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January 14the last, final stage of the 2022 race has passed. The 44th legendary rally marathon was very intense and made many fans from all over the world worry for their favorites and gave a lot of emotions in the first weeks of the year. The races were held in several classes, and we will start with the largest.
First place on the podiumamong the trucksreceivedRussian Dmytro Sotnikov(41:37.34), who represented the teamKAMAZ. This is already the second championship title in this class for the driver. In addition, he brought the "Blue Armada" the fifth complete set of medals in the history of this rally. Eduard Nikolaev (+9.58) and Anton Shibalov (+1:11.11) took the second and third place on the podium.
In the SUV classbecame the championNasser Al-Attiya(38:33.03), who won on a specially prepared tuned SUVToyota. The 51-year-old Qatari outpaced Sebastien Loeb (+27.46), who took second place, by 27 minutes. Saudi Yazid Al-Rajhi (+1:01.13), who also played for the Toyota team, took the 3rd place on the podium.
Amongall-terrain vehicles (SSV)got the victoryAmerican Austin Jones(47:22.50). Second place went to Spain's Gerard Farres Gel (+2.37), while the top three in this class was rounded off by Lithuania's Rokas Batsuska (+15.18), just over a quarter of an hour behind the leader.
Triumphantin the ATV classpondFrenchman Alexander Giroux(50:00.51), more than 2 hours ahead of the nearest rival - Argentine Francisco Moreno (+2:21.11). The third place on the podium went to Kamil Visnevskyi (+2:27.25). A few minutes separated the Pole from silver.
First placein the motorcycle classdeservedBritish Sam Sunderland(38:47.30). The 32-year-old racer received the second "Golden Bedouin" in his career, ahead of his nearest rivals by less than 10 minutes. The silver place went to the native of Chile, Pablo Quintanilla (+3.27) from Honda, and the Austrian Matthias Valkner (+6.47) for the KTM team rounded out the top three.
In addition,it is worth highlighting one rider who won 12 out of 13 special stages - Eta Quintero, which set a new record in the history of the Dakar Rally. Due to an accident at 2 special stages and a 10-hour penalty, the American lost his chances to become the champion almost at the very beginning, but the Red Bull driver showed the world what he is capable of and will undoubtedly show excellent results next year.
Summarizing, I would like to say that "Dakar-2022" perfectly opened the new season of automobile competitions, not disappointing the fans and showing an excellent spectacle. Records, victories and failures, intrigues and intense struggles were observed at all stages of the race. We hope that this year will bring many events in the world of motorsport that will be remembered by each of us.
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