Motorsport
De Villiers wins Dakar Rally
2009-01-17 19:41
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Buenos Aires - Giniel De Villiers of South Africa won the Dakar Rally on Saturday after capturing the final stage to hold off Mark Miller of the United States, while Marc Coma of Spain won his second motorbike title.
De Villiers finished the 14th and final stage from Cordoba to Buenos Aires in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 43 seconds in his Volkswagen while Miller finished sixth, 6 minutes, 39 seconds back.
It was De Villier's fourth stage win but first overall title, as he held on to the lead he overtook when Spain's Carlos Sainz withdrew after a crash on Thursday.
NASCAR driver Robby Gordon took third overall in his Hummer after a 23rd-place finish in the last stage of the race, which followed a route of more than 9,000 kilometers through Argentina, over the Andes and into neighboring Chile before returning to Buenos Aires.
De Villiers finished in a total time of 48:10:57 to beat Miller, his Volkswagen teammate, by a mere 8:59. Gordon was 1:46:15 off the lead.
Volkswagen's Dieter Depping of Germany finished sixth as the automaker ended several years of Mitsubishi domination of the race.
Coma won the motorbike category in 52:14:33, nearly 90 minutes ahead of Cyril Despres of France and 1:38:56 ahead of David Fretigne of France.
The 30th Dakar Rally was the first to be held outside Africa, after the 2008 race was canceled because of potential terrorist attacks in Mauritania.