Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka, in a Mitsubishi, was overjoyed on Sunday after claiming his first victory in the Dakar Rally after the final stage in Senegal. South Africa’s Alfie Cox came second in the motorcycle section behind Italian Fabrizio Meoni.
Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka, in a Mitsubishi, was overjoyed on Sunday after claiming his first victory in the Dakar Rally after the final stage in Senegal. South Africa’s Alfie Cox came second in the motorcycle section behind Italian Fabrizio Meoni.
The 41-year-old Masuoka came close to winning last year, but first lost his way in Mauritania and then got stuck in a sand dune and had to settle for second overall. “I am so happy to win Dakar. I am top of the world,” he said on Sunday.
Masuoka was joined on the podium by Mitsubishi team-mates Jutta Kleinschmidt and Kenjiro Shinozuka. The German was 22 minutes and one second behind Masuoka, who won in a time of 46 hr 11 min and 30 sec. Shinozuka was 35 min and 15 sec further back.
Last year’s winner had fallen out of the running in the final stages after battling with her Mitsubishi’s driveshaft. “We had problems with the transmission during the race and I am happy with second place under the circumstances,” she said.
Kleinschmidt won the 14th stage on Friday. Belgian Gregoire de Mevius, in a SA-built Nissan, won both the 15th and 16th stages. He finished the rally in 27th place overall.
The final stage took place around the Pink Lake. Italian Giovani Sala won the motorcycle stage, while Bernardo Villar of Portugal won the 15th stage on Saturday.
It was Meoni’s second straight title in the motorcycle section. He was 47min 52sec ahead of KTM team-mate Cox, and 1hr 20min 25sec ahead of third-place Frenchman Richard Sainct.
Meoni already has his sights on a third title. “Winning here has taken a number of years and now I have won the race twice. I will be back next year,” he said.
Cox was not disappointed with second place. “I am ecstatic, it is wonderful to be on the podium, this is what I came here to do and I conquered,” said Cox.
“I finished the 2002 Dakar race sandwiched between two KTM riders who have both got two Dakar wins behind their names now. I hope that is a good omen. They have done many more cross-country rallies than I have. There are actually many of these competitors who are a lot more experienced than I am in cross-country rallies, but I believe I have the right mind-set, self-confidence and bare staying power to outride many of them.
“My talent together with the off-road and enduro racing which I do in South Africa has given me an excellent foundation for this kind of racing. In South Africa I race with a 540 cm3 KTM in very tight, rocky and dusty conditions, although we sometimes see wet conditions like we did in France.
“Last year I was limited to fifth position in the Dakar, resulting from team orders, and I played the team game. This year we had no team orders and I planned my race to suit my riding style, skills and tactics. It worked well and I am thankful for that. I do not want to say what if, but imagine where I could have been if I did not make the navigation mistake on Friday,” said Cox.
The South African took the wrong route and had to use narrow tracks to eventually join the correct route again. He lost a lot of time.
Joan Nani Roma of Spain crashed during Friday’s 14th stage and had to retire. He was in third place overall.
There were 16 stages in the 24th running of the rally over an 8 883-km course, including 3 953 km of special stages.