P2 for Nasser Al-Attiyah

Nasser Al-Attiyah did not succeed in winning, but after more than 43 hours of racing time in the clocked stages, plus over 2500 kilometers of heavy connecting routes, the Qatari was only 6 minutes behind winner Carlos Sainz. Giniel de Villiers certainly can’t be dissatisfied with his strong result in fifth place, with victory on Day 2 as an extra bonus. The first week was still a difficult one for Bernhard ten Brinke, but after that the Toyota Gazoo factory driver went faster every day.

First completed Dakar for Fernando Alonso

For Formula 1 star Fernando Alonso, his first Dakar was one of an extremely fast-rising learning curve. Finding the right balance between speed and endurance went better and better, resulting in a second place in Stage 8, plus getting to the finish in a great 13^th spot, something that is certainly not given to every rookie.

Enough sleep for the Coronels

Tim and Tom Coronel have never been able to sleep that much at night in the Dakar as this year. Every day the twins arrived on time, where in previous years they regularly camped out in the dark with a breakdown in the dunes. This year "The Beast" was almost flawless!

Improvising Koolen and Van Den Goorbergh

In the side-by-side class, Kees Koolen and Jurgen van den Goorbergh showed the real Dakar spirit every day. Because the CanAm was relatively new to them, improvisation was a part of every day, with a good example of the repair of a problem with the drive shaft where a nut from the car jack was found to fit. Koolen and "VdG" alternated as driver and navigator, a combination that proved perfect in terms of navigation and speed.

Riwald shows what perseverance is

For the trucks, the rally started out as difficult for the experimental Hybrid truck of Gert Huzink and his Riwald Dakar Team. After a while their navigator also got injured, after which the crew of the enormous truck consisted of only two men. Nevertheless, the Renault then still scored excellent results, with every Top 10 result as proof of their perseverance. The fast assistant truck from Ed Wigman was so fast, he became 20th in the final result!

Mammoet Rallysport, day and night

Also at Mammoet Rallysport the team of Martin van den Brink didn’t get anything for free. Especially after a night of spannering in the desert, they showed the right team spirit, with 23rd place as an official proof of that.