Stephane Peterhansel
1. Who is he?
Stéphane Peterhansel is French, he was born on August 6, 1965 in Échenoz-la-Méline (Haute-Saône). He is currently a rally raid driver and plays for the Audi team.
2. Course
A skateboard enthusiast, Stéphane Peterhansel quickly turned to motorcycle enduro as well as rally raid in the 1980s. Recruited by Yamaha, he precociously mastered the African traps of the Paris-Dakar and won his first victory at just 25 years old, in 1991. It is the start of a series of six successes acquired in eight years. A man of challenge, the Frenchman switched to four wheels in 1998 and turned to Nissan to learn his skills on a Patrol 4×4. There he met Jean-Paul Cottret, a navigator with whom he would be inseparable for almost two decades. Best representative of André Dessoude's team (7th), he raised his level of play by joining the brief Mega firm and a prototype built by a team of less than 10 people (2nd). “Peter’s” rating increases. After having known him at Yamaha, Dominique Serieys, head of Ralliart (Mitsubishi's sports arm), convinced the Japanese to hire him for the 2003 Paris-Dakar. The machine is launched. Despite internal competition, Stéphane Peterhansel approached Dakar's Rose Lake in the lead in 2004, an image reissued in 2005 and 2007. The passage of the event to the South American continent in 2009 was accompanied by a decline in competitiveness at Mitsubishi. The Pajero diesel is a failure, the economic crisis breaks out and Mitsu' withdraws. The one who gradually acquired the nickname “Monsieur Dakar” then turned to X-Raid. It was time for German engineers to develop the Mini 4×4 and Stéphane Peterhansel returned to the top in 2012. The following winter, he overtook Ari Vatanen to become the record holder for victories in Cars. The association with his boss Sven Quandt, however, ended in trouble after having given in to a team order in 2014. Returning to the dust of his colleague Nani Roma, the Habs will voluntarily slow down at the end of the course. Fortunately, the Peugeot project attracted him and he found the status of an emblematic driver there. Not in 2015, because the 2008 DKR accumulates design blunders. But from 2016, the Franco-French duo ruled the roost in the desert, despite the arrival of star Sébastien Loeb. The two men will host the 2017 edition, until the last stage. Less fast than the former rally driver on the Argentinian tracks, but smarter in navigation, Stéphane Peterhansel maintains a 5'13" margin in Buenos Aires. An unfulfilled desire for a truck later, he is back at Mini, this time with a Buggy and the desire to drive to the left of his partner, Andrea Peterhansel. Unfortunately, the former biker suffered neck pain and gave way to David Castera, who ended up injured in a steep dune descent. With the Portuguese Paulo Fiuza as new co-pilot, Stéphane Peterhansel is trying as best he can to overcome the language barrier for the discovery of Saudi Arabia (3rd) in 2020. Back in the language of Molière, he communicates in symbiosis with the former KTM and Toyota mapman Édouard Boulanger. Their victory in the 2021 Dakar is an example of mastery. The duo extends the pleasure by joining Audi for 2022.
3. AUTOhebdo’s opinion
What could make Stéphane Peterhansel waver? His adversaries have been asking this question for around thirty years, without managing to find a lasting answer. The changes in destinations for the Dakar (North Africa, South America then Saudi Arabia) did not disrupt it in any way. An extremely regular driver, he rarely experiences “off days”. His vision of the terrain is always optimal, which allows him to avoid the pitfalls that some pilots, in a hurry, discover at the last moment. In addition, his confidence in his co-drivers (yesterday Jean-Paul Cottret, today Édouard Boulanger) is the cement of obligatory osmosis in rally-raid. However, the innovative hybrid vehicle project prepared by Audi could bring it down in the hierarchy at the 2022 Dakar. Time for the brand with the Rings to prowl...
Results of Stéphane Peterhansel in the Dakar
The highlights of Stéphane Peterhansel's career
January 18, 2004: first victory in the Paris-Dakar in Auto with Jean-Paul Cottret. He won two stages and was ahead of their Mitsubishi teammates Hiroshi Masuoka and Gilles Picard. © DPPI
January 14, 2017: at Peugeot, there is internal struggle. Sébastien Loeb, with five scratch times, pushes “Peter” to his limits, on a typical WRC course in Argentina. But experience takes over at the very end of the effort (3 stage victories for Stéphane Peterhansel). © DPPI
January 15, 2021: he becomes the only athlete to win the Dakar on the three continents crossed, 30 years after his first success on a motorcycle. This time, it's Édouard Boulanger who is navigating it on a Mini buggy.
