Peterhansel and Despres win Dakar Rally in Peru

(17 January, 2012)

Stephane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres won the 2012 Dakar Rally on Sunday, after 14 days of racing.

Peterhansel picked up his tenth title after wining the cars section of the rally, and finished with a 43-minute lead over Spain’s Nani Roma.

The Frenchman completed the 8,400km long rally with a total time of 38 hours 54 minutes.

"When you think of how hard it is to win a Dakar, it's incredible that I've been able to win 10 of them," Peterhansel said, in comments posted on the Dakar Rally website.

"It's been a long time, I've been waiting for five years to win again!"

Cyril Despres won his fourth title, on board his KTM motorcycle, and finished the rally with a 53-minute lead over closest rival Marc Coma.

The rally came to a close in Lima, after 14 days of racing, which started in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

After crossing the finish line, competitors drove toward the Plaza de Armas, in Downtown Lima, where the award ceremony took place.

Of the total 469 vehicles - cars, motorbikes, quads and trucks – that left Mar del Plata on January 1, only 242 vehicles managed to finish in Lima, according to Andina.