Carlos Sainz wins his third Dakar

It was his third success in the event. The Spanish Carlos Sainz (Mini) won this Friday, at 57, his third Dakar rally in the auto category, after his coronations in 2010 and 2018.

For this first Dakar to take place in Saudi Arabia, Sainz won four stages. After a total of 12 stages and 7,800 km of racing, he was 6 min and 21 sec ahead of the title holder, the Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah (Toyota) and the Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini) by 9 min 58 sec.

The Spanish veteran took control of the race from the third stage. Threatened by Al-Attiyah who returned 24 seconds three steps from the end, the Spanish veteran took advantage of his pursuer's navigation errors to recover the margin. He only had to manage his lead in the last two stages.

Death and controversy

On a motorcycle, the American Ricky Brabec won. He is 16 minutes and 26 seconds ahead of the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla and 24 minutes and 6 seconds behind the Australian Toby Price.

After Africa and South America, the Dakar, the largest rally-raid in the world, changed scenery this year by settling in Saudi Arabia. This choice caused controversy because of the country's shortcomings on the issue of human rights.

This edition was also marked by the death of a motorcycle driver, the Portuguese Paulo Gonçalves. He died after a fall during the 7th stage. Second in the 2015 edition, present four times in the top ten, he participated for the thirteenth time in the Dakar.