France's Peterhansel wins Dakar Rally again

DAKAR, Senegal - France's Stephane Peterhansel won his second straight Dakar Rally, a 5,566-mile race that began in Spain two weeks ago, covered vast stretches of African desert and left two motorcyclists dead.

Peterhansel added another car title to his six victories in the motorcycle division. The Mitsubishi driver completed the punishing test Sunday in 52 hours, 31 minutes, 39 seconds.

France's Luc Alphand, a former champion downhill skier, finished second in a Mitsubishi, 27:14 behind. Germany's Jutta Kleinschmidt was in third, 3:22:00 behind Peterhansel.

"This second victory is a confirmation of my new status as a car driver," Peterhansel said, smiling as he emerged from his vehicle covered in dust.

In the motorbike class, KTM rider Cyril Despres of France won in 47:27:31. Marc Coma of Spain, also of KTM, was 9:45 back. Russia's Firdaus Kabirov won in the truck category in 71:13:55. Japan's Katsumi Hamura was 6:04:19 behind

The 16-stage race began New Year's Eve in Barcelona and snaked through Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Senegal. The rally ended with a 23-mile stage that ran from West Africa's Atlantic Ocean beaches to Lac Rose, a lake just outside the Senegalese capital of Dakar.

About 465 cars, trucks and motorcycles started this year. Only 216 were still in the rally Sunday, the rest having broken down or crashed.

France's Bruno Saby won the final car stage. Peterhansel finished the last leg in 11th place, 3:09 behind Saby.

Before the last stage there was a minute of silence for the motorcyclists who died this year - Jose Manuel Perez of Spain and Fabrizio Meoni of Italy. Meoni, a two-time winner, had had said this Dakar Rally would be his last.

"In December we made a promise that at least one of our bikes would be on the podium," a tearful Depres said. "When I crossed the finish line, I didn't know whether I would be sad or happy. But I can tell you that it's a mixture of those two feelings."

Depres said Meoni's death wouldn't stop him from competing again.

"We're all here because we love the desert, the dunes and the competition," Depres said. "So I will definitely continue."

Peterhansel acknowledged the race's dangers.

"Before entering the race you know there are a lot of risks," he said. "And every rider accepts the risks."