Rally Raid
This is what went down at the 2019 Dakar Rally
There were victories for the gutsy Toby Price, sand-driving king Nasser Al-Attiyah and truck maestro Eduard Nikolaev as the world's toughest rally raid competitors rode home to glory in Lima, Peru.
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The 41st edition of the Dakar Rally drew to a conclusion in Lima, Peru, where KTM's Toby Price, Toyota driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, and KAMAZ truck pilot Eduard Nikolaev celebrated victories after successfully navigating the final 112km special stage to finish the world's toughest rally raid.
In the cars, Al-Attiyah was the class of the field. Driving a dominant race in his Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux, the Qatari led the race from Stage 3 onwards and won three stages on the way to his third victory in the race, after previously winning in 2011 and 2015.
Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Matthieu Baumel celebrate victory
© Flavien Duhamel/Red Bull Content Pool
Al-Attiyah had to fight off a number of challenges from the likes of Stéphane Peterhansel, Sébastien Loeb and Nani Roma, but never looked like letting his lead slip, and cruised to victory over Roma by an impressive 46 minutes, while Loeb claimed the final step of the podium.
Watch the second half of the 2019 Dakar Rally recap:
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"It's fantastic, we made no mistakes the whole rally," said a jubilant Al-Attiyah at the finish in Lima. "We led from Day 3, and came to the last day with a big lead. We felt, with it being 100 percent in Peru and there being a lot of sand dunes, we could do well."
In the Bike category, Toby Price is now a two-time Dakar Rally champion. The Australian capped off a gruelling two weeks with a win on the final stage to seal his overall victory in style, leading home a Red Bull KTM 1–2–3 ahead of 2018 champion Matthias Walkner, and Sam Sunderland.
The Bike class big guns battled hard through Peru's desert dunes
© Flavien Duhamel/Red Bull Content Pool
Price, who became the first Australian to ever win Dakar in 2016, boasts an impressive record at the race, with four podiums out of five attempts. He had to push through the pain barrier to secure his win this year, though, after having surgery on a broken right scaphoid in his wrist during his pre-event training.
I didn't think I could win, I thought if I could get to Stage 3, I would have been happy
"Some things fell my way and everything worked out perfectly. It feels like I'm living a dream at the moment," Price said after crossing the finish line. "I'll go home, rest this arm, have some MRI scans, and see what damage we've done. I didn't think I could win, I thought if I could get to Stage 3, I would have been happy."
Russian Truck maestro Eduard Nikolaev made it three Dakar Rally wins in a row, and a fourth title in total, as he steered his KAMAZ to three stage wins and a commanding victory over team-mate Dmitry Sotnikov by 25 minutes in the overall standings. Dutch driver Gerard de Rooy claimed third overall, but trailed Nikolaev by over 1h 30m in his Iveco.
The bottomless sand was no match for Eduard Nikolaev and the KAMAZ crew
© Marcelo Maragni/Red Bull Content Pool
In the Quad class meanwhile, Argentina's Nicolás Cavigliasso crushed his rivals to claim his first Dakar victory at just his second attempt. The 27-year-old won the final stage to take his tally to an impressive eight out of 10 in Peru this year, leading home Jeremías González Ferioli and Gustavo Gallego in an all-Argentine podium.
Relive the 2019 Dakar Rally through all the stages with our Dakar Daily:
Dakar Daily – Stage 9
On the penultimate day Toby Price (bikes) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (cars) lead, but anything can happen at Dakar.
The final 2019 Dakar Rally Podcast
Red Bull's Tim Sturtridge with exclusive interviews from the winners and finishers in the various categories at the Dakar Rally 2019 in Peru.
Hear from Toby Price, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Laia Sanz, Giniel De Villiers, Cyril Despres, Sébastien Loeb and Sam Sunderland as they give their reaction at the finish line.
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