Dakar | Record-breaking Peterhansel: 50 stage victories like Vatanen

The whole world must bow to Stéphane Peterhansel, who at 58 years old equaled the all-time record for stage victories in the all-car category. The bar was set at 50 by Ari Vatanen, who had left it on the fourth special stage of the 2004 edition in Er Rachidia, and the Frenchman managed to reach it in his “silver jubilee” at the Dakar Rally.

“I think I'm still traumatized by the second stage of the last Dakar”, he said at the end of the 462 kilometer stage towards Al Duwadimi. “We didn't take the slightest risk while driving and, despite this, we had two punctures in the last thirty kilometres. Two inexplicable punctures.

“We weren't going very fast and when Hołowczyc overtook me, I couldn't follow him. I don't have the instruction book to drive a heavy car on stones,” the Frenchman told the organizers about his victory, which brings him to half a hundredth success in the toughest race in the world.

The Finn was a difficult rival for Stéphane Peterhansel to beat, as his record remained without too many challengers until the German team member himself and Nasser Al Attiyah, as well as Carlos Sainz, approached 50.

The two are now tied at the top of the general classification of stage victories of the Dakar Rally with an advantage of three victories, or four if one takes into account a possible accounting error in the fifth of the 2009 edition in which Giniel de would have won Villiers, and eight compared to the Qatari and the Spaniard respectively.

At the time, Ari Vatanen said it was nice to win the Touareg trophy, although an accident in South America may have changed his story, as he told the Red Bull website in an interview: “It was nice to win the first time, but the best thing was starting as if I had just come back to life.”

“After the accident in Argentina, I thought it was all over, but I managed to come back. I had great victories and very difficult moments. Life is made up of both. And to continue to feel human you need both.”