Carlos Sainz is the new champion of the new decade and the new continent taking home his third Dakar accolade. The 57-year old led the rally since Stage 3 and even with a three-way battle with Nasser Al-Attiyah and Stephane Peterhansel, El Matador along with his co-driver Lucas Cruz came on top finishing with 6m21s lead in the championship.
Driving a near-flawless X-Raid Mini buggy, this is the third manufacturer for which Carlos Sainz has won the Dakar after Volkswagen in 2010 and Peugeot in 2018. The closest defending champion Al-Attiyah got was on Stage 8 when he was just 24 seconds adrift from the Sainz. But the two-time WRC champion proved his mettle in his 15th Dakar participation.
The three men on the podium have a combined total of 50 Dakar starts and 14 wins in the car category. Nasser Al-Attiyah finally managed to grab a Stage win on the last Stage of Dakar 2020 maintaining his 12-year-old streak of winning at least one Stage win. Even after being the flag bearer for Toyota, the Qatari entered the final stage trailing by 10 minutes behind Sainz and was aiming the gap between him and Peterhansel. In the end, Attiyah finished on the podium in the second place this year. The other Dakar legend, Stephane Peterhansel had to settle in at third, however, he had the maximum Stage wins this year. He also achieved a milestone of 80th Stage win which is a huge accomplishment.
On the other hand, former Formula 1 and Le Man champion, Fernando Alonso took home the best debutant trophy with his co-driver Marc Coma. Even after suffering a huge setback and losing hours in early stages, the Spaniard fought back with consistent performance and was able to finish 13 overall in his Dakar debut. Saudi hero, Yazeed Al-Rajhi finished fourth overall with his steady performance, the best ever finish for his country in Dakar.
Toyota Gazoo’s Giniel de Villiers and Bernhard ten Brinke made it in the top seven, and they were separated by sixth-place finisher Orlando Terranova in the X-raid Mini. This year, we also saw two first-time stage winners as Vaidotas Zala won the opening Stage while amateur privateer Mathieu Serradori won eight Stage in his Century buggy.
