Ok, so the Dakar reporting has been little lax this year... (curses damn actual life stuff and crap).
So, the wrap.
An unusual Dakar in many ways, but aren’t they all like that?
Bikes:
Another KTM win seems like there was no story to tell. However only two riders who finished in last year’s top ten finished in this year’s top ten, and the fact that for about two thirds of the race there were probably 8 different riders who were all in a position to win.
After many years of the bikes being a two horse race (Coma and Despres), there have been three different bike winners in the last three years. With no clear favourite in the class, just a bunch of top riders going at it, perfect.
Mattias Walkner was a deserved winner. The ex motocross world champion admitted to having luck on his side, but no one wins this event without that. The first Austrian to win the bikes, on an Austrian bike.
.
However there was a point where it seemed KTM was seriously underdone, with Honda and Yamaha dominating. Then, the Dakar fought back...
Yamaha’s and Honda’s top riders all suffering crashes. Barreda thought he had broken his knee, coming into the first marathon stage bivouac. However he carried on for several more stages before calling it quits. Yamaha lost its two top riders to crashes, both leading the race at the time...
Meaning Walkner inherited a comfortable lead. Cemented when his four main rivals got properly lost and dropped around 40 minutes to him, but you know what? That is the Dakar, measured judgment always wins over speed. You need both, but you need more of the former than the latter.
Argentine Kevin Benavides came in second for Honda. Again he was a guy that could have won, probably will in the future, he sounds about as determined as it gets.
2016 winner, Australian Toby Price rounded off the podium. A very serious crash last year meant he only got back on the bike 6 weeks ago. I get the feeling he’s the sort of guy that is only happy with 1 result, and was clearly riding to finish for the first week. Two stage wins towards the end of the rally means that with 12 months of prep rather than 6 weeks means he will be a force to be reckoned with next year. However, you can add a whole heap of riders to that that list...
Also a couple of manufacturers featuring in the top ten that I have never heard of, Gas Gas (Spain) and Hero (India).
Special mention should go to American Supercross and Motocross rider Andrew Short, who despite breaking his actual ankle on the penultimate stage, still managed to finish the race. RESPECT!
Cars:
So, again the final result doesn’t tell the whole story. Peugeot got the send off they wanted, although not the whitewash that it maybe could have been...
So King Carlos reigns supreme, despite being 55 years of age he has regularly shown he still has a turn of speed to make even Loeb and Hirvonen blush. However, it could be said this has been his undoing for some years now. This year maybe we saw a slightly different Carlos turn up, perhaps aware that this was genuinely his last proper chance to win overall, and certainly once some big names started dropping around him we saw El Matador take an unconventionally conservative approach.
Meanwhile we saw the strength of running a full works outfit, with Despres acting as support to both Sainz and Peterhansel. The latter going absolutely flat-out after losing much time crashing passing a biker, something he has form with, so maybe taking it extra careful this time? (Also something that was levelled at Sainz this year by a quad rider, who frankly came across as someone who is too used to getting his own way...)
In the end Peterhansel pushed too much, again uncharacteristic for him.
Nasser Al-Attiyah really drove an outstanding Dakar, however 2nd was the best he could manage with De-Villiers claiming third with a characteristically solid performance. Leaving Peterhansel only 4th.
With Peugeot seemingly totally withdrawing next year, it could be an interesting fight for seats in the cars. Especially with the MINI in both buggy and 4x4 forms showing well this year.
Mitsubishi, this is your calling...
Big Momma Land Cruiser won the (‘stock’) T2 class, again... Nothing to see here, move along.
Trucks:
Oooffff.... So near and yet so far.
Right up until the last few stages it looked like Argentine Fredrico Villagra looked like he might steal the victory in a De-Rooy run Iveco. However the KAMAZ team rallied around Nikolaev whenever he faltered, and then gearbox failure for Villagra was the final nail in the coffin.
It seems like a non-Kamaz victory is just round the corner. Like many things, we just have to wait till next year I guess...
I already posted this, but if you haven’t checked it out, well you should.