At the end of the final finish line, two repeat offenders: Nasser al-Attiyah (Toyota) in the car and Sam Sunderland (KTM) in the motorcycle won the Dakar 2022 this Friday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The fourth victory for the Qatari, and the second for the Briton.
Already winner of the mythical rally-raid in 2011, 2015 and 2019, Al-Attiyah, who won the prologue and one stage out of twelve, is ahead of the Frenchman Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive) (+27′46′’) and the Saudi Yazeed al -Rajhi (Toyota) (+1h1′13′’). In the lead since the first stage, the 51-year-old Qatari had a lead of up to 48 minutes before controlling the final days.
For his co-driver, the Frenchman Mathieu Baumel, this is the third coronation on the Dakar. The latter returns to the difficulty of managing their significant lead. “That means not riding but you still have to not be too far. We listen to all the noises, we pay attention to everything and it’s ultimately more stressful than being on the attack., blows the Frenchman.
Explosion and death of a French mechanic chief
In motorcycles, Sunderland, 32, finally won a second success, after 2017 in South America. He is ahead of the Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda, + 3mn27) and the Austrian Matthias Walkner (KTM, + 6mn47). Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren (Yamaha) finished just off the podium, 4th at 18’41”. The first British biker to win the Dakar, Sunderland had already nearly doubled the lead in 2019, but he finished 3rd, and again in 2021, when he again finished on the lowest step of the podium.
This winter, he started a new adventure. After six editions with the Red Bull KTM factory team, he joined the official GasGas team. This questioning was fruitful. “I stayed in the race and did a good job yesterday (Thursday) but it was very close this year, rejoiced Sunderland. I waited ten minutes before the victory was confirmed at the finish, it was exhausting for my nerves. It’s even better than the first, it’s been five years of waiting, it’s very long.
These two coronations seal an edition marked by several dramas outside the race: on Friday, the organizers announced the death of a 20-year-old French chief mechanic, Quentin Lavallée, in a road accident on the sidelines of the race. “His passenger, Maxime Frère, of Belgian nationality, was injured and transported conscious to the National Guards Hospital in Jeddah (west) where a complete assessment is in progress”, the statement said.
Earlier – even before the first stage began – other concerns had crept into this edition after the explosion of a vehicle, the origin of which remains officially unknown. This explosion, which occurred on December 30 in Jeddah (west), seriously injured the French pilot Philippe Boutron, 61, repatriated after being operated on in Saudi Arabia. French justice has opened an investigation for “attempted assassinations in connection with a terrorist enterprise”.
What is still officially qualified «d’accident» by the organization and the authorities caused a drastic reinforcement of security measures around the competition, going crescendo with the movement towards the south of the country, especially concerning the places of accommodation and the bivouac.
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