The Dakar Rally is one of the most grueling motorsports events in the world, taking its toll on both man and machine. To win it is an incredible achievement, to win it more than once takes some doing.
Cross-country rallying, commonly known as Rally Raid is in itself a tough motorsport that has existed on the fringes for most of its history. Its most famous event, the Dakar Rally has become a huge global event, shining a light on the incredible achievements of its competitors who risk it all for glory. Just finishing is an achievement for most, especially privateers, but if you want to win you have to push harder for longer.
10 Jutta Kleinschmidt: 1
Kleinschmidt initially joined the Dakar in the 90s, riding the now-iconic BMWs and one of the early KTM bikes that became even more famous later on. Like many, she switched over to cars and did so rather impressively. After getting her first podium in 1999 she then took the overall victory in 2001, driving for Mitsubishi.
She is still the only woman to have won the Dakar and also the only German to have won the event in the cars category. At 58 she is now taking part in the inaugural season of the Extreme E off road racing series.
9 Giniel De Villiers: 1
The only other one time winner on the list is somebody who has been part of the event since 2003 and has managed to finish the event every time. He had also finished in the top 10 on every occasion bar one, when he finished 11th in 2007 (the last African Dakar).
In 2009 when the event first moved to South America he became the first, and only South African to win the event driving a VW Touareg.
8 Jean-Louis Schlesser: 2
Schlesser tried his hand at pretty much every motorsport under the sun, even Formula 1 where his one and only race in 1988 ended in tears, crashing into Senna while being lapped.
He finally found success in 1999 with his own Schlesser 2WD buggy that was competitive throughout the early 2000s in Africa, he made it two in a row in 2000 but lost his opportunity to make it 3 when he was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct in 2001.
7 Hiroshi Masuoka: 2
With a long career, all with Mitsubishi he finally achieved his long-time goal of winning the event in 2002.
With a strong car under him, he went back to back in 2003, it would be his entry into the history books as he is the only Japanese driver to win the event twice.
6 Rene Metge: 3
Although he was an accomplished racing driver and by extension, Rally Raid driver it is fair to say that the cars he drove became more famous than the man himself.
After winning his first event in 1981 in a Range Rover, his second two victories were in a Porsche. First the heavily modified 911 (953) and then in the incredible off-road racing variant of the 959.
5 Carlos Sainz: 3
Carlos Sainz had a long and glittering career in the WRC, winning two overall drivers championships between 1987 and 2005.
He didn’t take long to change over to Rally Raid, competing in the 2006 Dakar just months after his last WRC rally. He won his first of 3 titles in 2010, then more recently won his 2nd (2018) and 3rd (2020) which made him the oldest champion at 57.
4 Pierre Lartigue: 3
Yet another in a long list of French winners, Lartigue was truly a feast or famine kind of driver that would either place well or retire.
He got it right while driving for Citroen, winning three events in a row between 1994 and 1996. After parting ways with Citroen he would come back driving a protruck, only to retire in both events he entered.
3 Nasser Al-Attiyah: 3
The Qatari, who medaled at the 2012 London Olympics as a skeet shooter, has been a stalwart of the Dakar since 2004.
Another all or nothing type of driver with many retirements, has won 3 events but it is worth mentioning that he has also placed 2nd in 4. It is an impressive record, add to that he has won at least one stage in every event since 2007.
2 Ari Vatanen: 4
Known as the flying Finn, the decorated WRC driver moonlighted in Rally Raid events. He was one of the few drivers to do this successfully.
He actually found far more success in the Dakar, winning the event four times, winning three times with Peugeot and once with Citroen.
1 Stephane Peterhansel: 8
Mr Dakar himself, only part of the story is told by the 8 wins behind the wheel of three very different cars.
He also won 6 titles on two wheels, all with Yamaha in the 90s. He has proven to be untouchable in both formats and nobody is likely to ever match his incredible Dakar record.