Veteran Dakar ace chalks up another win with Mini
This year’s Dakar Rally has been won by 11 times champion Stéphane Peterhansel in a privately-entered Mini ALL4 Racing Countryman.
Peterhansel completed the race in 38 hours 32 minutes and 39 seconds, 42 minutes ahead of second placed Giniel De Villiers in a Toyota Hilux.
Peterhansel, who won his first Dakar in 1991 on a bike and took last year’s victory in a Mini, didn’t suffer any mechanical breakdowns during the race’s 5300 miles. He took the lead after the second stage and maintained it to the finish.
The ALL4 Racing Mini uses a straight six BMW 3.0-litre diesel with 310bhp driving the wheels through a six-speed sequential gearbox.
It uses locking front, centre and rear differentials, and the body is around five per cent larger all round than a production Countryman; it’s made from carbon fibre over a steel frame.