France's Stephane Peterhansel, driving a Mitsubishi, and compatriot Cyril Despres, riding a KTM, were crowned champions of the 2007 Dakar Rally after the 15th and final stage on Sunday.
It was Peterhansel's third Dakar Rally car crown and ninth overall, while for Despres this represented a second title after his win in the 2005 edition.
Despres crossed the line after two grueling weeks of competition which claimed the lives of two competitors more than 34 minutes ahead of team-mate and countryman David Casteu.
PHOTO: AFP
The US biker Chris Blais was 18 minutes further adrift.
Peterhansel and his co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret registered victory with a near seven-and-a-half minute cushion over his Mitsubishi teammate Luc Alphand, also of France and the defending champion.
Another Frenchman, Jean-Louis Schlesser, came in third in a Schlesser buggy, 1 hour, 33 minutes and 57 seconds behind.
PHOTO: AP
Latvian biker Janis Vinters (KTM) and South African driver Giniel de Villiers (Volkswagen) took the honors on the final 10km special stage at Lac Rose, the pink-colored lagoon 30km north of the Senegalese capital.
Peterhansel, who delivered his Mitsubishi team with its seventh straight Dakar crown, took it easy on the final show stage, the last instalment of a race that started in Portugal and passed through Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Senegal.
The French champion said: "I was really stressed in the last major stage on Saturday, and so I drove very gently on the beach this morning."
"It's not worth putting on a show for the public and television on the final stage -- it's not important to win this one in Dakar, the important thing is to finish top of the overall standings," he said.
Mitsubishi dedicated the win to the memory of two-time Dakar winner Henri Magne, who died after an accident in last year's Rally of Morocco.
Of the 432 cars and bikes that set out from Lisbon on Jan. 6, only 109 cars and 132 bikes made it to the finish line after 7,915km of rough desert racing.
This year's Dakar was, as in so many previous editions, marred by tragedy.
South African motorcyclist Elmer Symons, 29, suffered fatal injuries in an accident in the fourth stage and French rider Eric Aubijoux, 42, died of a suspected heart attack in the penultimate stage on Saturday. Aubijoux was the 49th death in the race since the inaugural Dakar Rally set out from Paris in 1979.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that