2011 Dakar Rally

2011 Dakar Rally
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Route of the rally across Argentina and Chile.
Host country	Argentina Chile
Results
Cars winner	Nasser Al-Attiyah Timo Gottschalk Volkswagen
Bikes winner	Marc Coma KTM
Quads winner	Alejandro Patronelli Yamaha
Trucks winner	Vladimir Chagin Sergey Savostin Ildar Shaysultanov Kamaz

Defending car class winner Carlos Sainz's Volkswagen Race Touareg during the twelfth stage of the rally. Sainz was unable to repeat his victory of 2010, finishing third behind teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Giniel de Villiers.

The 2011 Dakar Rally was the 33rd running of the event. It was held in Argentina and Chile for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event on 23 March 2010.

The rally concluded in Buenos Aires, with Vladimir Chagin of Russia achieving a record seventh victory in the truck division, at the wheel of his Kamaz, thus becoming the most successful driver in a single category in the history of the event. Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar and Timo Gottschalk of Germany won in the car division, giving Volkswagen their fourth successive victory in the car class. Marc Coma from Spain won his third Dakar in the motorcycle category, and Alejandro Patronelli of Argentina repeated the feat of his brother—Marcos Patronelli in 2010—to win the class for quad-bikes.

Entrants

The route of the 2011 Dakar Rally

407 Teams started the race with 200 motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, 140 cars, and 67 trucks on the podium across from the Obelisk, on the 9th of July Avenue; one of Buenos Aires' major boulevards. 203 of the crews finished the event.

The route

The race began on New Year's Day in downtown Buenos Aires. The total racing distance was 9,618 kilometres (5,976 mi) for cars, 9,605 kilometres (5,968 mi) for bikes and quads and 9,458 kilometres (5,877 mi) for trucks. Of these distances, 5,020 kilometres (3,120 mi) was timed special stage for cars, with 5,007 kilometres (3,111 mi) for bikes and quads and 4,457 kilometres (2,769 mi) for trucks. Of the thirteen stages, six were in Argentina, five in Chile with two stages cross-country.

Stages

Stage	Date	From	To	Class	Road Section		Special		Total		Stage Winners
					km	mi	km	mi	km	mi	Bikes	Quads	Cars	Trucks
1	1 January 2 January	Buenos Aires Victoria	Victoria Córdoba	Bikes/Quads	943	586	192	119	1,135	705	C. Despres	J. Macháček	C. Sainz	V. Chagin
				Cars/Trucks			222	138	1,165	724
2	3 January	Córdoba	Tucumán	Bikes/Quads	440	273	300	186	740	460	C. Despres	A. Patronelli	C. Sainz	F. Kabirov
				Cars/Trucks			324	201	764	475
3	4 January	San Miguel de Tucumán	Jujuy	Bikes/Quads	231	144	521	324	752	467	M. Coma	T. Maffei	N. Al-Attiyah	V. Chagin
				Cars			500	311	731	454
				Trucks	408	254	226	140	634	394
4	5 January	San Salvador de Jujuy	Calama	All	554	344	207	129	761	473	M. Coma	T. Maffei	C. Sainz	V. Chagin
5	6 January	Calama	Iquique	All	36	22	423	263	459	285	P. Gonçalves	A. Patronelli	S. Peterhansel	F. Kabirov
6	7 January	Iquique	Arica	All	265	165	456	283	721	448	H. Rodrigues	A. Patronelli	C. Sainz	A. Loprais
–	8 January	Arica		Rest day
7	9 January	Arica	Antofagasta	Bikes/Quads	208	129	631	392	839	521	F. López	S. Halpern	N. Al-Attiyah	A. Loprais
				Cars/Trucks			611	380	819	509
8	10 January	Antofagasta	Copiapó	All	268	167	508	316	776	482	M. Coma	A. Patronelli	N. Al-Attiyah	V. Chagin
9	11 January	Copiapó	Copiapó	All	35	22	235	146	270	168	J. Street	A. Patronelli	C. Sainz	F. Kabirov
10	12 January	Copiapó	Chilecito	All	686	426	176	109	862	536	M. Coma	J. Santamarina	G. de Villiers	V. Chagin
11	13 January	Chilecito	San Juan	All	164	102	622	386	786	488	C. Despres	S. Halpern	N. Al-Attiyah	V. Chagin
12	14 January	San Juan	Córdoba	Bikes/Quads	123	76	555	345	678	421	M. Coma	C. Declerck	C. Sainz	V. Chagin
				Cars
				Trucks	349	217	266	165	615	382
13	15 January	Córdoba	Buenos Aires	All	645	401	181	112	826	513	F. Verhoeven	Ł. Łaskawiec	C. Sainz	F. Kabirov
–	16 January	Finish in Buenos Aires
TOTALS					km	mi	km	mi	km	mi
Bikes & Quads					4,598	2,857	5,007	3,111	9,605	5,968
Cars							5,020	3,119	9,618	5,976
Trucks					5,001	3,107	4,457	2,769	9,458	5,877

Stage results

A motorcyclist rides in the desert beside the Flag of Chile

Motorcycles

KTM's Cyril Despres won the first two stages of the rally, to take an early lead of over two minutes on fellow KTM rider Marc Coma. Coma closed the gap to just fourteen seconds after his win on the third stage, and took the overall lead on stage four with his second stage win as Despres lost over ten minutes on the stage, dropping him to second in the standings. Coma maintained his lead overall until the end of the race, taking further stage wins in stages eight, ten and twelve en route to his third victory in the event. Despres, a three-time winner himself, won stage eleven but ended the rally fifteen minutes behind Coma in second place. Aprilia's Francisco López moved into third position after the fourth stage, and having won the seventh stage, had been set to complete the podium behind Coma and Despres. However, on the final stage, López suffered a mechanical failure 22 kilometres (14 mi) from the finish line and lost over an hour to his rivals. His misfortune allowed Hélder Rodrigues, riding a Yamaha to take third place. López took fourth position, almost half an hour behind Rodrigues.

	Stage result					General classification
Stage	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Difference	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Difference
1	1	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	1h 58' 31"	+ 00' 00"	1	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	1h 58' 31"	+ 00' 00"
	2	R. Faria (POR)	KTM	1h 59' 02"	+ 00' 31"	2	R. Faria (POR)	KTM	1h 59' 02"	+ 00' 31"
	3	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	1h 59' 17"	+ 00' 46"	3	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	1h 59' 17"	+ 00' 46"
2	1	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	3h 19' 11"	+ 00' 00"	1	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	5h 17' 42"	+ 00' 00"
	2	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	3h 21' 00"	+ 01' 49"	2	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	5h 20' 17"	+ 02' 35"
	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	3h 23' 17"	+ 04' 06"	3	R. Faria (POR)	KTM	5h 23' 55"	+ 06' 13"
3	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	4h 18' 55"	+ 00' 00"	1	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	9h 38' 58"	+ 00' 00"
	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	4h 21' 16"	+ 02' 21"	2	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	9h 39' 12"	+ 00' 14"
	3	P. Gonçalves (POR)	BMW	4h 22' 31"	+ 03' 36"	3	R. Faria (POR)	KTM	9h 48' 36"	+ 09' 38"
4	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	2h 04' 00"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	11h 43' 12"	+ 00' 00"
	2	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	2h 06' 05"	+ 02' 05"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	11h 53' 14"	+ 10' 02"
	3	O. Pain (FRA)	Yamaha	2h 10' 20"	+ 06' 20"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	12h 03' 24"	+ 20' 12"
5	1	P. Gonçalves (POR)	BMW	5h 12' 23"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	16h 59' 33"	+ 00' 00"
	2	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	5h 14' 41"	+ 02' 18"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	17h 09' 47"	+ 10' 14"
	3	F. Verhoeven (NLD)	BMW	5h 14' 42"	+ 02' 19"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	17h 18' 05"	+ 18' 32"
6	1	H. Rodrigues (POR)	Yamaha	5h 36' 17"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	22h 40' 20"	+ 00' 00"
	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	5h 39' 21"	+ 03' 04"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	22h 49' 08"	+ 08' 48"
	3	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	5h 40' 47"	+ 04' 30"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	23h 02' 32"	+ 22' 12"
7	1	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	3h 29' 45"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	26h 13' 50"	+ 00' 00"
	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	3h 32' 06"	+ 02' 21"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	26h 21' 14"	+ 07' 24"
	3	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	3h 33' 30"	+ 03' 45"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	26h 32' 17"	+ 18' 27"
8	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	6h 05' 02"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	32h 18' 52"	+ 00' 00"
	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	6h 06' 57"	+ 01' 55"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	32h 28' 11"	+ 09' 19"
	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	6h 09' 23"	+ 04' 21"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	32h 41' 40"	+ 22' 48"
9	1	J. Street (USA)	Yamaha	3h 06' 56"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	35h 32' 56"	+ 00' 00"
	2	F. Verhoeven (NLD)	BMW	3h 10' 34"	+ 03' 38"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	35h 41' 10"	+ 08' 14"
	3	D. Casteu (FRA)	Sherco	3h 10' 36"	+ 03' 40"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	35h 56' 29"	+ 23' 33"
10	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	3h 06' 35"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	38h 39' 31"	+ 00' 00"
	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	3h 16' 31"	+ 09' 56"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	38h 57' 41"	+ 18' 10"
	3	R. Faria (POR)	KTM	3h 19' 57"	+ 13' 22"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	39h 24' 47"	+ 45' 16"
11	1	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	4h 33' 13"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	43h 14' 55"	+ 00' 00"
	2	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	4h 35' 24"	+ 02' 11"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	43h 30' 54"	+ 15' 59"
	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	4h 39' 32"	+ 06' 19"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	44h 04' 19"	+ 49' 24"
12	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	6h 42' 42"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	49h 57' 37"	+ 00' 00"
	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	6h 43' 19"	+ 00' 37"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	50h 14' 13"	+ 16' 36"
	3	H. Rodrigues (POR)	Yamaha	6h 50' 03"	+ 07' 21"	3	F. López (CHI)	Aprilia	50h 57' 04"	+ 59' 27"
13	1	F. Verhoeven (NLD)	BMW	1h 25' 07"	+ 00' 00"	1	M. Coma (ESP)	KTM	51h 25' 00"	+ 00' 00"
	2	H. Rodrigues (POR)	Yamaha	1h 25' 12"	+ 00' 05"	2	C. Despres (FRA)	KTM	51h 40' 04"	+ 15' 04"
	3	J. de Azevedo (BRA)	KTM	1h 25' 26"	+ 00' 19"	3