Peugeot has won the epic Dakar Rally for the 5th time in the French marque's history, with Stéphane Peterhansel, now crowned "Mr Dakar", driving his number 302 Peugeot 2008 DKR to victory.

The 4 two-wheel drive Peugeot 2008 DKRs triumphed in the two-week South American event, claiming 9 stage wins out of a possible 12. The crews of Stéphane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret, Carlos Sainz / Lucas Cruz and Cyril Despres / David Castera were joined by 9-time world rally champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, who made their maiden debuts on the event.

Exactly 25 years since his first Dakar victory, then on a bike, Peterhansel sealed his 12th Dakar success for Peugeot Sport, together with co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret. Cyril Despres / David Castera and Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena finished 7th and 9th respectively. Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz were overall leaders, with just 4 days to go, but were not able to join their team mates on the finish ramp.

With a 9500-kilometre route through Argentina and Bolivia, taking in extreme weather and altitudes that peaked at 4800 metres, Team Peugeot Total took on the fearsome 2-week, 13-stage challenge.

Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport director said, "The results have surpassed our expectations because we came here just to show the performance of the car. And we've achieved that objective well throughout all different types of conditions. That goes to show that we have accomplished the technical mission that we set ourselves. We've nonetheless found a few small mechanical issues, which show us that there is still a margin of progression left in our Peugeot 2008 DKR. We're absolutely delighted with this result and we hope to confirm it again next year - maybe even by aiming for a one-two-three."