2007 Dakar Rally

The 2007 Dakar Rally was the 29th running of the event. It started in Lisbon, Portugal on 6 January and ran through Europe and Africa until 21 January 2007. It was the last time the event would take place in Africa, as the 2008 event (billed as the Central Europe Rally) since the ASO relocated the race to an all-Eastern Europe ruote in April because of terrorist attacks, and moved to South America from 2009.^[1]

2007 Dakar Rally
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The route
Host country	Portugal  Spain  Morocco / Western Sahara  Mauritania  Mali  Senegal
Results
Cars winner	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
Bikes winner	Cyril Despres KTM
Trucks winner	Hans Stacey MAN

Entries

Number of participants

Stage	Bikes	Cars	Trucks	Total
Start of Rally	245	181	85	511
Rest Day	173	128	66	367
End of Rally	132	109	59	300

Bikes

Leading Entries

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Rider
KTM	KTM Repsol	1	Marc Coma
		3	Giovanni Sala
		21	Jordi Viladoms
	Gauloises KTM	2	Cyril Despres
		4	Isidre Esteve
		8	David Casteu
		14	Frans Verhoeven
	Petrobras-Lubrax	5	Jean de Azevedo
	Team Scandinavia	6	Pål Anders Ullevålseter
	KTM-Toni-Togo	7	Alain Duclos
	Red Bull KTM USA	9	Chris Blais
	Pai-Rally Pan America	25	Jonah Street
Yamaha	Bianchiprata Compet Vodafone	10	Hélder Rodrigues
	Challenge Yamaha Africa	12	David Frétigné

Cars

Leading Entries

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Driver	Co-Driver
Mitsubishi	Mitsubishi Ralliart	300	Luc Alphand	Gilles Picard
		302	Stéphane Peterhansel	Jean-Paul Cottret
		304	Nani Roma	Lucas Cruz
		306	Hiroshi Masuoka	Pascal Maimon
Volkswagen	Volkswagen Motorsport	301	Giniel de Villiers	Dirk von Zitzewitz
		303	Carlos Sainz	Michel Périn
		305	Mark Miller	Ralph Pitchford
		308	Ari Vatanen	Fabrizia Pons
	Team Lagos	313	Carlos Sousa	Andreas Schulz
BMW	X-Raid	307	Jutta Kleinschmidt	Tina Thörner
		309	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Alain Guehennec
		312	Guerlain Chicherit	Matthieu Baumel
		314	José Luis Monterde	Jean-Marie Lurquin
Schlesser	Schlesser-Ford Raid	310	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Arnaud Debron
Nissan	Team Dessoude	317	Christian Lavieille	François Borsotto
		319	Yvan Muller	René Metge
	De Mévius Team	329	Krzysztof Hołowczyc	Jean-Marc Fortin
	Tecnosport-Italia	342	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Roberto di Persio
Hummer	Team Gordon	320	Robby Gordon	Andy Grider
Honda	Fast & Speed	327	Freddy Loix	Herman Vaanholt

Trucks

Leading Entries

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Driver	Co-Drivers
Kamaz	Kamaz-Master	500	Vladimir Chagin	Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin
		505	Sergey Reshetnikov	Andrey Mokeev Eduard Kupriyanov
		527	Ilgizar Mardeev	Aydar Belyaev Eduard Nikolaev
MAN	Exact-Man	501	Hans Stacey	Charly Gotlib Bernard der Kinderen
		508	Philippe Jacquot	Willy Alcaraz Toon van Genugten
		516	Franz Echter	Detlef Ruf Edwin van Dooren
GINAF	Team De Rooy	502	Jan de Rooy	Dany Colebunders Clemens Smulders
		509	Gérard de Rooy	Tom Colsoul Arno Slaats
Tatra	Petrobras-Lubrax	503	André de Azevedo	Jaromír Martinec Maykel Justo
	Loprais Tatra Team	512	Aleš Loprais	Petr Gilar
Hino	Sugawara	504	Yoshimasa Sugawara	Katsumi Hamura
		507	Teruhito Sugawara	Seiichi Suzuki Akira Koishizawa
Iveco	Motorsport Italia	506	Giacomo Vismara	Mario Cambiaghi Sergio Chionni

Route

The race began in Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, and Senegal. The total race distance was 7,915 kilometres (4,918 mi), of which 4,309 kilometres (2,677 mi) was timed special stage.^[2] There was a rest day in Atar, Mauritania on 13 January.^[3]

• pdf file showing 2007 route

Stages

Rally stages map

Stage	Date	From	To	Distance								Stage Winners
				Liaison		Special		Liaison		Total		Bikes	Cars	Trucks
				km	mi	km	mi	km	mi	km	mi
1	6 January	Lisbon	Portimão	115	71	117	73	232	144	464	288	R. Faria	C. Sousa	G. de Rooy
2	7 January	Portimão	Málaga	15	9.3	67	42	463	288	545	339	H. Rodrigues	C. Sainz	Stage cancelled
3	8 January	Nador	Er Rachidia	205	127	252	157	191	119	648	403	M. Coma	G. de Villiers	V. Chagin
4	9 January	Er Rachidia	Ouarzazate	96	60	405	252	178	111	679	422	M. Coma	J-L. Schlesser	V. Chagin
5	10 January	Ouarzazate	Tan-Tan	164	102	325	202	279	173	768	477	I. Esteve	C. Sainz	H. Stacey
6	11 January	Tan-Tan	Zouérat	414	257	394	245	9	5.6	817	508	J. Viladoms	R. Gordon	H. Stacey
7	12 January	Zouérat	Atar	4	2.5	542	337	34	21	580	360	C. Despres	G. de Villiers	H. Stacey
	13 January	Atar		Rest day
8	14 January	Atar	Tichit	35	22	589	366	2	1.2	626	389	M. Coma	G. de Villiers	H. Stacey
9	15 January	Tichit	Néma	-		494	307	3	1.9	497	309	J. Vinters	J-L. Schlesser	W. van Ginkel
10	16 January	Néma	Néma	10	6.2	336	227	24	15	400	250	H. Rodrigues	N. Al-Attiyah	A. Brouwer
11	17 January	Néma	Ayoun el Atrous	280	170	-		-		280	170	Stage cancelled
12	18 January	Ayoun el Atrous	Kayes	110	68	257	160	117	73	484	301	I. Esteve	C. Sainz	H. Stacey
13	19 January	Kayes	Tambacounda	180	110	260	160	18	11	458	285	C. Despres	C. Sainz	A. Loprais
14	20 January	Tambacounda	Dakar	124	77	225	140	227	141	576	358	J. de Azevedo	C. Sainz	P. Jacquot
15	21 January	Dakar		36	22	16	9.9	41	25	93	58	J. Vinters	G. de Villiers	A. Brouwer

Note: The timed section of stage 7 was shortened to 407.6 kilometres (253.3 mi) due to adverse weather conditions.

Top-3 riders per stage

Motorcycles

Stage	Stage Top-3	Make	Time	Leaders Top-3	Make	Time
1	Ruben Faria Helder Rodrigues Isidre Esteve	Yamaha Yamaha KTM	1:22:07 1:22:23 1:27:07	Ruben Faria Helder Rodrigues Isidre Esteve	Yamaha Yamaha KTM	1:22:07 +0:16 +5:00
2	Helder Rodrigues Ruben Faria Isidre Esteve	Yamaha Yamaha KTM	1:02:44 1:03:47 1:04:29	Helder Rodrigues Ruben Faria Isidre Esteve	Yamaha Yamaha KTM	2:25:07 +0:47 +6:29
3	Marc Coma Chris Blais Isidre Esteve	KTM KTM KTM	3:07:39 3:08:35 3:10:36	Isidre Esteve Marc Coma David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	5:42:12 +0:26 +1:03
4	Marc Coma Isidre Esteve Cyril Despres	KTM KTM KTM	4:24:54 4:40:10 4:46:50	Marc Coma Isidre Esteve David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	10:10:32 +11:50 +24:20
5	Isidre Esteve Marc Coma Cyril Despres	KTM KTM KTM	3:56:22 3:58:16 4:01:24	Marc Coma Isidre Esteve David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	14:08:48 +9:56 +37:41
6	Jordi Viladoms Marc Coma Chris Blais	KTM KTM KTM	3:45:45 3:46:42 3:46:45	Marc Coma Isidre Esteve David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	17:55:30 +12:07 +44:39
7	Cyril Despres Pal Anders Ullevalseter David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	4:30:42 4:33:28 4:35:18	Marc Coma Isidre Esteve David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	22:38:34 +10:47 +36:53
8	Marc Coma Cyril Despres Pal Anders Ullevalseter	KTM KTM KTM	7:46:13 7:56:15 8:10:13	Marc Coma Cyril Despres David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	30:24:47 +54:58 +1:03:15
9	Janis Vinters Cyril Despres Marc Coma	KTM KTM KTM	6:08:51 6:16:22 6:16:44	Marc Coma Cyril Despres David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	36:41:31 +54:36 +1:11:15
10	Helder Rodrigues Marc Coma Cyril Despres	Yamaha KTM KTM	4:12:55 4:13:39 4:13:46	Marc Coma Cyril Despres David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	40:55:10 +54:43 +1:15:12
11	No competitive race held
12	Isidre Esteve Paulo Gonçalves Jacek Czachor	KTM Honda KTM	3:34:46 3:37:49 3:38:50	Marc Coma Cyril Despres David Casteu	KTM KTM KTM	44:47:16 +52:48 +1:10:13
13	Cyril Despres Chris Blais Michel Marchini	KTM KTM Yamaha	3:00:56 3:07:03 3:11:21	Cyril Despres David Casteu Chris Blais	KTM KTM KTM	48:41:00 +32:56 +54:52
14	Jean de Azevedo Jacek Czachor Janis Vinters	KTM KTM KTM	2:37:46 2:39:51 2:42:51	Cyril Despres David Casteu Chris Blais	KTM KTM KTM	51:25:49 +36:09 +53:01
15	Janis Vinters Pal Anders Ullevalseter Helder Rodrigues	KTM KTM Yamaha	0:08:42 0:08:49 0:09:07	Cyril Despres David Casteu Chris Blais	KTM KTM KTM	51:36:53 +34:19 +52:06

Cars

Stage	Stage Top-3	Make	Time	Leaders Top-3	Make	Time
1	Carlos Sousa Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sainz	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	1:20:38 1:23:09 1:23:16	Carlos Sousa Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sainz	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	1:20:38 +2:31 +2:38
2	Carlos Sainz Nani Roma Luc Alphand	Volkswagen Mitsubishi Mitsubishi	0:59:26 0:59:55 0:59:55	Carlos Sousa Carlos Sainz Giniel de Villiers	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	2:21:57 +0:45 +2:12
3	Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sainz Stéphane Peterhansel	Volkswagen Volkswagen Mitsubishi	2:46:12 2:46:37 2:49:30	Carlos Sainz Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sousa	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	5:09:19 +1:02 +4:26
4	Jean-Louis Schlesser Carlos Sousa Carlos Sainz	Schlesser-Ford Volkswagen Volkswagen	3:59:54 4:07:46 4:07:52	Carlos Sainz Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sousa	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	9:17:11 +1:55 +4:20
5	Carlos Sainz Stéphane Peterhansel Giniel de Villiers	Volkswagen Mitsubishi Volkswagen	3:36:39 3:37:09 3:38:20	Carlos Sainz Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sousa	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	12:53:50 +3:36 +11:17
6	Robby Gordon Jean-Louis Schlesser Giniel de Villiers	Hummer Schlesser-Ford Volkswagen	2:58:57 2:59:14 3:05:49	Carlos Sainz Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sousa	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	16:00:04 +3:11 +14:03
7	Giniel de Villiers Stéphane Peterhansel Carlos Sainz	Volkswagen Mitsubishi Volkswagen	4:00:46 4:03:32 4:05:36	Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sainz Stéphane Peterhansel	Volkswagen Volkswagen Mitsubishi	20:04:01 +1:39 +24:38
8	Giniel de Villiers Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand	Volkswagen Mitsubishi Mitsubishi	7:31:52 7:38:27 7:41:03	Giniel de Villiers Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand	Volkswagen Mitsubishi Mitsubishi	27:35:53 +31:13 +43:04
9	Jean-Louis Schlesser Luc Alphand Stéphane Peterhansel	Schlesser-Ford Mitsubishi Mitsubishi	5:32:03 5:32:16 5:36:17	Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand Jean-Louis Schlesser[4]	Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Schlesser-Ford	33:43:23 +7:50 +1:25:32
10	Nasser Al-Attiyah Hiroshi Masuoka Mark Miller	BMW Mitsubishi Volkswagen	3:49:48 3:50:16 3:51:37	Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand Jean-Louis Schlesser	Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Schlesser-Ford	37:35:19 +9:56 +1:30:50
11	No competitive race held
12	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sousa Luc Alphand	Volkswagen Volkswagen Mitsubishi	2:58:56 3:02:49 3:03:48	Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand Jean-Louis Schlesser	Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Schlesser-Ford	40:42:34 +6:29 +1:34:02
13	Carlos Sainz Stéphane Peterhansel Mark Miller	Volkswagen Mitsubishi Volkswagen	2:30:22 2:30:48 2:32:40	Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand Jean-Louis Schlesser	Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Schlesser-Ford	43:13:22 +11:15 +1:38:47
14	Carlos Sainz Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sousa	Volkswagen Volkswagen Volkswagen	2:21:02 2:21:09 2:21:47	Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand Jean-Louis Schlesser	Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Schlesser-Ford	45:42:45 +7:16 +1:36:24
15	Giniel de Villiers Carlos Sainz Robby Gordon	Volkswagen Volkswagen Hummer	0:07:42 0:07:44 0:08:08	Stéphane Peterhansel Luc Alphand Jean-Louis Schlesser	Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Schlesser-Ford	45:53:37 +7:26 +1:33:57

Trucks

Stage	Stage Top-3	Make	Time	Leaders Top-3	Make	Time
1	Gerard de Rooy Hans Stacey Vladimir Chagin	GINAF MAN Kamaz	1:40:00 1:40:20 1:40:46	Gerard de Rooy Hans Stacey Vladimir Chagin	GINAF MAN Kamaz	1:40:00 +0:20 +0:46
2	No competitive race held
3	Vladimir Chagin Gerard de Rooy Hans Stacey	Kamaz GINAF MAN	3:22:13 3:32:52 3:33:48	Vladimir Chagin Gerard de Rooy Hans Stacey	Kamaz GINAF MAN	5:02:59 +9:53 +11:09
4	Vladimir Chagin Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev	Kamaz MAN Kamaz	4:56:13 5:09:08 5:25:19	Vladimir Chagin Hans Stacey Gerard de Rooy	Kamaz MAN GINAF	9:59:12 +24:04 +54:48
5	Hans Stacey Gerard de Rooy Ilgizar Mardeev	MAN GINAF Kamaz	3:41:59 3:45:50 3:53:45	Hans Stacey Gerard de Rooy Ilgizar Mardeev	MAN GINAF Kamaz	14:05:15 +34:35 +1:30:27
6	Hans Stacey Gerard de Rooy Ilgizar Mardeev	MAN GINAF Kamaz	3:39:58 3:54:05 3:56:10	Hans Stacey Gerard de Rooy Ilgizar Mardeev	MAN GINAF Kamaz	17:45:13 +48:42 +1:46:39
7	Hans Stacey Philippe Jacquot Tomáš Tomeček	MAN MAN Tatra	4:51:44 5:18:36 5:19:41	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Wulfert van Ginkel	MAN Kamaz GINAF	22:36:57 +2:16:28 +3:13:14
8	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Arjan Brouwer	MAN Kamaz GINAF	8:58:49 9:38:57 9:41:37	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Wulfert van Ginkel	MAN Kamaz GINAF	31:35:46 +2:56:36 +4:31:22
9	Wulfert van Ginkel Hans Stacey Aleš Loprais	GINAF MAN Tatra	6:47:47 7:00:15 7:01:07	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Wulfert van Ginkel	MAN Kamaz GINAF	38:36:01 +3:07:11 +4:18:54
10	Arjan Brouwer André de Azevedo Ilgizar Mardeev	GINAF Tatra Kamaz	4:36:22 4:43:55 4:45:43	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Wulfert van Ginkel	MAN Kamaz GINAF	43:38:51 +2:50:04 +4:18:48
11	No competitive race held
12	Hans Stacey Tomáš Tomeček Wulfert van Ginkel	MAN Tatra GINAF	3:48:04 3:52:57 3:53:54	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Wulfert van Ginkel	MAN Kamaz GINAF	47:26:55 +2:59:36 +4:24:38
13	Aleš Loprais Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev	Tatra MAN Kamaz	3:17:43 3:21:08 3:24:22	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Wulfert van Ginkel	MAN Kamaz GINAF	50:48:03 +3:02:50 +4:28:25
14	Philippe Jacquot Aleš Loprais André de Azevedo	MAN Tatra Tatra	2:53:44 2:58:17 3:03:16	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Aleš Loprais	MAN Kamaz Tatra	53:52:15 +3:08:15 +4:45:49
15	Arjan Brouwer Aleš Loprais Hans Bekx	GINAF Tatra DAF	0:09:39 0:10:31 0:10:33	Hans Stacey Ilgizar Mardeev Aleš Loprais	MAN Kamaz Tatra	54:03:05 +3:10:52 +4:45:30

Final standings

A total of 132 bikes (52.8% of starters), 109 cars (58.3%), and 60 trucks (68.2%) finished the race.

Motorcycles

Pos	No	Rider	Bike	Entrant	Time
1	2	Cyril Despres	KTM 690 Rally	Gauloises-KTM	51:36:53
2	8	David Casteu	KTM 690 Rally	Gauloises-KTM	52:11:12
3	9	Chris Blais	KTM 660 Rally	Red Bull KTM USA	52:28:59
4	6	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM 660 Rally	Team Scandinavia	53:14:50
5	10	Helder Rodrigues	Yamaha 450 WRF	Bianchiprata Compet Vodafone	54:07:34
6	23	Janis Vinters	KTM 660 Rally	JV Moto Team Riga	54:21:14
7	20	Michel Marchini	Yamaha 450 WRF		54:37:20
8	85	Thierry Bethys	Honda 450 CRF X	Honda Europe	55:03:26
9	103	Jaroslav Katriňák	KTM 660 Rally	Mol Dakar Team	55:17:03
10	16	Jacek Czachor	KTM 660 Rally	Orlen Team	56:00:57

Cars

Pos	No	Driver	Co-Driver	Car	Entrant	Time
1	302	Stéphane Peterhansel	Jean-Paul Cottret	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart	45:53:37
2	300	Luc Alphand	Gilles Picard	Mitsubishi Pajero	Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart	46:01:03
3	310	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Arnaud Debron	Schlesser-Ford	Schlesser-Ford Raid	47:27:34
4	305	Mark Miller	Ralph Pitchford	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Volkswagen Motorsport	48:03:53
5	306	Hiroshi Masuoka	Pascal Maimon	Mitsubishi Pajero	Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart	48:38:08
6	309	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Alain Guehennec	BMW X3	X-Raid	49:25:36
7	313	Carlos Sousa	Andreas Schulz	Volkswagen Touareg 2	Team Lagos	51:04:31
8	320	Robby Gordon	Andy Grider	Hummer H3	Team Gordon	52:57:44
9	303	Carlos Sainz	Michel Perin	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Volkswagen Motorsport	53:19:22
10	318	Stephane Henrard	Brigitte Becue	Volkswagen Buggy	Henrard Racing Team	54:22:06

Trucks

Pos	No	Driver	Co-Drivers	Truck	Time
1	501	Hans Stacey	Charly Gotlib Bernard der Kinderen	MAN TGA	54:03:05
2	527	Ilgizar Mardeev	Aydar Belyaev Eduard Nikolaev	Kamaz 4911	57:13:57
3	512	Aleš Loprais	Petr Gilar	Tatra T815	58:48:35
4	513	Wulfert van Ginkel	Willem Tijsterman Richard de Rooy	GINAF X 2222	58:54:15
5	503	André de Azevedo	Maykel Justo Jaromír Martinec	Tatra T815	59:19:02
6	508	Philippe Jacquot	Willy Alcaraz Toon van Genugten	MAN	60:03:32
7	505	Sergey Reshetnikov	Andrey Mokeev Eduard Kupriyanov	Kamaz 4911	61:50:47
8	530	Arjan Brouwer	Simon Koetsier Gerard van Veenendaal	GINAF X 2222	62:30:31
9	507	Teruhito Sugawara	Seiichi Suzuki Akira Koishizawa	Hino Ranger - Pro FT	65:05:47
10	516	Franz Echter	Detlef Ruf Edwin van Dooren	MAN TGA	65:13:08

Incidents

The 2007 event was marred by the deaths of two competitors, both in the motorcycle division. The first was South African motorcyclist Elmer Symons, who was competing in the rally for the first time, on the fourth stage between Er Rachidia and Ouarzazate. He was the 47th competitor to die taking part in the Dakar.^[5] The second death occurred on the 14th and penultimate stage; French motorcyclist Eric Aubijoux was found dead 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the finish line in Dakar. Initial reports indicated he had suffered a fatal heart attack.^[6] Later investigations indicated he had been involved earlier in an accident with another vehicle.^[7][8]