Dakar Swansong delivers hat-trick of wins for Peugeot Sport
The might of Team Peugeot Total recorded its third consecutive victory in the world’s most demanding cross-country off-road marathon, the Dakar Rally 2018.
On the 40th edition of the Dakar, the tenth held in South America saw ‘El Matador’ Carlos Sainz, former World Rally Champion and Dakar winner with Lucas Cruz alongside, drove the Peugeot 3008 DKR MAXI with speed and tactical brilliance to mark the French brand’s departure from the sport on an all-time high.
Out of eight official works participation in the Dakar Rally when held in Africa and South America, the French Lion roared to the top of the podium on several occasions. In brief, the Peugeot Sport roll of honour in Dakar.
1987: Victory for Vatanen/Giroux (Peugeot 205 T16 Grand Raid)
1988: Win for Kankkunen/Piironen (Peugeot 205 T16 Grand Raid)
1989: 1-2 finish for Vatanen/Berglund and Ickx/Tarin (Peugeot 405 T16 Grand Raid)
1990: 1-2-3 for Vatanen/Berglund (Peugeot 405 T16 Grand Raid), Waldegard/Fenouil (Peugeot 405 T16 Grand Raid) & Ambrosino/Baumgartner (Peugeot 205 T16 Grand Raid)
2016: Oveall victory for Peterhansel/Cottret (Peugeot 2008DKR)
2017: One-two-three for Peterhansel/Cottret, Loeb/Elena & Despres/Castera (Peugeot 3008DKR)
2018: Final win for Sainz/Cruz (Peugeot 3008DKR Maxi).
Peugeot Sport will now concentrate on the forthcoming FIA World Rallycross Championship which gets underway in April in Barcelona with Sebastian Loeb once again behind the wheel of the Peugeot WRX. In the meantime, the engineering team will prepare a new 208 for the inaugural electric Rallycross series due in 2020.
