Another edition of the Dakar Rally is over, and António Maio once again was the best Portuguese in Saudi Arabia bidding farewell to the competition.
The Dakar came to an end with a stage of 328 km, of which 175 were Special, and António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha) once again outperformed the other Portuguese in the race, finishing Stage 12 in 22nd place with a time of 2h00m52s.
Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna) followed in 26th place, with Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda) three positions below in 29th place. Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM) finished 85th in his farewell to the competition.
In terms of the overall classification, the highlight once again was António Maio finishing in 18th place, just behind Pablo Quintanilla, followed by the Portuguese duo Bruno Santos and Mário Patrão (28th and 29th respectively). Alexandre Azinhais bid farewell in 64th position.
It should be noted that the competition started with more Portuguese participants, who gradually were forced to abandon: Sebastian Bühler, Joaquim Rodrigues Jr., and Rui Gonçalves.
Portuguese in Stage 12:
22nd António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha) – 2h00m52s (+12m12s)
26th Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna) – 2h03m38s (+14m58s)
29th Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda) – 2h05m09s (+16m29s)
85th Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM) – 2h48m09s (+59m43s)
Portuguese in general:
18th António Maio (Drag’on Rally Team/Yamaha) – 57h48m33s (28m30s penalty): +6h18m25s
28th Bruno Santos (XRaids Experience/Husqvarna) – 61h12m16s (41m00s penalty): +9h42m08s
29th Mário Patrão (Crédito Agrícola mariopatrao.com/Honda) – 61h22m55s (38m00s penalty): +9h52m47s
64th Alexandre Azinhais (Club Aventura Touareg/KTM) – 78h24m10s (15m00s penalty): +26h54m02s
