Carlos Sainz, the 61-year-old Spaniard and father of the Ferrari Formula One driver sharing his title, clinched his fourth Dakar Rally victory in Saudi Arabia on Friday, whereas Audi celebrated its inaugural title within the automotive class.
American Honda rider Ricky Brabec claimed victory within the motorcycling class for the second time within the forty sixth version of the grueling two-week race.
Sainz completed the twelfth and last stage in Yanbu, on the Red Sea coast, with a lead of 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 25 seconds over Belgian Guillaume de Mevius for Overdrive Toyota, with France’s Sebastien Loeb in third.
Loeb, a nine-time world rally champion and Sainz’s predominant rival till mechanical issues ended his problem on Thursday, received the ultimate stage in a Prodrive Hunter for the Bahrain Raid Xtreme crew.
Sainz has now secured Dakar victories with 4 completely different producers – Volkswagen in 2010, Peugeot in 2018, and Mini in 2020. Notably, this time, he didn’t win any of the person levels.
Audi, which has been focusing on the Dakar since 2022, is the primary to win with a automotive powered by an electrical drivetrain. The Audi RS Q e-tron makes use of an vitality converter, that includes a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo engine, to cost the automotive’s high-voltage battery whereas driving.
The Dakar Rally originated in 1978 as a race from Paris throughout the Sahara to the Senegalese capital however switched to South America in 2009 for safety causes.
It moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020 and is now the flagship of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
