The 2011

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal ...

was the 33rd running of the event. It was held in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The

Amaury Sport Organisation The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) is part of the French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury. It organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well as golf, running, sailing and off-road motorsport events. The president of ASO is Je ...

and the governments of

and

agreed to a return to South America for the event on 23 March 2010. The rally concluded in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, with Vladimir Chagin of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

achieving a record seventh victory in the

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...

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 Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah ( ar, ناصر صالح ناصر عبدالله العطية : nāṣir ṣāliḥ nāṣir ʿabdullāh al-ʿaṭṭīyah; born 21 December 1970 in Doha) is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He wa ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

and

Timo Gottschalk Timo Gottschalk (born August 28, 1974 in Neuruppin) is a German Rallying, rally co-driver, most notable for being on the winning team of the 2011 Dakar Rally alongside Nasser Al-Attiyah. Career Gottschalk made his debut in the Dakar Rally as nav ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

won in the car division, giving

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

their third successive victory in the car class.

Marc Coma Marc Coma i Camps (born 7 October 1976) is a Spanish rally racing motorcycle rider. He won the Dakar Rally in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2015 riding a KTM motorcycle, and is also a six-time winner of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion ...

from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

won his third Dakar in the motorcycle category, and

Alejandro Patronelli Alejandro Patronelli (born 22 May 1978) is an Argentine rally raid driver (quad), two-times winner the Dakar Rally (quads). Brother of the three-times winner Marcos Patronelli Marcos Patronelli (born 1 February 1980) is an Argentine rally raid ...

repeated the feat of his brother—

Marcos Patronelli Marcos Patronelli (born 1 February 1980) is an Argentine rally raid driver ( quad), three-times winner the Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

—to win the class for quad-bikes.

Entrants

407 Teams started the race with 200

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

s and

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

s, 140 cars, and 67

s on the podium across from the

Obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...

, on the 9th of July Avenue; one of

' major boulevards. 203 of the crews finished the event.

The route

The race began on

New Year's Day New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Whi ...

in downtown Buenos Aires. The total racing distance was for cars, for bikes and quads and for trucks. Of these distances, was timed special stage for cars, with for bikes and quads and for trucks. Of the thirteen stages, six were in Argentina, five in Chile with two stages cross-country.

Stages

Stage results

Motorcycles

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 ...

's Cyril Despres won the first two stages of the rally, to take an early lead of over two minutes on fellow KTM rider

. 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 Aprilia is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded immediately after World War II in Noale, Italy, by Alberto Beggio. The company started as a manufacturer of bicycles and moved on to manufacture scooters and small-capacity motorcycles ...

'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 from the finish line and lost over an hour to his rivals. His misfortune allowed

Hélder Rodrigues Hélder Figueiredo Rodrigues (born 6 October 1989) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Lusitano FCV Lusitano Futebol Clube de Vildemoinhos is a Portuguese football club from the parish of Vildemoinhos in the city of Viseu. The club wa ...

, riding a Yamaha to take third place. López took fourth position, almost half an hour behind Rodrigues.

Quads

Cars

Trucks

Final overall standings

Motorcycles

Quads

Cars

Trucks

Deaths

A total of four people were killed in Dakar-related incidents during the rally. A 28-year-old female spectator was killed when a competitor lost control of his vehicle in the first stage, while two mechanics were killed in separate electrical incidents and a driver lost his life in a collision with a rally competitor following the tenth stage.

References

External links

*
Dakar 2011 – The Big Picture
{{Dakar Rally Dakar Rally

Sports competitions in Buenos Aires