The best images of the Dakar Rally • 01/07/2013, 04:32 PM

 Frenchmen Stephane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres have defended their car and motorbike titles in the Dakar Rally.

 Peterhansel, leading the race since the second stage on Jan. 6, became the most successful driver in the world's toughest rally with his fifth victory to go along with a record six on a motorbike.

He's the first person to win the car category twice since the rally moved from Africa to South America in 2009 for security reasons.

 With a commanding overall lead, Peterhansel cruised to eighth behind Mini teammate Nani Roma, the winner of the 14th stage into Santiago on Saturday. Overall, Peterhansel beat 2009 winner Giniel de Villiers of South Africa by 42 minutes, and by nearly 90 over another Mini teammate, third-placed Leonid Novitskiy of Russia.

Despres' fifth title on a KTM tied him in rally history with the inaugural Dakar winner, countryman Cyril Neveu. They're second only to Peterhansel in bike titles.

 Despres was 14th, four minutes behind stage winner Ruben Faria of Portugal. In the overall, Despres was 10:43 ahead of Faria and 18:48 ahead of Chile's Francisco Lopez.

Gordon was 22 seconds ahead of Guerlain Chicherit of France in the cars category, while Peterhansel finished nearly 14 minutes off the pace.

The rally finishes Saturday in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

American Robby Gordon won the 13th stage of the Dakar Rally on Friday, while Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel kept his lead in the overall standings with one day to go.

In motorbikes, defending champion Cyril Despres closed in on his fifth Dakar title. Despres leads KTM teammate Francisco Lopez of Chile by 8:15 in the overall, and is 14:14 up on another KTM rider Ruben Faria of Portugal.

Peterhansel is still expected to win his 11th Dakar title barring any mishap, as he leads the overall car standings by 44 minutes, 38 seconds ahead of Giniel de Villieres of South Africa. Other competitors are more than an hour behind.

Lopez won Friday's stage, with Despres 5:25 behind.

Argentine Marcos Patronelli of team Maffei Dakar finished second in Stage 11 to keep his overall lead in the Quad category.

Lucio Alvarez and co-driver Ronnie Graue of team Toyota finished third in Stage 11 between La Rioja and Fiambala.

Robby Gordon and co-driver Kellon Walch of team Hummer won Stage 11 in the Car category.

Chinese Yong Zhou competes on his Great Wall during the Stage 11. He ended in 15th place.

Russia's Eduard Nikolaev and his team finished third in Stage 11 between La Rioja and Fiambala, Argentina, to keep the overall lead in the Truck category.

Mini's driver Stephane Perterhansel of France finisehd third in Stage 10 to keep the first place overall in the Car category.

Argentine Claudio Clavigliasso finished 17th in Stage 10 in the Quad category and is 8th place overall.

Guerlain Chicherit of France was 11th in Stage 10 and is 7th overall in the Car category.

Chilean Boris Garafulic finished 15th in Stage 10 and is 12th overall in the Car category.

Husqvarna's rider Helder Rodrigues of Portugal finished 9th in the Stage 10 between Cordoba and La Rioja.

KTM's rider Ruben Faria of Portugal finished the Stage 10 in 8th place in the Bike category.

Fans watch the race at a small river during Stage 10.

BMW's Orlando Terranova of Argentina was the winner of Stage 10 in the Car category. He is 5th overall.

Mini's driver Nani Joan Roma of Spain finished second in Stage 10 and is in 4th place overall.

Argentina's Lucio Alvarez steers his Toyota during the Stage 9 of the Dakar 2013 between Tucuman and Cordoba.

US Robby Gordon steers his Hummer during the Stage 9 of the Dakar 2013 between Tucuman and Cordoba, Argentina.

Toyota's driver Giniel De Villiers of South Africa races as some local fans cheer on him.

Cyril Despres of KTM Red Bull Rally Factory Team competes in stage 9 from Tucuman to Cordoba

Mini's driver Stephane Perterhansel (R) of France. He is the overall leader in the Cars categor after 9 stages.

Honda's rider Jeremias Israel Esquerre of Chile competes during the Stage 9.

A helicopter overflies Tucuman before the Stage 9 of the Dakar 2013 between Tucuman and Cordoba.

Toyoya's driver Adam Malysz of Poland drives through a pond during the Stage 9.

Gerard de Rooy is the defending champion in the Truck category and this year is also leading the rally after the first half.

David Caseu from France is the overall leader in the Motorcycles category.

Competitors sleep in Cachi after the Stage 7 of the Dakar 2013 between Calama and Salta.

Stephane Peterhansel who won the rally 6 times in the Motrocycles category and once in the Cars category. is leading in Cars through the first half of the rally.

A competitor reads his road book in Cachi after the Stage 7.

Argentine Marcos Patronelli is leading the rally in the Quad category. Patronelli finished in second place in 2009.

Drivers boots dry out on the rest day of the rally on Sunday Jan 13th

This car is stuck in the thick of the mud.

Here, one driver helps a motorcycle rider out.

This car skirts the danger.

Here, a rescue helicopter spirits a car out of danger.

An image of frustration as the car cannot go any further.

This car was completely stuck in the mud.

Heavy rains in northern Argentina caused a river to overflow in the Salta-Tucumán, which caused several cars remain stuck in the mud in the Cerro Colorado. Those hardest hit were evacuated by helicopter.

Race officials say the incident occurred as 25-year-old Bourgin was travelling from Calama on the Chilean side of the Andes to the start of the seventh stage in Argentina. They say the police car was going in the opposite direction.

The victory was Peterhansel's 61st stage victory in the famous rally, which he has won 10 times.

In bikes, Kurt Caselli of the United States won the high-altitude stage across the Andes with Olivier Pain of France keeping the overall lead.

Stephane Peterhansel in a Mini won the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally on Friday to increase his overall lead in the cars competition, while a French motorcyclist became the third person killed in connection with this year's race.

he stage was overshadowed by the death of French motorcyclist Thomas Bourgin, who collided with a Chilean police car. The accident comes after two people died when their taxi collided with a Dakar Rally support vehicle late Wednesday in Peru near the border with Chile.

Peterhansel now leads by 3 minutes, 14 seconds ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar as the car category shapes up to be a two-man race. Third-place Giniel de Villier is 44 minutes behind the leader.

Husqvarna biker Jon Barreda Bort competes during Stage 5 of the Dakar Rally 2013 between Arequipa and Arica

Italy's Juan Carlos Carignani competes in the Stage 6 of the 2013 Dakar Rally between Arica and Calama, Chile.

Mini's driver Nani Joan Roma of Spain is stuck in the sand.

Pascal Thomasse and co-pilot Pascal Larroque of team Buggy MD Rallye compete in stage 5 from Arequipa to Arica.

Mini's driver Stephane Perterhansel (C) of France passes next to Mini's driver Nani Joan Roma of Spain (R) during Stage 6 bewteen Arica and Calama

Italy's Juan Carlos Carignani is pictured during the Stage 6 of the 2013 Dakar Rally between Arica and Calama, Chile.

France's Alain Duclos competes in the Stage 6 between Arica and Calama

France's David Casteu falls during Stage 6.

Spain's biker Miguel Puertas Herrera competes in the Stage 6 of the 2013 Dakar Rally between Arica and Calama, Chile

France's Patrice Carillon (R) and an unidentified biker sleep during the breakfast before the Stage 5 of the Dakar 2013 between Nazca and Arequipa.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah gets out of his car after the 5th Stage Arequipa-Arica.

France's Francis Gadioux sleeps during the breakfast before the Stage 5 of the Dakar 2013 between Nazca and Arequipa.

Mini's mechanics work on Stephane Perterhansel's car after the Dakar 2013 5th Stage Arequipa-Arica.

he news got worse for Sainz. Dogged by electrical problems on Monday, the 2010 winner's buggy seized up again and he lost several hours. Two others also fell out of title contention: Lucio Alvarez, who started the day third overall, broke down early, and Robby Gordon rolled his Hummer onto its roof and lost hours.

Officials restored Peterhansel's second-stage win and lead from Sunday after losing them to Carlos Sainz, who had a complaint upheld that his GPS malfunctioned. Further testing, however, found nothing wrong with the GPS, and officials gave back Peterhansel's record 60th stage win.

In the bike race, Joan Barreda Bort of Spain showed his competitiveness by rebounding from broken spokes on his Husqvarna and a 44th-place finish on Monday to win the fourth stage, his second of the race. He finished 8:23 ahead of Pain's Yamaha and nearly 11 minutes in front of David Casteu's Yamaha to rise to fourth overall.

Nasser Al-Attiyah won a second straight stage of the Dakar Rally and reduced Stephane Peterhansel's overall lead to five minutes in the sands of Peru on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the motorbikes got a fourth different leader after four stages when Olivier Pain, ninth in his previous two Dakars, came through the 289-kilometer stage from Nazca to Arequipa in second place to grab a 2-minute, 24-second lead over fellow Frenchman David Casteu.

Despite continuing to underplay his new buggy's capacities, Al-Attiyah has finished no worse than sixth in the stages. Guerlain Chicherit led at the first two waypoints but Al-Attiyah, the 2011 champion, edged ahead on the last third to win the stage by 36 seconds from Chicherit. Peterhansel remained steady to trail 1:17 behind in third, and keep the lead for a third straight day.

US Robby Gordon (R) is pictured next to his Hummer in the sand during Stage 4 after suffering an accident.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah competes during Stage 4 of the Dakar 2013 between Nazca and Arequipa, Peru.

Buggy's driver Carlos Sainz jumps during Stage 4.

The Netherland's Henno Van Bergeijk (C) is helped by Director of the Dakar Rally 2010 Etienne Lavigne (L) after falling during Stage 3

Honda's biker Javier Pizzolito competes during Stage 4 of the Dakar 2013 between Nazca and Arequipa.

Mini's driver Lonid Novitskiy of Russia with an spectacular landscape.

Mini's driver Nani Joan Roma (R) and Buggy's driver Guerlain Chicherit of France compete head to head during stage 4

A rescue helicopter arrives to give assistance to US Robby Gordon.

Robby Gordon of the U.S. and co-pilot Kellon Walch compete with their Hummer during the 3rd stage of the Dakar Rally 2013 from Pisco to Nazca.

France's Stephane Peterhansel and his navigator Jean-Paul Cottret compete with their Mini during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013.

South Africa's Giniel De Villiers and his navigator Dirk Von Zitzewitz of Germany drive past in their Toyota as France's Guerlain Chicherit and Jean-Pierre Garcin check their SMG during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013.

Spain's Joan Bort Barreda rides his Husqsvarna during the 3rd stage of the Dakar Rally 2013 from Pisco to Nazca.

France's Pascal Delesque rides his Honda quad during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013.

Poland's Krzysztof Holowczyc and his navigator Filipe Palmeiro of Portugal compete with their Mini during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013.

Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-pilot Spain's Lucas Cruz compete with their Buggy during the second stage of the 2013 Dakar Rally from Pisco to Pisco.

Britain's Lyndon Poskitt rides his KTM motorcycle during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013, from Pisco to Pisco.

Spain's Carlos Sainz and his navigator Timo Gottschalk of Germany compete with their Buggy during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013, from Pisco to Pisco.

Russia's Leonid Novistkiy and his navigator Konstantin Zhiltsov compete with their Mini during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013, from Pisco to Pisco.

Argentina's Lucio Ezquiel Alvarez and his navigator Bernardo Rolando Graue compete with their Toyota during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013.

South Africa's Giniel De Villiers and his navigator Dirk Von Zitzewitz of Germany compete with their Toyota during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013.

Portugal's Paulo Goncalves rides his Husqvarna motorcycle during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013, from Pisco to Pisco.

France's Guerlain Chicherit and his navigator Jean-Pierre Garcin check their SMG during the second stage of the Dakar Rally 2013.