2004 Dakar Rally also known as the 2004 Paris-Dakar Rally was the 26th running of the Dakar Rally event. The rally started in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...

region of France, passing through

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

and

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

, and finishing

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

. This was the last time the rally ever visited France. The rally was won by the French team of Stéphane Peterhansel and

Jean-Paul Cottret Jean-Paul Cottret (born June 19, 1963 in Gien) is a French rally navigator, best known for his seven success in the Dakar Rally alongside Stéphane Peterhansel. Biography Cottret's partnership with Peterhansel began during the 1999 event, in whi ...

in a

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

; while the motorcycle class was won by Nani Roma of Spain on a

KTM KTM AG (Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen, formerly KTM Sportmotorcycle AG) is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and sports car manufacturer owned by Pierer Mobility AG and the Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto. It was formed in 1992 but traces ...

and the trucks class was won by Russians Vladimir Chagin, Semen Yakubov and

Sergey Savostin Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland, a municipality in Switzerland * ''Sergey'' (wasp), a genus in subfamily Doryctinae The Doryctinae or doryctine wasps are ...

in a Kamaz.

Entries

Bikes

Cars

Trucks

Stages

Notes: * — The event for trucks was cancelled due to hazardous conditions.

Summary

The competitors included former world rally champion Colin McRae.

Stephane Peterhansel Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane, a French given name * Stephane (Ancient Greece), a vestment in ancient Greece * Stephane (Paphlagonia), a town of ancient Paphlagonia, now in Turkey {{dab ...

took an early lead after the third stage. Four times winner of the rally, Ari Vatanen, won the fourth stage, which was his 50th individual stage win at the Dakar Rally. Peterhansel received a five minutes penalty after his team-mate pushed his car when it encountered gearbox trouble 300m from the finishing line of the fifth stage but retained his overall lead. McRae moved up to third place after the sixth stage but lost time on the seventh stage after getting stuck in a sand dune. Peterhansel retook the lead from overnight leader Hiroshi Masuoka after the eighth stage, and retained it after stage nine. Stages 10 and 11 were cancelled owing to concerns over the security situation in

. The rally resumed with stage 12 between

Bobo-Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 904,920 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo-Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking population (re ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

and

Bamako Bamako ( bm, ߓߡߊ߬ߞߐ߬ ''Bàmakɔ̌'', ff, 𞤄𞤢𞤥𞤢𞤳𞤮 ''Bamako'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2009 population of 1,810,366 and an estimated 2022 population of 2.81 million. It is located on t ...

; Peterhansel retained the lead at the end of the stage. McRae won the 13th stage between Bamako and

Ayoun el Atrous Ayoun al Atrous (also known as Aioun el Atrouss) ( ar, عيون العتروس) is a town in southern Mauritania. It is located at around . It is the capital of Hodh El Gharbi region. The city is served by the Aioun el Atrouss Airport, north-we ...

, the first Briton to win a stage of the Dakar rally since

Andrew Cowan Andrew Cowan (13 December 1936 – 15 October 2019) was a Scottish rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on 30 November 2005. Early years Cowan was raised in Duns, a small town in the S ...

in 1990. The 14th, 15th and 16th stages were won by Luc Alphand, Hiroshi Masuoka and

Jutta Kleinschmidt Jutta Kleinschmidt (born 29 August 1962) is a German competitor of offroad automotive racing events. She is known for her numerous showings in the Paris Dakar Rally, and notably for having won the event in 2001, becoming the only woman driver to ...

. McRae won the final stage but the overall winner was

, who became only the second man to have won both the car and motorcycle categories of the Dakar Rally. The motorcycle category was won by Spaniard Nani Roma.

Stage results

Bikes

Cars

Note: * — Peterhansel was awarded a five-minute penalty for receiving illegal outside assistance. This only affected the overall classification, with Peterhansel retaining his stage win.

Trucks

* - As the stage was cancelled, all competitors were awarded a stage time of 34:21.

Entries

Bikes

Cars

Trucks

Stages

Summary

Stage results

Bikes

Cars

Trucks

Final standings

Motorcycles

Cars

Trucks

References