DAKAR, Senegal -- Jutta Kleinschmidt of Germany on Sunday
became the first woman to win the Dakar Rally, a grueling race of
6,658 miles that began in Paris on New Year's Day.
|  | | Jutta Kleinschmidt finished third in 1999 but was able to capitalize on mistakes by others to win the 2001 Dakar Rally. |
The Mitsubishi driver beat Japanese teammate Hiroshi Masuoka
by 2 minutes and 39 seconds, while Frenchman Jean-Louis
Schlesser, winner for the last two years, finished third in his
Buggy, 23:29 behind.
Kleinschmidt's triumph brought Mitsubishi a record sixth win
in the event and came hours after the Japanese constructor
celebrated Finn Tommi Makinen's victory in the Monte Carlo
rally.
"It's unbelievable. But we did what we had to do by not
taking too many risks," she said.
"The car was very solid but it was not the fastest. But we
did not make any navigation mistakes and we did not make any
driving mistakes," she added, paying homage to her co-driver,
Andreas Schulz.
Kleinschmidt, 38, who made her Dakar debut
as Schlesser's co-driver in 1995, had been the first woman on
the race's podium in 1999, finishing third.
Schlesser looked set for a third successive title after
winning Saturday's 19th stage in Dakar, but he was later handed
a one-hour penalty for "unsportsmanlike behavior."
The Frenchman was punished for starting the stage ahead of
Masuoka, who was then leading the rally and should have started
in front of him. It was the second one-hour penalty of the race for Schlesser, who had managed to overcome the first one.
The Japanese driver, who led the race for 11 days, broke his
rear left wheel after 25 kilometers, losing all hope of victory
on the eve of the rally finish.
The rally began in Paris with 133 motorcycles and 113 cars.
Fifty cars and 77 bikes made it to the finish line at the resort
town of Lac Rose, just outside Dakar.
Kleinschmidt admitted that Masuoka would have deserved to
win the race but dissmissed suggestions that she should have let
him win Sunday.
"For me, its clear, I wanted to win the Dakar," she said.
"He lost the race yesterday. He made a mistake. I did not.
Had he taken it easy yesterday, he might have won."
"I wanted to win, too. It's normal."
Schlesser earned the consolation of winning the last stage,
a 25-kilometer timed section on the banks of the Lac Rose (the
Pink Lake), outside Dakar.
Italian Fabrizio Meoni led a KTM clean sweep of podium
places in the motorcycle section with Spaniard Jordi Arcarons
second and Chile's Carlo de Gavardo third.
The Austrian drivers's first victory in the rally was an
impressive one as KTM riders took the top five places in the
final standings.
Meoni, 43, finished fifth in the last stage, won by
Finland's Kari Tianen, also on a KTM.
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ALSO SEE
Dakar Rally Final Results
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