2018 Dakar Rally Statistics, Stage 14 and Overall Winners (January 20, 2018)

The 2018 Dakar Rally concluded Saturday, January 20, with three competitors adding another victory to their credit and two others triumphing for the first time in the prestigious rally raid through three countries in South America.

Eduardo Nikolaev (Russia) took his Kamaz to victory in the truck category, giving him a third career win in the Dakar Rally as a driver and fourth total (one as a mechanic), while two-time World Rally Championship titlist Carlos Sainz (cars) and Ignacio Casale (quads) topped their respective categories for the second time. Matthias Walkner (bikes) and Reinaldo Varela (SxS) triumphed in their races to score maiden Dakar victories.

Nikolaev (Russia) took his Kamaz to victory with an overall time of 54 hours, 57 minutes and 37 seconds. He led for much of the event, falling behind after the 12th stage by a mere second behind Federico Vallegra. But Nikolaev won the 13th stage from San Juan to Cordoba while Villegra retired, and a fourth-place finish in the 286-kilometer race around the Cordoba region netted him the win by nearly four hours over Siarhei Viazovich (Belarus). Nikolaev’s victory came with Evgeny Yakovlev as co-driver and Vladimir Rybakov as mechanic.

Sainz (Spain) grabbed his second Dakar Rally – he also won in 2010 – posting a strong second half of the event to move to the front, where he stayed from the seventh stage on. Sainz posted a pair of stage wins and used consistent runs during the second week to outlast his closest competitors, many of whom experienced some problems as the end of the rally neared. And when he wasn’t at or near the top, he was still close – many times within 10-20 minutes of the stage winner. Sainz finished ninth in the final stage and completed the rally in 49 hours, 16 minutes and 18 seconds in his Peugeot 3008 DKR. Sainz’s co-driver was Lucas Cruz. Runner-up Nasser Al-Attiyah trailed by 43 minutes, 40 seconds at the finish, in a Toyota.

Casale (Chile) bookended his Dakar Rally with stage victories, and he led the overall standings from start to finish on his Yamaha Raptor 700 for a second career Dakar Rally win (2014). He won a category-high five races, including Saturday’s run in Cordoba, and never finished worse than fourth in any stage. He was never really challenged, leading the majority of the event by more than an hour. He finished the raid in 53 hours, 47 minutes and 4 seconds, more than an hour and 38 minutes ahead of rookie Nicolas Cavigliasso (Argentina). Yamaha won all 12 races.

Walker (Austria) came on strong at the end and took command after the 10th stage (ninth) contested, when he claimed his only stage victory. The category’s runner-up in 2017, Walker stayed out of trouble and ran consistently on his KTM 450 Rally Replica to record the overall win in 43 hours, six minutes and one second. Second-place Kevin Benavides (Argentina), a factor the entire event, was 16 minutes and 53 seconds behind at the finish.

Varela (Brazil) won a category-high five stages en route to a relatively easy victory, at least in terms of the final advantage. Piloting a Can-Am with co-driver Gustavo Gugelmin, Varela was consistently more than 50 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, with a 57-minute, 37-second win over Patrice Garrouste (France) the final gap. Varela completed the event in 72 hours, 44 minutes and six seconds, contested over 13 stages.

Here are the winners/leaders and some of the statistics at the end of the 40th Dakar Rally.

Statistics – From Stage 14

Bike:

- Left: 85 vehicles

- Finished: 85 vehicles

- Stage Winner: Kevin Benavides (Argentina), Honda CRF 450 Rally

- Stage Runner-Up: Toby Price (Australia), KTM 450 Rally Replica

- Winner’s Time: 1 hours, 48 minutes, 33 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 54 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Joan Barreda Bort (3), Sam Sunderland (2), Antoine Meo (2), Toby Price (2), Adrien Van Beveren (1), Matthias Walkner (1), Kevin Benavides (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Spain (3), France (3), United Kingdom (2), Australia (2), Austria (1), Argentina (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturer): KTM (7), Honda (4), Yamaha (1)

- Overall Winner: Matthias Walkner (Austria; by 16 minutes, 53 seconds over Kevin Benavides)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 5 – Sam Sunderland, Joan Barreda Bort, Adrien van Beveren, Kevin Benavides, Matthias Walkner

Quad:

- Left: 32 vehicles

- Finished: 32 vehicles

- Stage Winner: Ignacio Casale (Chile), Yamaha Raptor 700

- Stage Runner-Up: Nicolas Cavigliasso (Argentina), Yamaha YFZ 450

- Winner’s Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, 1 second

- Margin of Victory: 1 minute, 36 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Ignacio Casale (5), Nicolas Cavigliasso (2), Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli (2), Sergei Kariakin (1), Axel Dutrie (1), Simon Vitse (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Chile (5), Argentina (4), France (2), Russia (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturer): Yamaha (12)

- Overall Winner: Ignacio Casale (Chile; by 1 hour, 38 minutes, 52 seconds over Nicolas Cavigliasso)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 1 – Ignacio Casale

Car:

- Left: 43 vehicles

- Finished: 43 vehicles

- Stage Winner: Giniel de Villiers (South Africa), Toyota Hilux

- Stage Runner-Up: Stephane Peterhansel (France), Peugeot 3008 DKR

- Winner’s Time: 1 hour, 26 minutes, 29 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 40 16 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Nasser Al-Attiyah (4), Stephane Peterhansel (3), Carlos Sainz (2), Cyril Despres (1), Sebastien Loeb (1), Bernhard Ten Brinke (1), Giniel de Villiers (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): France (5), Qatar (4), Spain (2), Netherlands (1), South Africa (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturer): Peugeot (7), Toyota (6)

- Overall Winner: Carlos Sainz (Spain; by 43 minutes, 40 seconds over Nasser Al-Attiyah)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 4 – Nasser Al-Attiyah, Cyril Despres, Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz

SxS:

- Left: 6 vehicles

- Finished: 6 vehicles

- Winner: Leo Larrauri (Argentina), Can-Am

- Runner-Up: Reinaldo Varela (Brazil), Can-Am

- Winner’s Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, 55 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 8 minutes, 4 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Reinaldo Varela (5), Patrice Garrouste (5), Anibal Aliaga (1), Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos (1), Leo Larrauri (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Brazil (5), France (5), Peru (2), Argentina (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturers): Can-Am (7), Polaris (6)

- Overall Leader: Reinaldo Varela (Brazil; by 57 minutes, 37 seconds over Patrice Garrouste)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 4 – Anibal Aliaga, Juan Carlos Uribe Ramos, Patrice Garrouste, Reinaldo Varela

Truck:

- Left: 19 vehicles

- Finished: 19 vehicles

- Winner: Ton Van Genugten (Netherlands), Iveco Powerstar

- Runner-Up: Martin Macik (Czech Republic), Liaz 111.154

- Winner’s Time: 1 hours, 39 minutes, 47 seconds

- Margin of Victory: 11 seconds

- Stage Wins (Drivers): Eduard Nikolaev (4), Ton Van Genugten (4), Federico Villagra (2), Ales Loprais (1), Dmitry Sotnikov (1), Siarhei Viazovich (1)

- Stage Wins (Countries): Russia (6), Netherlands (4), Argentina (2), Belarus (1)

- Stage Wins (Manufacturers): Iveco (6), Kamaz (5), Tatra (1), Maz (1)

- Overall Leader: Eduard Nikolaev (Russia; by 3 hours, 57 minutes, 17 seconds over Siarhei Viazovich)

- Competitors to Lead Overall: 3 – Ales Loprais, Eduard Nikolaev, Federico Villagra

Sources:

-       - Dakar Rally official website – www.dakar.com