If you mention names like Hamilton, Rosberg, Rossi, Ricciardo, Whincup, Lowndes and Brock you immediately associate them as very successful competitors in various fields of motor sport. But what about Stephane Peterhansel?
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While the public at large would be familiar with the names mentioned Peterhansel would be a virtual unknown to all except the most avid motor sport fans and yet his record of achievement in the sport of Off-Road Rally Raids is incredibly brilliant.
Last weekend the Frenchman, at age 51, wrapped up his 13th Dakar Rally which was run over 13 days in Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina through extreme heat, mud, deserts, mountain passes, rocky terrain and anything else that you can imagine.
Driving his works-prepared Peugeot 3008 DKR rally raid vehicle with co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret, they contested 10 special stages in excess of 2800 kilometres plus more than 7000 kilometres of transport stages.
As an example, in one day on stage ten they covered a 450-kilometre special stage plus a 300-kilometre transport, the same as travelling from Melbourne to Dubbo in one day.
The difference is that Melbourne to Dubbo is all bitumen whereas in the Dakar, it’s everything but. Not a piece of bitumen to be seen.
Peterhansel made his Dakar rally debut in 1988 in the motorcycle category riding for Yamaha, and went onto win in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998 before transitioning to the car category in 1999.
He then joined Mitsubishi in 2003 to win for them in 2004, 2005 and 2007, before switching to the X-Raid-prepared Mini Countryman, and a win in 2013 which made him the most successful competitor in the history of the Dakar Rally.
In 2014, Peterhansel was leading on the final stage when he was controversially ordered by the team to relinquish his position to allow team mate Nani Roma through to win while Peterhansel settled for second.
When Peugeot made the decision in 2015 to compete in the Dakar for the first time since 1990, Peterhansel was very happy to join them, and proved his worth and experience by winning for the past two years.
His finishing record in the punishing event is amazing with only four DNFs in 28 starts, and to record basically a win for every two starts is extraordinary.
Apart from his Dakar success, Peterhansel is a two-time World Enduro champion and has won the UAE Desert Challenge once on a motorcycle and four times in a car.
In addition, he has won the Tunisia Rally twice, the Morocco rally once and the Paris-Moscow-Beijing Rally once on a motorcycle.
What an incredible career to be proud of.