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Carlos Sainz Wins 2010 Dakar Rally

Carlos Sainz clinched his first ever Dakar Rally a few minutes ago, despite crossing the finish line of the last San Rafael to Buenos Aires stage on Saturday behind his title rival and Volkswagen teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah.

The Spaniard entered the last stage of the rally with over 2 and a half minutes of advantage over the Qatari driver and settled for a quiet run today. Although Al-Attiyah had recovered more than 7 minutes on top of the classification during the last few stages of the event, the VW driver found it impossible to cover the 2:48 minute deficit to Sainz in the final run of the 2010 Dakar.

He eventually won the stage, but the happiest man of the day was Sainz. After clinching 2 world titles in the FIA World Rally Championship in the early 90s, the Spaniard finally becomes Dakar winner also, adding to his impressive racing resume.

For the statistics, Sainz won the rally by 2 minutes and 12 seconds to Al-Attiyah, while Volkswagen completed the Top 3 with American Mark Miller some 32:51 minutes behind the Spaniard. The German manufacturer therefore put 3 of its 4 drivers on the overall podium, as last year’s winner Giniel de Villiers only managed a 7th place in the car standings.

Volkswagen clinched its 3rd overall win in the Dakar Rally, following their previous wins in 1980 and 2009.

The Top 5 was completed by the two X-Raid BMW drivers Stephane Peterhansel and Guerlain Chicherit (both from France), who were separated by approximately 2 hours in 4th and 5th respectively.

In the motorcycle category, French rider Cyril Despres scored his 3rd Dakar Rally win in career, on a KTM machinery, following his previous successes in 2005 and 2007. Second overall was another rider on a KTM, namely Pal Anders Ullevalseter, while 3rd overall was placed Chilean rider Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia).
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