2015 Dakar Rally Explained

2015 Dakar Rally
Previous Round:	2014 Dakar Rally
Next Round:	2016 Dakar Rally
Country:
Finish:	Buenos Aires
Startdate:	4
Enddate:	17 January 2015
Stages:	13
Overallkm:	9295
Category2:	Bikes
Team2:
Category3:	Quads
Category1:	Cars
Category4:	Trucks
Teamsstart:	406
Teamsfinish:	207

The 2015 Dakar Rally was the 37th running of the event and the seventh successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 4, then ran through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, before returning to Buenos Aires on January 17 after 13 stages of competition, for a total distance of 9000km (6,000miles).^[1] ^[2] For the first time, organizers reserved separate rest days for different categories so that at least two classes raced on each day.

Marc Coma won a fifth title in the motorcycle category for KTM, while Rafał Sonik secured a maiden quads crown aboard his Yamaha. Nasser Al-Attiyah took his second title for the X-Raid Mini squad in the car category, while Ayrat Mardeev continued Kamaz's winning streak – a third successive win in the Dakar Rally – in the truck category, with his maiden success.

Entries

**Number of participants**
Stage	Bikes	Quads	Cars	Trucks	Total
Start of rally	161	45	137	63	406^[3]
Rest day	115	24	76	52	267
End of rally	79	18	67	43	207

Bikes

**Leading entries**
Manufacturer	Team	No.
KTM		1
		4
		6
		11
		8
		9
Honda	HRC Rally	2
		5
		7
		12
		29
	Honda South America	24
Yamaha		3
		17
		19
		10
		15
Sherco	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	14
Sherco	Sherco TVS Rally Factory	25

Quads

**Leading entries**
Manufacturer	Team	No.	Rider
Yamaha		250
		251
		252
		255
		260
		261
Honda		253
		254
		258
Can-Am		257

Cars

**Leading entries**
Manufacturer	Team	No.
Mini		300
		305
		307
		301
Peugeot	Team Peugeot Total	302
		304
		322
Toyota	Imperial Toyota	303
	Imperial Toyota	327
	Overdrive	309
		313
		315
	Yazeed Racing	325
	Mitsubishi Petrobras	306
Hummer	Speed Energy Racing	308
SMG	SMG	312
SMG	SMG	320
Ford	YPF Ford Racing	317
X-Raid	Buggy All Terrain Team	323

Trucks

**Leading entries**
Manufacturer	Team	No.	Driver	Co-drivers
Kamaz		500
		502
		507
		520
Iveco		501
		504
		509
MAN		503
MAN		508
Tatra		506
Tatra		515
Ginaf		511

Stages

Stage	Date	Depart	Arrive	Bikes			Quads	Cars			Trucks
Stage	Date	Depart	Arrive			Winner	Winner			Winner			Winner
1	4 January	Buenos Aires	Villa Carlos Paz	663	175	S. Sunderland	I. Casale	663	170	O. Terranova	663	175	H. Stacey
2	5 January	Villa Carlos Paz	San Juan	107	518	J. Barreda	I. Casale	107	518	N. Al-Attiyah	315	331	E. Nikolaev
3	6 January	San Juan	Chilecito	437	220	M. Walkner	L. Bonetto	258	284	O. Terranova	258	284	A. Mardeev
4	7 January	Chilecito	Copiapó	594	315	J. Barreda	R. Sonik	594	315	N. Al-Attiyah	594	174	E. Nikolaev
5	8 January	Copiapó	Antofagasta	239	458	M. Coma	R. Sonik	239	458	V. Vasilyev	239	458	E. Nikolaev
6	9 January	Antofagasta	Iquique	369	319	H. Rodrigues	I. Casale	392	255	N. Al-Attiyah	370	255	E. Nikolaev
7	10 January 11 January	Iquique	Uyuni Atacama	396	321	P. Gonçalves	N. Sanabria	396	321	O. Terranova	101	335	A. Loprais
8	11 January 12 January	Uyuni Atacama	Iquique	24	781	P. Quintanilla	J. González	24	781	Y. Al-Rajhi	0	271	E. Nikolaev
9	13 January	Iquique	Calama	88	451	H. Rodrigues	V. Gallegos	88	451	N. Roma	88	451	A. Mardeev
10	14 January	Calama	Salta	520	371	J. Barreda	N. Sanabria	501	359	N. Al-Attiyah	501	359	E. Nikolaev
11	15 January	Salta	Termas de Río Hondo	161	351	I. Jakeš	C. Declerck	326	194	N. Al-Attiyah	326	194	H. Stacey
12	16 January	Termas de Río Hondo	Rosario	726	298	T. Price	C. Declerck	726	298	O. Terranova	726	298	H. Stacey
13	17 January	Rosario	Buenos Aires	219	174	I. Jakeš	W. Saaijman	219	174	R. Gordon	219	174	H. Stacey

Notes

Summary

Bikes

The race was expected to be a fight between KTM, led by defending champion Marc Coma, and Honda's fleet, spearheaded by Joan Barreda, which had not triumphed since returning to Dakar as a works operation. KTM's Sam Sunderland won the opening stage, but dropped time getting lost on the second stage before retiring after injuring his shoulder and collarbone in a crash on the fourth stage.^[4] That handed the lead to Barreda, who extended his advantage to almost 13 minutes over Coma with wins in the second and fourth stages. Coma fought back with his first (and only) stage victory the following day, Barreda having his lead reduced to six-and-a-half minutes on the seventh stage after a fall which damaged his handlebar.^[5]

Worse was to come for Barreda on the eighth stage however, as a mechanical failure while traversing the damp Uyuni salt flats meant he had to be towed by teammate Jeremias Israel, losing over three hours as a result and any chance of victory.^[6] Barreda's misfortune left Coma with a lead of just under ten minutes from Paulo Gonçalves, around whom the rest of the Honda team rallied in order to challenge Coma in the subsequent stages. Gonçalves nonetheless saw his own victory hopes ruined by a penalty for an engine change on Stage 11, Barreda also losing his fourth stage win of the rally for similar reasons. Ultimately, Coma would finish the rally with just under 17 minutes in hand from Gonçalves, who took his first ever Dakar podium as Coma clinched a fifth title in the category.

Rookie Toby Price (KTM) finished third overall after winning the penultimate stage, the best performance by an Australian on a bike in the Dakar since Andy Haydon finished in the same position in 1998. Fellow newcomer Matthias Walkner (KTM) was equally impressive, winning the third stage but ultimately had to retire due to illness.^[7] The top five was rounded out by KTM privateers Pablo Quintanilla, who won the eighth stage, and Štefan Svitko, with Coma's water carrier Ruben Faria finishing sixth despite suffering a broken collarbone as recently as November. Laia Sanz finished ninth to become the most successful ever female rider in Dakar history,^[8] ahead of top Yamaha rider Olivier Pain, who struggled with an under-developed bike.

Hélder Rodrigues (Honda), suffering from influenza early in the rally, won stages 6 and 9 but would drop down the standings when he turned his attentions to helping Gonçalves' bid for victory, finishing 12th. Barreda meanwhile recovered to finish 17th, once again taking more stage victories – with 3 – than any other rider, as he did in 2014. Notable non-finishers included 2014 runner-up Jordi Viladoms (KTM) and factory Sherco rider Juan Pedrero.

Quads

After six years of South American domination, the 2015 edition crowned Polish rider Rafał Sonik, who along with defending champion Ignacio Casale began the event as favourite for victory. The duel between the Yamaha pair was finely balanced until the tenth stage, which saw Casale, who had been running second just four minutes down on Sonik, withdrawing with mechanical problems, while third-place rider Sergio Lafuente (Yamaha) also suffered a violent accident.^[9] This gave Sonik a lead of nearly three hours over nearest rival Jeremias González (Yamaha), which he duly maintained to the finish. Rounding out the podium was top Honda rider Walter Nosiglia, almost a further hour behind González.

Cars

The event began disastrously for defending champion Nani Roma, who suffered a breakdown a short way into the opening stage and had to be towed to the bivouac by an assistance vehicle – immediately ruling him out of the fight for the victory and relegating him to a support player in the X-Raid Mini team.^[10] Roma's teammate Orlando Terranova inherited the first stage win after a speeding penalty for Nasser Al-Attiyah, but Terranova would suffer a roll in the second stage, effectively ending his challenge. Three more wins in the next five stages allowed Al-Attiyah to build up an 11-minute advantage over Giniel de Villiers in his Toyota Hilux, who would be the closest driver to attempt to keep up with Al-Attiyah.

After closing to within eight minutes of Al-Attiyah, de Villiers would lose around 16 minutes to his rival on stage 9 due to a navigational error, taking the pressure off the leader.^[11] Al-Attiyah was not to be challenged again, winning stages 10 and 11, to take the overall title by a margin of 35 minutes from de Villiers. It was Al-Attiyah's second overall win at the Dakar.

Debutant Yazeed Al-Rajhi (Toyota) was the race's surprise, winning the eighth stage and holding third in the overall standings for much of the rally prior to retiring three stages later due to mechanical issues.^[12] That promoted Krzysztof Hołowczyc to the final place on the podium, over 90 minutes adrift of teammate Al-Attiyah, with privateers Erik van Loon and Vladimir Vasilyev – winner of stage five – making it four Minis in the top five. After winning the ninth stage, Roma would withdraw after a heavy accident the next day,^[12] while Terranova won a further trio of stages after his opening day success to end the event 18th overall.

If Mini dominated the race – winning 11 of the 13 stages – Peugeot, returning after 25 years, were left disillusioned as their two-wheel drive, diesel-powered 2008 DKR contender suffered from many reliability issues. 11-time event winner Stéphane Peterhansel finished 11th overall, never challenging for stage wins, while Cyril Despres could not better 34th position, struggling to adapt to the car category after much success on two wheels. Carlos Sainz was the fastest of the Peugeot team and the only one to rival the pace of the Minis and Toyotas, but he lost two hours with mechanical problems in the fourth stage and retired the next day due to a violent crash.^[13]

The ever-popular Robby Gordon, back with his new Gordini buggy – a shorter version of the Hummer H3 – would suffer from overheating brakes on the second stage, losing four hours, and experienced further problems on the fourth stage. Victory in the shortened final stage put Gordon 19th overall.^[14] Ronan Chabot was the highest-ranked buggy driver, taking the SMG prototype to 10th in the standings. Guerlain Chicherit, with a buggy from the X-Raid team – similar to that used by Al-Attiyah and Sainz in 2013 – was only 45th, plagued from the start with several mechanical and electrical problems, including a fire that nearly destroyed the car.^[15]

Trucks

The race was totally dominated by the Kamaz team, which won 8 of the 13 stages and swept the podium with its drivers Ayrat Mardeev – son of the recently deceased Ilgizar Mardeev, runner-up in 2007 – Eduard Nikolaev and reigning champion Andrey Karginov. Winning four of the first six stages, Nikolaev had built up a lead of 13 minutes over Mardeev, but dropped back with mechanical problems on stage 7, handing Mardeev an advantage of 22 minutes over Karginov. Nikolaev fought his way back up to second with two more stage wins. However, he fell just under 14 minutes short of overhauling Mardeev, with Karginov 51 minutes down by the finish.

Aleš Loprais switched from Tatra to MAN machinery and was the only competitor able to keep pace with the Kamaz fleet, winning the seventh stage but finished the rally fourth overall and more than an hour from the podium places. Iveco, despite four stage wins courtesy of Hans Stacey, suffered from reliability issues, with the result that Stacey could do no better than sixth – just behind Kamaz's fourth driver Dmitry Sotnikov – and Gerard de Rooy ninth. The Belarusian Siarhei Viazovich almost caused an upset when he came close to winning stage 2 for MAZ, but finished all the way down in 34th after suffering severe gearbox issues.^[16]

Stage results

Bikes

	Stage result					General classification
Stage	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap
1	1	Sam Sunderland	KTM	1:18:57		1	Sam Sunderland	KTM	1:18:57
	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	1:19:02	0:05	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	1:19:02	0:05
	3	Marc Coma	KTM	1:20:09	1:12	3	Marc Coma	KTM	1:20:09	1:12
2	1	Joan Barreda	Honda	5:46:06		1	Joan Barreda	Honda	7:06:44
	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	5:52:19	6:13	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	7:11:21	4:37
	3	Ruben Faria	KTM	5:55:22	9:16	3	Ruben Faria	KTM	7:17:21	10:37
3	1	Matthias Walkner	KTM	2:34:28		1	Joan Barreda	Honda	9:43:05
	2	Marc Coma	KTM	2:35:08	0:40	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	9:48:38	5:33
	3	Joan Barreda	Honda	2:36:21	1:53	3	Matthias Walkner	KTM	9:53:38	10:33
4	1	Joan Barreda	Honda	3:27:28		1	Joan Barreda	Honda	13:10:33
	2	Marc Coma	KTM	3:29:27	1:59	2	Marc Coma	KTM	13:23:22	12:49
	3	Pablo Quintanilla	KTM	3:30:17	2:49	3	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	13:31:02	20:29
5	1	Marc Coma	KTM	4:38:16		1	Joan Barreda	Honda	17:51:05
	2	Joan Barreda	Honda	4:40:32	2:16	2	Marc Coma	KTM	18:01:38	10:33
	3	Pablo Quintanilla	KTM	4:40:56	2:40	3	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	18:13:55	22:50
6	1	Hélder Rodrigues	Honda	3:40:10		1	Joan Barreda	Honda	21:38:35
	2	Toby Price	KTM	3:41:20	1:10	2	Marc Coma	KTM	21:51:02	12:27
	3	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	3:41:52	1:42	3	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	21:55:47	17:12
7	1	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	3:56:00		1	Joan Barreda	Honda	25:40:48
	2	Marc Coma	KTM	3:56:14	0:14	2	Marc Coma	KTM	25:47:16	6:28
	3	Matthias Walkner	KTM	3:56:30	0:30	3	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	25:51:47	10:59
8	1	Pablo Quintanilla	KTM	2:56:19		1	Marc Coma	KTM	28:51:12
	2	Juan Pedrero	Yamaha	2:56:30	0:11	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	29:00:23	9:11
	3	Štefan Svitko	KTM	2:56:31	0:12	3	Pablo Quintanilla	KTM	29:02:23	11:11
9	1	Hélder Rodrigues	Honda	5:06:14		1	Marc Coma	KTM	34:05:00
	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	5:10:05	3:51	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	34:10:28	5:28
	3	Marc Coma	KTM	5:13:48	7:34	3	Pablo Quintanilla	KTM	34:31:52	26:52
10	1	Joan Barreda	Honda	4:07:11		1	Marc Coma	KTM	38:13:50
	2	Marc Coma	KTM	4:08:50	1:39	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	38:21:25	7:35
	3	Ruben Faria	KTM	4:09:08	1:57	3	Pablo Quintanilla	KTM	38:45:32	31:42
11	1	Ivan Jakeš	KTM	3:28:08		1	Marc Coma	KTM	41:43:03
	2	Ruben Faria	KTM	3:28:16	0:08	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	42:04:15	21:12
	3	Toby Price	KTM	3:28:50	0:42	3	Toby Price	KTM	42:14:46	31:43
12	1	Toby Price	KTM	3:19:04		1	Marc Coma	KTM	45:08:32
	2	Joan Barreda	Honda	3:20:59	1:55	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	45:26:21	17:49
	3	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	3:22:06	3:02	3	Toby Price	KTM	45:33:50	25:18
13	1	Ivan Jakeš	KTM	52:06		1	Marc Coma	KTM	46:03:49
	2	Štefan Svitko	KTM	52:51	0:45	2	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	46:20:42	16:53
	3	Toby Price	KTM	53:13	1:07	3	Toby Price	KTM	46:27:03	23:14

Quads

	Stage result					General classification
Stage	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap
1	1	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	1:37:08		1	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	1:37:08
	2	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	1:38:15	1:07	2	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	1:38:15	1:07
	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	1:38:31	1:23	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	1:38:31	1:23
2	1	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	6:52:57		1	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	8:30:05
	2	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	6:53:38	0:41	2	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	8:32:09	2:04
	3	Sebastian Halpern	Yamaha	6:58:30	5:33	3	Sebastian Halpern	Yamaha	8:41:18	11:13
3	1	Lucas Bonetto	Honda	3:08:27		1	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	11:43:15
	2	Sebastian Halpern	Yamaha	3:09:25	0:58	2	Sebastian Halpern	Yamaha	11:50:43	7:28
	3	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	3:10:41	2:14	3	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	11:53:20	10:05
4	1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	4:11:35		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	16:04:55
	2	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	4:15:01	3:26	2	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	16:08:44	3:49
	3	Mohammed Abu-Issa	Honda	4:24:49	13:14	3	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	16:18:27	13:32
5	1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	5:47:46		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	21:52:41
	2	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	5:58:37	10:51	2	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	22:17:04	24:23
	3	Jeremias González	Yamaha	6:09:27	21:41	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	22:19:01	26:20
6	1	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	4:21:52		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	26:22:48
	2	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	4:30:07	8:15	2	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	26:38:56	16:08
	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	4:45:00	23:08	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	27:04:01	41:13
7	1	Nelson Sanabria	Yamaha	5:22:12		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	31:50:46
	2	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	5:27:58	5:46	2	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	32:12:45	21:59
	3	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	5:33:49	11:37	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	32:58:46	1:08:00
8	1	Jeremias González	Yamaha	3:43:35		1	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	36:04:14
	2	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	3:51:29	7:54	2	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	36:11:03	6:49
	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	3:54:39	11:04	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	36:53:25	49:11
9	1	Víctor Gallegos	Honda	6:31:46		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	42:58:24
	2	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	6:47:21	15:35	2	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	43:02:24	4:00
	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	6:57:15	25:29	3	Sergio Lafuente	Yamaha	43:50:40	52:16
10	1	Nelson Sanabria	Yamaha	4:58:29		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	48:02:07
	2	Jeremias González	Yamaha	5:01:39	3:10	2	Jeremias González	Yamaha	50:53:46	2:51:39
	3	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	5:02:29	4:00	3	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	51:46:32	3:44:25
11	1	Christophe Declerck	Yamaha	3:56:39		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	52:07:58
	2	Nelson Sanabria	Yamaha	4:03:14	6:35	2	Jeremias González	Yamaha	54:57:59	2:50:01
	3	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	4:03:29	6:50	3	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	55:50:01	3:42:03
12	1	Christophe Declerck	Yamaha	3:47:15		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	56:05:18
	2	Nelson Sanabria	Yamaha	3:54:24	7:09	2	Jeremias González	Yamaha	58:57:35	2:52:17
	3	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	3:56:46	9:31	3	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	59:46:47	3:41:29
13	1	Willem Saaijman	Yamaha	1:05:05		1	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	57:18:39
	2	Christophe Declerck	Yamaha	1:05:11	0:06	2	Jeremias González	Yamaha	60:13:29	2:54:50
	3	Daniel Domaszewski	Honda	1:05:14	0:09	3	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	61:01:35	3:42:56

Cars

	Stage result					General classification
Stage	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap
1	1	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	1:13:12		1	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	1:13:12
	2	Robby Gordon Johnny Campbell	Hummer	1:13:54	0:42	2	Robby Gordon Johnny Campbell	Hummer	1:13:54	0:42
	3	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	1:14:02	0:50	3	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	1:14:02	0:50
2	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	5:04:50		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	6:19:40
	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	5:13:20	8:30	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	6:27:22	7:42
	3	Bernhard ten Brinke Tom Colsoul	Toyota	5:14:54	10:04	3	Bernhard ten Brinke Tom Colsoul	Toyota	6:29:22	9:42
3	1	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	2:57:28		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	9:21:26
	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	2:59:22	1:54	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	9:26:44	5:18
	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	3:00:20	2:52	3	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	9:39:31	18:05
4	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	3:09:18		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	12:30:44
	2	Nani Roma Michel Périn	Mini	3:11:58	2:40	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	12:38:59	8:15
	3	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	3:12:15	2:57	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	12:54:17	23:33
5	1	Vladimir Vasilyev Konstantin Zhiltsov	Mini	4:19:18		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	16:53:26
	2	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	4:19:38	0:20	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	17:04:01	10:35
	3	Robby Gordon Johnny Campbell	Hummer	4:20:43	1:25	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	17:13:55	20:29
6	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	2:37:18		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	19:30:44
	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	2:37:55	0:37	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	19:41:56	11:12
	3	Nani Roma Michel Périn	Mini	2:38:42	1:24	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	19:59:28	28:44
7	1	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	3:31:18		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	23:11:50
	2	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	3:33:38	2:20	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	23:20:04	8:14
	3	Bernhard ten Brinke Tom Colsoul	Toyota	3:33:46	2:28	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	23:33:06	21:16
8	1	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	3:26:49		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	26:41:15
	2	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	3:28:01	1:12	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	26:49:42	8:27
	3	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	3:29:25	2:36	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	26:59:55	18:40
9	1	Nani Roma Michel Périn	Mini	4:41:56		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	31:29:38
	2	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	4:48:23	6:27	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	31:53:36	23:58
	3	Vladimir Vasilyev Konstantin Zhiltsov	Mini	4:57:48	15:52	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	32:09:07	39:29
10	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	3:49:59		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	35:19:37
	2	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	3:51:34	1:35	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	35:47:59	28:22
	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	3:53:38	3:39	3	Yazeed Al-Rajhi Timo Gottschalk	Toyota	36:02:45	43:08
11	1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	1:53:10		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	37:12:47
	2	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	1:53:37	0:27	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	37:41:48	29:01
	3	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	1:53:49	0:39	3	Krzysztof Hołowczyc Xavier Panseri	Mini	38:41:36	1:28:49
12	1	Orlando Terranova Bernardo Graue	Mini	3:04:06		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	40:18:30
	2	Vladimir Vasilyev Konstantin Zhiltsov	Mini	3:04:36	0:30	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	40:54:09	35:39
	3	Emiliano Spataro Benjamin Lozada	Renault	3:05:35	1:29	3	Krzysztof Hołowczyc Xavier Panseri	Mini	41:50:21	1:31:51
13	1	Robby Gordon Johnny Campbell	Hummer	13:16		1	Nasser Al-Attiyah Matthieu Baumel	Mini	40:32:25
	2	Leeroy Poulter Robert Howie	Toyota	13:41	0:25	2	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	41:07:59	35:34
	3	Emiliano Spataro Benjamin Lozada	Renault	13:45	0:29	3	Krzysztof Hołowczyc Xavier Panseri	Mini	42:04:26	1:32:01

Trucks

	Stage result					General classification
Stage	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap	Pos	Competitor	Make	Time	Gap
1	1	Hans Stacey Serge Bruynkens Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	1:30:43		1	Hans Stacey Serge Bruynkens Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	1:30:43
	2	Marcel van Vliet Marcel Pronk Artur Klein	MAN	1:31:18	0:35	2	Marcel van Vliet Marcel Pronk Artur Klein	MAN	1:31:18	0:35
	3	Aleš Loprais Ferran Alcayna Jan van der Vaet	MAN	1:31:30	0:47	3	Aleš Loprais Ferran Alcayna Jan van der Vaet	MAN	1:31:30	0:47
2	1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	3:34:01		1	Hans Stacey Serge Bruynkens Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	5:06:11
	2	Siarhei Viazovich Pavel Haranin Andrei Zhyulin	MAZ	3:34:47	0:46	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	5:06:31	0:20
	3	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	3:34:50	0:49	3	Martin Kolomý David Kilián René Kilián	Tatra	5:07:12	1:01
3	1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	3:19:06		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	8:26:22
	2	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	3:20:57	1:51	2	Aleš Loprais Ferran Alcayna Jan van der Vaet	MAN	8:34:17	7:55
	3	Gerard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Jurgen Damen	Iveco	3:23:36	4:30	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	8:34:20	7:58
4	1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	2:06:54		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	10:39:26
	2	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	2:07:51	0:57	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	10:41:23	1:57
	3	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	2:13:04	6:10	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	10:42:11	2:45
5	1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	4:34:55		1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	15:16:18
	2	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	4:44:53	9:58	2	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	15:24:19	8:01
	3	Siarhei Viazovich Pavel Haranin Andrei Zhyhulin	MAZ	4:50:41	15:46	3	Aleš Loprais Ferran Alcayna Jan van der Vaet	MAN	15:43:46	27:28
6	1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	2:54:28		1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	18:10:46
	2	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	3:00:05	5:37	2	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	18:24:24	13:38
	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	3:05:08	10:40	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	18:49:02	38:16
7	1	Aleš Loprais Ferran Alcayna Jan van der Vaet	MAN	4:02:54		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	22:35:32
	2	Gerard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Jurgen Damen	Iveco	4:08:33	5:39	2	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	22:57:45	22:13
	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	4:08:43	5:49	3	Dmitry Sotnikov Igor Devyatkin Andrey Aferin	Kamaz	23:19:38	44:06
8	1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	3:25:47		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	26:33:21
	2	Gerard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Jurgen Damen	Iveco	3:37:03	11:16	2	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	26:38:30	5:09
	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	3:40:45	14:58	3	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	26:46:02	12:41
9	1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	5:19:29		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	31:52:50
	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	5:20:58	1:29	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	32:07:00	14:10
	3	Gerard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Jurgen Damen	Iveco	5:26:34	7:05	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	32:13:32	20:42
10	1	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	4:18:17		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	36:11:56
	2	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	4:19:06	0:49	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	36:25:17	13:21
	3	Siarhei Viazovich Pavel Haranin Andrei Zhyhulin	MAZ	4:19:36	1:19	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	36:54:42	42:46
11	1	Hans Stacey Serge Bruynkens Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	2:08:11		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	38:24:13
	2	Gerard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Jurgen Damen	Iveco	2:09:21	1:10	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	38:35:24	11:11
	3	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	2:10:07	1:56	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	39:11:57	47:44
12	1	Hans Stacey Serge Bruynkens Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	3:33:39		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	41:59:07
	2	Marcel van Vliet Marcel Pronk Artur Klein	MAN	3:33:57	0:18	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	42:11:50	12:43
	3	Gerard de Rooy Darek Rodewald Jurgen Damen	Iveco	3:34:07	0:28	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	42:47:47	48:40
13	1	Hans Stacey Serge Bruynkens Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	20:31		1	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	42:22:01
	2	Marcel van Vliet Marcel Pronk Artur Klein	MAN	21:52	1:21	2	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Ruslan Akhmadeev	Kamaz	42:35:53	13:52
	3	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	22:54	2:23	3	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	43:13:01	51:00

Final standings

Bikes

Pos	No.	Rider	Bike	Entrant	Time	Gap
1	1	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	46:03:49
2	7	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda	HRC Rally	46:20:42	+16:53
3	26	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally	Red Bull KTM Rally Factory Team	46:27:03	+23:14
4	31	Pablo Quintanilla	KTM 450 Rally	Transportes Artisa	46:42:27	+38:38
5	18	Štefan Svitko	KTM 450 Rally	Slovnaft Team	46:48:06	+44:17
6	11	Ruben Faria	KTM 450 Rally	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	48:01:39	+1:57:50
7	9	David Casteu	KTM 450 Rally	Team Casteu	48:04:03	+2:00:14
8	21	Ivan Jakeš	KTM 450 Rally	Jakes Dakar Team	48:22:07	+2:18:18
9	29	Laia Sanz	Honda	Honda Rally	48:28:10	+2:24:21
10	3	Olivier Pain	Yamaha	Yamaha Factory Racing	49:12:58	+3:09:09

Quads

Pos	No.	Rider	Quad	Time	Gap
1	251	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	57:18:39
2	261	Jeremías González	Yamaha	60:13:29	+2:54:50
3	283	Walter Nosiglia	Honda	61:01:35	+3:42:56
4	256	Nelson Sanabria	Yamaha	61:28:36	+4:09:57
5	260	Christophe Declerck	Yamaha	63:07:19	+5:48:40
6	270	Daniel Domaszewski	Honda	65:54:49	+8:36:10
7	257	Sebastián Palma	Can-Am	67:48:53	+10:30:14
8	265	Santiago Hansen	Honda	70:43:09	+13:24:30
9	286	Willem Saaijman	Yamaha	70:47:17	+13:28:38
10	295	André Suguita	Can-Am	79:39:53	+22:21:14

Cars

Pos	No.	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Entrant	Time	Gap
1	301	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Matthieu Baumel	Mini	Qatar Raid Team	40:32:25
2	303	Giniel de Villiers	Dirk von Zitzewitz	Toyota	Imperial Toyota	41:07:59	+35:54
3	307		Xavier Panseri	Mini		42:04:26	+1:32:01
4	314	Erik van Loon	Wouter Rosegaar	Mini	XDakar	43:34:17	+3:01:52
5	310	Vladimir Vasilyev		Mini	G-Energy Team	43:45:06	+3:12:41
6	309	Christian Lavieille	Pascal Maimon	Toyota	Overdrive	43:48:23	+3:15:58
7	315	Bernhard ten Brinke	Tom Colsoul	Toyota	Overdrive	44:14:27	+3:42:02
8	306	Carlos Sousa	Paulo Fiuza	Mitsubishi	Mitsubishi Petrobras	44:17:24	+3:44:59
9	329	Aidyn Rakhimbayev	Anton Nikolaev	Mini	Astana Dakar Team	44:41:09	+4:08:44
10	320	Ronan Chabot	Gilles Pillot	SMG	Toys Motors-SMG	45:15:01	+4:42:36

Trucks

Pos	No.	Driver	Co-drivers	Truck	Entrant	Time	Gap
1	507	Ayrat Mardeev	Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	Kamaz-Master	42:22:01
2	502	Eduard Nikolaev		Kamaz	Kamaz-Master	42:35:53	+13:52
3	500	Andrey Karginov	Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	Kamaz-Master	43:13:01	+51:00
4	503	Aleš Loprais	Ferran Alcayna Jan van der Vaet	MAN	Eurol/Veka MAN Rally Team	44:18:38	+1:56:37
5	520	Dmitry Sotnikov	Igor Devyatkin Andrey Aferin	Kamaz	Kamaz-Master	44:46:33	+2:24:32
6	504	Hans Stacey	Serge Bruynkens Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco	44:51:30	+2:29:29
7	506	Martin Kolomý	David Kilián René Kilián	Tatra	Tatra Buggyra Racing	46:29:30	+4:07:29
8	508	Marcel van Vliet	Marcel Pronk Artur Klein	MAN	Eurol/Veka MAN Rally Team	46:41:42	+4:19:41
9	501	Gerard de Rooy	Darek Rodewald Jurgen Damen	Iveco	Petronas Team De Rooy Iveco	49:30:42	+7:08:41
10	535	Aleksandr Vasilevski	Valery Kazlouski Anton Zaparoshchanka	MAZ	MAZ-Sport auto	49:31:00	+7:08:59

Notes and References

News: 2015 Dakar Rally Route Announced. 4 April 2014. 2 January 2015. Dennis. Chung. Motorcycle.com. VerticalScope Inc..
Web site: The route. Dakar Rally. Amaury Sport Organisation. 2 January 2015.
Web site: A Clash of Titans to Inaugurate a New Era . motorsport.com . 3 January 2015.
News: Sam Sunderland pulls out of Dakar Rally after crash. The National. Abu Dhabi Media. 8 January 2015. 18 January 2015.
Web site: Stage 7 – stage report. 11 January 2015. 18 January 2015. Dakar Rally. Amaury Sport Organisation.
Web site: Stage 9 – adrenalin. 13 January 2015. 18 January 2015. Dakar Rally. Amaury Sport Organisation.
News: Matthias Walkner musste bei Rallye Dakar aufgeben. de. Matthias Walkner was forced to retire in Dakar Rally. 14 January 2015. 18 January 2015. Salzburger Nachrichten. Maximilian Dasch; Salzburger Nachrichten Verlag.
News: Laia Sanz logra el mejor puesto de la historia de una mujer en motos del Dakar. es. Laia Sanz achieves the lowest position in the history of Dakar bikes for a woman. 17 January 2015. 18 January 2015. Sport. Ediciones Deportivas Catalanas, S.A..
News: A miracle – Sonik avoided an accident and... lost his rivals. 15 January 2015. 18 January 2015. Rafał Sonik. PR2. https://web.archive.org/web/20150118164015/http://rafalsonik.pl/en/cud-na-trasie-sonik-uniknal-wypadku-i-stracil-rywali/. 18 January 2015. dead. dmy-all.
News: Nani Roma more than six hours behind following Stage 1 breakdown. Chris. Estrada. 4 January 2015. 18 January 2015. MotorSportsTalk. NBC Sports.
News: Al-Attiyah wins again to take full command in Dakar Rally. 15 January 2015. 18 January 2015. Yahoo! Sports. Yahoo!. Agence France-Presse.
News: Reigning champ Nani Roma, top rookie Yazeed Alrajhi done at the Dakar. Chris. Estrada. 15 January 2015. 18 January 2015. MotorSportsTalk. NBC Sports.
News: Stage 5 crash forces Carlos Sainz out of Dakar Rally. Chris. Estrada. 8 January 2015. 18 January 2015. MotorSportsTalk. NBC Sports.
News: Robby Gordon wins shortened final stage; Al-Attiyah now 2-time champ. Chris. Estrada. 17 January 2015. 18 January 2015. MotorSportsTalk. NBC Sports.
News: 2015 Odisseia na América do Sul com... Guerlain Chicherit. pt. 2015 Odyssey in South America with... Guerlain Chicherit. André. Duarte. 16 January 2015. 18 January 2015. AutoSport. FollowMedia Comunicação. 18 January 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150118153555/http://autosport.pt/2015-odisseia-na-america-do-sul-com-guerlain-chicherit=f130207#ixzz3PBFzyrld. dead.
News: Kamaz oppermachtig, winst voor Mardeev. Alex. Miedema. 17 January 2015. 18 January 2015. nl. Kamaz supreme, win for Mardeev. RallyManiacs.nl. RallyManiacs. https://web.archive.org/web/20150118204748/http://www.rallymaniacs.nl/dakarrally/dakar-rally-2015/1757-dakar-2015-trucks-kamaz-oppermachtig-winst-voor-mardeev. 18 January 2015. dead.