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Nasser Al Attiyah races during stage 5 of Rally Dakar 2015 from Copiapo to Antafagosa on January 8th, 2015
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While an epic battle was hyped, little came from the returning Peugeot team.
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The Toyota of Giniel de Villiers was consistently holding down the runner up position.
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In the end, Al-Attiyah was unbeatable, taking his second Dakar win.
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Everything was looking good for El Martillo Racing during the opening five stages.
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Aldo Racing were sporting their new and more competitive Toyota Tacoma.
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On stage 6, a hidden washout dispatched the El Martillo Durango with the upmost of violence.
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Aldo Racing would recover to finish the rally in 32nd overall.
By Budd Stanley, photos courtesy of Red Bull, Aldo Racing and El Martillo Racing
Dakar Drama - The ups, the downs and the rollovers of the 2015 Dakar Rally
The story of the 2015 Dakar rally was to be the long awaited head to head battle of two factory teams. For several years now, the X-Raid MINI ALL4 factory team has had things all their own way. For the last four years teammates have fought teammates over the victory podium, somewhat nulling the excitement of a true head to head rivalry with a competing manufacturer. Great battles were extinguished by corporate bureaucracy to ensure a clean and easy win. The grand adventure of the Dakar was becoming rather scripted, as there was no real rivalry to instinct competition.
Finally, another well-funded factory team would meet the reigning champions face to face. Peugeot were back in an effort to relive the glory days of the Group B 205 and 405 machines that dominated the Dakar four years in a row back in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
However, with their return, Team Peugeot Total would take a different approach to find the top of the podium. Instead of building a top spec 4WD T1 class vehicle, the French team decided to make use of the relaxed rules in the 2WD buggy class. By building a buggy, Peugeot would be able to build a lighter car with more suspension travel and larger tires (37-in).
After 14 days, 13 stages and 9,112 km (4,601 of which were run competitively), Team Peugeot Total reached the finish of its first Dakar with two of its three Peugeot 2008 DKR entries. Only, the best result the team could manage was 11th overall. The challenge to the might of the MINI factory team failed to surface, as it was 2011 winner, Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah finishing on top of the podium once again.
Al-Attiyah’s performance was dominating over the iconic marathon event. Leading from day two all the way to the finish and going fastest on six stages, not even his own team members could challenge his speed and luck.
While the top drivers in both the Peugeot and MINI factory teams could not touch Al-Attiyah, ironically it was the semi-privateer, Giniel De Villiers, who was the only one within reach of the Qatari. Piloting a privately built Toyota Hilux, de Villiers was to hold a frustratingly constant 2nd overall position throughout the event, always having Al-Attiyah within his sights, but never able to grasp the top spot. After the 14-day rally, Al-Attiyah eventually won by 35 minutes from Giniel de Villiers and navigator Dirk von Zitzewitz, followed by the MINI of Poland’s Krzysztof Holowczyc and navigator Xavier Panseri of France to finish off the podium.
While MINI, Peugeot and Toyota battled it out for the top honours, there were two ambitious Canadians in the rally with a chance to finish high on the finishing board. The Jimco built Dodge Durango piloted by Calgary’s Matt Campbell with navigators Luis Cesar Ramirez Jr. (USA) and Nicolas Alberto Ambriz Suarez (Mexico) were back after an impressive first time finish last year. Montreal’s David Bensadoun and navigator Patrick Beaule traded in their Desert Warrior for a Toyota Tacoma Rally Raid truck built by the same team as de Villiers and hoping to move up on the competition scale.
The rally would start out in the worst possible way for the Aldo Racing team. At the end of the second day, the Montreal duo left the road at speed and rolled the Toyota damaging the passenger side of the vehicle. The Toyota was righted, put back on the road and crossed the finish line to survive the day. It was as though the team shook off all the cobwebs with the early incident. The team only became more and more competitive as the rally continued, developing a rhythm and eventually moving up to 35th position overall by the marathon 8th stage. However, a costly navigation error on the following 9th stage saw the team miss a checkpoint earning a 40-minute penalty.
Keeping it clean, El Martillo Racing had a good start to the rally, although navigator Luis Ramirez fell ill due to the heat and exhaustion. After some time in the medical centre, the team continued to lift themselves up the standings to 42nd overall by the 5th stage. However, in the 6th stage, it all went horribly wrong.
First news of a catastrophic incident first went viral on YouTube as a Dakar competitor could be seen flipping through the air at incredible speed, coming to a fiery landing with little of the vehicle left recognizable. Then a press release confirmed that the wreckage was indeed that of the El Martillo team. Traveling at nearly 170 kmh, the team approached a hidden washout in the road. Hitting the far side of the bank with the front of the Jimco Durango, the vehicle was sent airborne at speed, flipped several times end over end before coming to a stop well down the road. The incident completely destroyed the body and ejected the engine from the frame. The fact the team only sustained bruising and small cuts is a testimate to the strength of the custom built racer.
While El Martillo’s race was well and truly finished, Aldo Racing continued to press towards the finish, in an effort to make up time on a 40-minute penalty. After four more stages crossing the Atacama Desert, the Andes Mountains and crossing northern Argentina, Aldo Racing was able to lift themselves into 32nd place overall and 5th in class at the finish in Buenos Aires. Bensadoun’s and Beaule’s return to Dakar in the Toyota proved a successful combination.
With that, we end another edition of one of the most grueling and dangerous races on any motorsports calendar. Like last year, the might of the little MINI’s was too much to bear for a couple privately funded Toyota’s, and a green Peugeot squad. However, the future looks promising for a more competitive field. Our two returning Canucks experienced both good and bad fortunes and represented the Maple Leaf well. Both teams will come home to lick their wounds, and El Martillo racing will be back in action at the NORRA Mexico 1000 rally in April with a backup car. But even as the teams begin pack up and leave the South American continent, the 2016 Dakar is already in the works. We’ll do it all again in another 12-months.
Results - Overall Car Ranking Rally Dakar 2015:
- 1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) - Matthieu Baumel (FRA) Qatar Rally Team 40h32m25s
- 2. Giniel de Villiers (RSA) - Dirk von Zitzewitz (DEU) Toyota All Speed +00:35:34
- 3. Krzysztof Holowczyc (POL) - Xavier Panseri (FRA) Mini +01:32:01
- 4. Erik van Loon (NLD) - Wouter Roesegar (NLD) Mini +03:01:52
- 5. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS) - Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS) +03:12:41
- 6. Christian Lavieille (FRA) - Pascal Maimon (FRA) Toyota +03:15:58
- 7. Bernhard Ten Brinke (NLD) - Tom Colsoul (BEL) Toyota +03:42:02
- 8. Carlos Sousa (PRT) - Paulo Fiuza (PRT) Mitsubishi +03:44:59
- 9. Aidyn Rakhimbayev (KAZ) - Anton Nikolaev (RUS) Mini +04:08:44
- 10. Ronan Chabot (FRA) - Gilles Pillot (FRA) SMG +04:42:36
- 32. David Bensadoun (CAN) – Patrick Beaule (CAN) Toyota +14:25:14
DNF. Matt Campbell (CAN) - Luis Ramirez Jr. (USA) - Nicolas Alberto Ambriz Suarez (MEX) Jimco
To watch a video on the highlights of the 2015 Dakar rally click here.