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Australia

Peugeot and Despres victorious in Silk Way Rally

Cyril Despres and co-driver David Castera secured Peugeot's second major cross-country rally victory in the 2016 edition of the Silk Way Rally.

Winner #104 Peugeot: Cyril Despres, David Castera

Winner #104 Peugeot: Cyril Despres, David Castera

Peugeot Sport

#104 Peugeot: Cyril Despres, David Castera
#104 Peugeot: Cyril Despres, David Castera
#104 Peugeot: Cyril Despres, David Castera
#103 Mini: Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Timo Gottschalk
#101 Mini: Vladimir Vasilyev, Konstantin Zhiltsov
306 Kamaz: Ayrat Mardeev, Aydar Belyaev, Dmitry Svistunov
#306 Kamaz: Ayrat Mardeev, Aydar Belyaev, Dmitry Svistunov
Mechanics clean the #300 Kamaz: Dmitry Sotnikov, Ruslan Akhmadeev, Ivan Romanov
#306 Kamaz: Ayrat Mardeev, Aydar Belyaev, Dmitry Svistunov

The French manufacturers' cars controlled most of the marathon, with Despres taking over in the lead for good after stablemate Stephane Peterhansel rolled on Stage 5.

Despres would subsequently come under pressure from his other Peugeot teammate Sebastien Loeb, but the nine-time WRC champion was on the receiving end of a hefty penalty for missing two waypoints during Stage 12.

As such, the five-time Dakar bike class winner was left to coast to the finish line in the two remaining timed sections, ending up 26 minutes clear of Mini driver Yazeed Al-Rajhi at the end of the rally.

After completing Stage 14, Despres revealed that he had lost power in his car 30km from the finish line - only for Stephane Peterhansel's co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret to fix the issue.

Despres recalled: "We had a bit of a stressful moment. I said to myself, like [Toyota driver Kazuki] Nakajima at the 24 Hours of Le Mans: ‘I have no power!'

"We opened the bonnet and happily, Jean-Paul Cottret arrived and immediately found the problem. This was another example of teamwork. It is easier to win when you are surrounded by the best!

"While I still have a lot to learn, this 2016 Silk Way Rally has helped me to make an important step forward in this new chapter of my racing career."

Vladimir Vasilyev completed the podium, making it two Mini cars in the top three , as Loeb recovered to P7 and Peterhansel ended up P15.

Mardeev secures Trucks win for Kamaz

The Trucks race ended with a 1-2 for Russian manufacturer Kamaz, although the marque had to withstand a serious challenge from the Renault of Martin van den Brink.

Having wrestled the lead away from the Kamaz crews after the rest day, van den Brink saw his victory bid fall apart through Stages 12 and 13, as he lost a lot of time due to a puncture and mechanical issues.

As such, 2015 Dakar Rally winner Ayrat Mardeev and Dmitry Sotnikov both surpassed the Dutchman, the former going on to win by 15 minutes.

Cars classification (top 10):

Pos. Crew Car Time/Gap
1

 Cyril Despres

 David Castera

Peugeot 36h15m18s
2

Yazeed Al-Rajhi

Timo Gottschalk

Mini 25m51s
3

Vladimir Vasilyev

Konstantin Zhiltsov

Mini 49m46s
4

Harry Hunt

Andreas Schulz

Mini 1h54m47s
5

Aidyn Rakhimbayev

Anton Nikolaev

Mini 2h12m45s
6

 Wei Han

 Jean-Pierre Garcin

SMG-ORC 2h38m28s
7

Sebastien Loeb

Daniel Elena

Peugeot 4h02m01s
8

Jerome Pelichet

Eugenie Decre

Toyota 4h28m44s
9

Cornelis Koolen

Pascal Larroque

Optimus 4h53m12s
10

 Bauryzhan Issabayev

 Vladimir Demianenko

Mini 5h08m09s

Trucks classification (top 5):

Pos. Crew Truck Time/Gap
1

Ayrat Mardeev

Aydar Belyaev

Dmitry Svistunov

Kamaz 39h23m18s
2

 Dmitry Sotnikov

 Ruslan Akhmadeev

 Ivan Romanov

Kamaz 15m28s
3

 Martin van den Brink

 Peter Willemsen

 Daniel Kozlovsky

Renault 33m26s
4

 Eduard Nikolaev

 Evgeny Iakovlev

 Vladimir Rybakov

Kamaz 1h32m53s
5

 Hou Hongning

 Xin Shen

Andrey Mokeev

Kamaz 3h18m56s

 

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