South African Giniel De Villiers was crowned Dakar Rally champion after winning the 14th and final special stage on Saturday.
The Volkswagen driver won the 791km Cordoba-Buenos Aires route, including 227km timed against the clock which he completed in one hour 35 minutes 43 seconds, finishing ahead of Russian Leonid Nowitskiy (BMW) and Krisztof Holowczyc (Nissan).
American Mark Miller, De VIlliers' team-mate, was runner-up after finishing sixth today, with Nowitskiy completing the podium.
De Villiers, whose win today was his second in a row and fourth overall, had an 8mins 59secs advantage over Miller.
Spanish biker Marc Coma (KTM) claimed his second Dakar win despite finishing sixth in the last stage. He finished 1:25.38 ahead of runner-up and former champion Cyril Despres, who came third today.
Coma, 32, who won the 2006 Dakar Rally, said: ‘There were so many days of racing, so much work. I am really very happy. It was a very tough race. We did not know the terrain too well and it was hard to have a good race strategy.
‘I must thank all my team who did a wonderful job. There are a lot of people working behind the scenes and they deserve this victory as much as I do. Now I can enjoy the moment.’
Portugal's Helder Rodrigues (KTM) won the final stage in 1:52.37 and second place went to Norway's Pal Anders Ullevalseter (KTM), 2.41 behind.
Third place in the overall standings went to David Fretigne (Yamaha), who said: ‘Being on the podium in a Dakar was really important.
‘With my 450cc, I think I did something pretty exceptional. I wanted to be the first to get that bike on the podium. I was the first one to believe it was possible, even if everyone was telling me it was impossible.
‘Today I am third and I'm on the podium and I spent most of the rally in second place. I am very happy because with Yamaha we have the reliability we need from the bike. I had a blast.
‘The rally was tough but I expected something even more difficult and I had prepared myself accordingly. This is also why I had such fun for the last two weeks.’
Josef Machacek (Yamaha) became the first-ever quad-only champion after finishing second in today's stage, behind team-mate Jose Maria Pena who clocked 2:14.23.
Machacek, who was a solid leader during the race, winning the fourth stage, completed the rally ahead of Marcos Patronelli, who came seventh today.
Patronelli said: ‘This is amazing. I ended the race and I am fine. I am grateful with all the people and I still do not believe it.’
