“I’ve got some margin, but no guarantee”, Price said.
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The 50-year-old Peterhansel avoided any late drama to safely cross the finish line of the closing 13th stage at Rio Cuarto to give French manufacturer Peugeot their first win since 1990.
As for nine-time rally world champion Loeb, he finished ninth, whilst motorbike rider Toby Price became the first Australian to etch his name on the gruelling event’s roll of honour, coming in at fourth place.
A 12th Dakar Rally victory prompted Stephane Peterhansel to say: “I don’t think there are many things left to motivate me”. “Thank you for my family and friends and everyone back home in Australia for their support it has been unbelievable, it’s unreal”, Price said. Price had claimed third place in his first attempt at the Dakar just previous year.
“I was running on terrain that I did not know, that I had never experienced in my life”. Only 60 percent of the rally’s starters made it through to greet the finish line. Winning it is incredible!
“I attacked when I had to, when the time was right, and I kept an eye on my bike during the all-important marathon stages. I’ve had some good experiences like that, but also some bad experiences”.
“I had a flat tyre and started screaming my head off – I was a bit out of my mind”.
Wednesday’s bike stage was won by Slovakia’s Stefan Svitko on a KTM with his Australian teammate Toby Price retaining the overall lead. “There was a lot of tension and nerves before the start. It has been a great experience to race with the team, a solid one, that always goes in search of a win”. “We’ve still got a lot to go so for sure it’s going to be a long one and very tiring”. The protest was dismissed by the event stewards but Mini now aims to take it to a higher authority: the FFSA in France, which is the licensing body of the Dakar Rally.
Peterhansel – who has won six Dakars on motorcycles and five in cars, most recently in 2013 – said he “threw caution to the wind” last night after starting the day trailing Sainz by seven minutes. I worked hard for the team and I did my job. “I’m delighted. The investment paid off today”.
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Spanish KTM rider Gerard Farres finished in 8th position just over two hours in total behind Price, with American Honda rider Ricky Barabec 9th and Spanish KTM rider Arman Monleon rounding out the top ten three hours and 27 minutes behind the race victor.
