Auto Shows Dakar 2021. Stéphane Peterhansel: “I think I am the only one to have won on three continents”

© AFP Peterhansel and his partners after the victory on the Dakar 2021.

The French driver has just won his 14th Dakar. An exceptional performance that he explains through experience but not only.

Crowned on Friday with an 14th coronation on the Dakar , Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel admits despite all that he feels "still so much pressure" at the idea of ​​winning the most famous of rally-raids.

What is your feeling after this new victory, your 14th (eight in a car, six in a motorcycle)?

It's always so much pressure. Each race is still very complicated to win. You really have to go all out, be complete, have a good team, a good car, a top co-driver. But despite that it is human to make mistakes and you can do it very quickly, so winning for the 14th time was important. Thirty years between the first victory and that one… I think I am the only one to have won on three continents. Having lived in Africa, South America and Saudi Arabia ... We are privileged too.

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Overall leader Stephane Peterhansel finally won stage the 2021 Dakar Rally Tuesday leave his closest rival Nasser Al-Attiyah trailing "He’s a little bit injured, I think it’s his left shoulder and left arm. He hit pretty hard on the left and didn’t really know where he was

Overdrive Toyota driver Yazeed Al Rajhi took top honours in Stage 10 of the Dakar Rally on Wednesday, as Nasser Al-Attiyah narrowly beat Stephane Peterhansel to second.

Was it the experience that made the difference?

Experience isn't just that. Because Edouard (Boulanger), my co-pilot, had very little. It is also clairvoyance, the analysis of the + road book + on the navigation side and, for my part, trying not to get carried away. When I saw that I was a little slower than Nasser Al-Attiyah (his runner-up in the overall standings), I tried not to get excited so as not to make a mistake and break the car. It's a whole package. You have to know how to manage at the right time, attack at the right time, avoid getting lost and have a fast and solid car.

READ ALSO. Who was Pierre Cherpin, tragically deceased on the Dakar 2021?

Is your original association with your co-pilot already a success?

In our heads we dreamed of a victory, but from there to achieving it, it was another story. I'm not going to say it's unexpected because he has all the qualities of a co-driver and I still have enough speed. But it had to fit together well and it just happened. We speak the same language, and not just because we are both French! When he gives me a note, it's pretty clear, it was very natural.