Dakar 2017: Peugeot bags 1-2-3 finish with 3008 DKR

Stephane Peterhansel (FRA) of Team Peugeot Total races during stage 11 of Rally Dakar 2017 from San Juan to Rio Cuarto, Argentina on January 13, 2017

Clearly, winning the Dakar Rally last year was not enough for Team Peugeot Total – the team not only followed up its impressive 2016 performance with another overall victory, but locked up the podium and dominated the rest of the field with a 1-2-3 finish.

As with last year, it was Stéphane Peterhansel who took the chequered flag with a near-perfect run in the new Peugeot 3008 DKR, breaking his own record for the most number of victories at 13 (six on two wheels, seven on four). It was a record for co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret as well, who clinched his seventh victory.

Stephane Peterhansel, Jean Paul Cottret and bruno Famin (FRA) of Team Peugeot TOTAL at the finish line of stage 12 of Rally Dakar 2017 from Rio Cuarto to Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 14, 2017.

Nine-time WRC champion Sébastien Loeb mounted a strong challenge, but an engine issue on Day 4 took 26 minutes to be resolved, costing him the victory. Still, he did manage to post the most number of fastest stage times, with five out of ten. Cyril Despres rounded off the podium, making his first appearance there on four wheels after five victories on two wheels.

Unfortunately, Carlos Sainz retired on Stage 4 after damaged sustained through rollovers took too long to be repaired within the allocated time. As for the rest of the field, Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa’s Nani Roma and Giniel de Villiers finished fourth and fifth respectively in the Hilux Evo, while X-Raid’s Orlando Terranova took sixth in the MINI John Cooper Works Rally.

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