory in the Dakar. This edition was incredible. We fought a lot with Toby (Price) and Skyler (Howes). It was very close" savored the Argentinian at the finish of the last stage.

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time credit

As in the car, Benavides also benefited from the abandonment of serious competitors to the final victory at the head of which the Briton Sam Sunderland, defending champion, had to give up following a fall, from the first stage.

On January 3, it was the turn of the American Ricky Brabec, winner of the 2020 edition, to bow out after a fall during the 3rd stage between Al-Ula and Haïl.

On January 10, it was the Catalan Joan Barreda who disappeared from the rankings, he who, in 2022, had made history by exceeding the 27 stage victories of the great Jordi Arcarons.

The battle was tight between the other pilots, in particular because of the introduction of bonuses to reward the motorcyclists who opened the tracks.

A system that particularly served Howes, who thus benefited from more than 12 minutes of compensation and kept the overall lead for several days.

It is also a time credit that allowed Benavides to win the final victory.

The Argentinian was ideally placed to win his second Dakar by winning the penultimate stage and propelling himself 12 seconds behind provisional leader Toby Price, recovering 23 minutes after the stage for assisting Matthias Walker, injured.

This 45th edition of the emblematic rally-raid, reputed to be the most difficult in the world, was even longer than the previous year: a prologue and 14 stages in rocks, sand and dunes, including one, the 7th , canceled for motorcycles.