Qatar’s Al-Attiyah wins second Dakar Rally car title in Mini

Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah clinched his second Dakar Rally car title on Saturday to give British marque Mini their fourth consecutive success in the gruelling 9,000-kilometre event. Al-Attiyah, who won his first Dakar in 2011, became only the seventh multiple winner in the car category. In overall second came South African Giniel de Villiers, the winner in 2009, in a Toyota. The 44-year-old veteran Al-Attiyah, who has also enjoyed success in the Olympic Games, winning bronze in skeet shooting at the 2012 Games in London, dominated the 2015 Dakar from start to finish.

This year’s event, the seventh in South America since its enforced transfer for security reasons from Africa, is the 37th of all time.

AFP reports

Al-Attiyah set down his marker for the title when posting the quickest time in the opening stage leaving Buenos Aires a fortnight ago. He was subsequently stripped of the first stage for speeding, but did not let that hiccup distract him as he bounced back to take the second stage, and ended with five stage wins in all. He drove masterfully, assisted by co-driver Matthieu Baumel of France, with all the Dakar could throw at him, from crossing the Andes to coping with Chile’s Atacama desert to Bolivia’s salt flats. Al-Attiyah lined up for his first Dakar in 2004, taking second place in 2010 and third last year.

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