Giniel finishes on a high
CRACKER: SA DRIVER BEATS THE GREAT PETERHANSEL
Gruelling contest sees Toyota finish in third place.
Closing his campaign with a bang, South African driver Giniel de Villiers was delighted to cap another consistent all-round performance with a podium finish at the Dakar Rally in South America.
Producing a late surge, De Villiers won the 14th and final stage of the two-week race to grab third place in the general classification.
He covered the last 120km timed section, held in Cordoba on Saturday, 40 seconds quicker than French driver Stephane Peterhansel.
It was the eighth time De Villiers reached the overall podium at the gruelling annual contest.
“It is always special to win a stage on the Dakar, and this year we got a win right at the end,” De Villiers said.
“But more than that, we brought the Toyota Hilux home on the podium just behind our teammates ... what a fantastic feeling.”
While Spaniard Carlos Sainz settled for ninth place on the final leg, he did enough to retain top spot in the general classification, clinching victory for the Peugeot Total outfit.
Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar took second place overall, followed by Toyota Gazoo Racing SA teammate De Villiers, with the locally manufactured vehicles putting up a real fight against the Peugeot buggies.
Further back in the field, Argentine driver Lucio Alvarez and South African navigator Rob Howie finished 10th for the Overdrive Toyota team, while the SA pairing of Hennie de Klerk and co-driver Gerhard Schutte finished 28th in their Volkswagen.
In the bike division, David Thomas was the best of the SA contingent, taking 36th overall on his Husqvarna, though he was more than 12 hours behind Austrian winner Matthias Walkner.
The rest of the South African competitors, all riding KTM bikes, displayed tremendous resilience.
Donovan van de Langeberg finished 54th, Willem du Toit was 58th, and Gerry van der Byl ended 85th and last in the two-wheel category.