Summary (2005 - Barcelona - Dakar)

The stages on the European continent passed relatively unspectacularly, as expected - apart from the fact that the newcomer Gordon (USA) managed to hold the overall lead after three stages. In Africa, however, the wheat was quickly separated from the chaff. On the 4th stage, the first real challenge, the Mitsubishis were hit hard. Because of a flu and the resulting impaired vision, the favourite Peterhansel picked up 3 flat tyres with his Evo Super Production, which threw him back by almost 25 minutes. Masuoka too was struck by the gremlins. He destroyed a wheel hub mount on the rubble-strewn route. The quick service by Andrea Mayer failed — no other Mitsubishi had this replaceable component on board either, so Masuoka had to wait for the service truck. While these events unfolded, the VWs simply blasted through the desert and Nissan showed with Colin McRae how high the bar was set. The 5th stage then showed once again how quickly the tables can turn at the Dakar. McRae, while in the lead, rolled several times and his Nissan came to rest on its side. The newcomer Robby Gordon also delivered a spectacular rollover with his VW. Stephané Peterhansel, the previous year's winner, was able to recover from his 3 flat tyres and won the 5th stage. The evening was heated as well, when the supply tent in the bivouac burned down. In this fire and also in the accidents of the day, all those involved except Colin McRae escaped without major injuries. After these events came the first marathon stage of the Dakar, on which it was confirmed that the Dakar was and is the toughest motorsport event in the world. Of the more than 100 cars that had started, barely 53 had reached the finish by late evening. The rest were still battling the treachery of the desert. A sandstorm had surprised the field and turned the already demanding stage into a true ordeal. Stephane Peterhansel, who had apparently recovered from his cold, won the stage in commanding style. On the morning of the 7th stage, the organisers decided to cancel the day's classification - too few had returned from the previous day. So the rally caravan drove in convoy to the start of the 8th stage, while the helicopters and sweeper trucks recovered the missing participants from the desert. The stage from Tidjikja - Atâr was won by Luc Alphand. 5 km before the finish, Peterhansel heard strange noises from the engine bay and had himself towed to the finish by Masuoka. Fortunately, no sealed engine parts were affected, and so the car could be brought back into running order on the following rest day without violating the regulations. On the circuit around Atar on the first day after the halfway break, the leading cars were plagued by gremlins. Saby, Masuoka, as well as both remaining Nissans, had to stop with mechanical problems. Meanwhile, Peterhansel and Alphand fought a thrilling head-to-head race for the day's victory, which Peterhansel was able to take. The day was overshadowed by the death of motorcyclist Jose Manuel Perez, who, despite emergency surgery, succumbed to his serious injuries in hospital. The stage from Atar to Kiffa brought the same picture as the previous days. The Mitsubishis of Alphand and Peterhansel raced along in formation ahead of the rest of the field. The sporting action, however, was secondary in view of the death of Fabrizio Meoni, who crashed fatally on his KTM and succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the accident. Despite the Mitsubishi dominance, Jutta Kleinschmidt was able to narrowly win the stage - followed by Peterhansel and Alphand. The motorcycles sat out after the death of Meoni, and so it became distinctly more difficult for the cars, as the tracks of the motorcycles in the sand were missing. The Dakar showed on this day that it is not only about racing against each other, and so the leading 5 vehicles drove in convoy, only to put their foot down again shortly before the finish. The stage was marked by bad weather and the resulting poor visibility. Nevertheless, Peterhansel and Alphand delivered a nearly flawless performance and were able to maintain their joint lead over Jutta Kleinschmidt. There was a moment of fright when Peterhansel tried to overtake a Nissan, which got its right wheels onto gravel and spun at high speed. The gaps between the cars spoke volumes 3 days before the end of the rally, and so it was no surprise that the works Mitsubishis did not let their one-two victory be taken from them. With a lead of more than three hours over his teammate Alphand and after almost 9,000 kilometres driven, Peterhansel won the 2005 edition of the Dakar.

Final standings

Pos.	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Overall time
1		Peterhansel	Mitsubishi Pajero	52.31.39
2		Alphand	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 00.27.14
3		Kleinschmidt	VW Touareg	+ 03.22.00
4		Villiers	Nissan Pick Up	+ 04.02.36
5		Saby	VW Touareg	+ 08.44.14
6		Roma	Mitsubishi Pajero	+ 09.19.37
7		Sousa	Nissan Pick Up	+ 10.02.29
8		Magnaldi	Honda Evo 3	+ 11.03.44
9		Monterde	BMW X5	+ 13.27.31
10		Dalmau	Tot Curses JLA2	+ 19.16.53