BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — For most of the 31st edition of the Dakar Rally, Volkswagen Motorsport teammates Carlos Sainz and Nasser Al-Attiyah were in command, and it was only a question of which Race Touareg would get the overall victory.
Sainz, the two-time world rally champion from Spain, took honors, winning in his fourth try in the storied endurance contest.
Al-Attiyah, of Qatar, won the 14th and final stage Saturday in 1 hour, 19 minutes, 42 seconds. Sainz finished 2nd, 36 seconds behind, and won the rally by 2:12.
American Mike Miller made it a 1-2-3 sweep for Volkswagen, which also won overall honors last year with Giniel de Villiers of South Africa taking the title. Villiers finished 5th this year, with three-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel of France finishing 4th.
NASCAR regular Robby Gordon, an accomplished off-road racer, won one stage and finished 9th overall.
Sainz won two stages of the 14-stage event, which covered 5,611 miles, including special competition stages and public-road connections, in a route from Buenos Aires into Chile and then back into Argentina to its starting point. The route covered varied terrain, with two crossings of the Andes Mountains chain.
Al-Attiyah won four stages and Miller one for the victorious VW team. Peterhansel won two stages, including the penultimate round on Friday, in a BMW X3 CC. Other stage winners included BMW X3 competitors Nani Roma and Guerlain Chicherit.
Inside Line says: VW owns the Dakar in the two years the event has been held in South America. — David Green, Correspondent
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