Carlos Sainz wins the 2020 Dakar

Carlos Sainz and Mini won the 2020 Dakar this Friday in Saudi Arabia. The double Spanish world champion, 57 years old, thus pins his third success with a third different mark in the event after 2010 (Volkswagen) and 2018 (Peugeot ).

He thus equals his fiercest opponents in this edition Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) et Stéphane Peterhansel (Mini), also winners with three different brands.

Quickly placed at the forefront at the start of rally, Sainz took advantage of the progress of his Mini JCW buggy, very fast against the Toyota Hilux and the setbacks of his rivals (punctures for Al-Attiyah, navigation errors for Peterhansel) to take the advantage.

Despite a complicated passage earlier in the week, the former Toyota and Subaru driver in WRC made his experience and his knowledge of racing speak, to win today at the end of the final special.

An ES shortened to 167 km (construction of an oil refinery near the initial route) dominated by Nasser Al-Attiyah, who took the opportunity to secure second place against Stéphane Peterhansel. The two drivers were separated by only six seconds at the start this morning, but the Toyota driver quickly consolidated his position, finishing the SS with a 3'31" margin over Peterhansel, pushed back to 3'37" overall.

The top 5 of the rally is completed by the Toyota Hilux of Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Giniel de Villiers. For his debut in the event, Fernando Alonso (Toyota) experienced everything, including a double rollover on Wednesday, but reached the finish line for its first participation. The double world champion F1 is more than 4 hours behind in the final ranking.

Ranking step 12:

Provisional final ranking:

Discover the full report of the last week of the Dakar 2020, produced by our special correspondent in Saudi Arabia, in AUTO issue 2251hebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version and from next Wednesday on newsstands.