This is the first time Alphand, a former World Downhill skiing champion, has won the event. Teammates Joan ‘Nani’ Roma and Henri Magne are in third position, while defending Dakar champions Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret finished fourth overall for the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team.

Following two fatal accidents, one which happened last Jan. 13 in a village during a competitive section and another one the following day on an assistance road, event organizers decided to cancel the final leg of the 2006 Dakar Rally.

The tandem of Alphand and Picard scored two stage wins, three second-fastest special finishes and two third places on their way to notching their first Dakar victory.

Alphand was always in the hunt in the car category as they sailed their Pajero across sand dunes, forest tracks and through African villages, across rocky trails and floating across river crossings.

Alphand and Picard also had their moment of scare — during the third stage causing them to drop to ninth overall.

Still they persevered, and when teammate and overall leader Stephane Peterhansel hit a tree on the 12th special stage, Alphand took over the lead and kept Volkswagen’s Giniel de Villiers at bay with two of the three final stage wins.

At the half-way mark on the one rest day over the 16 days of Dakar, Alphand admitted that he could not have overtaken the defending champion, who had built a considerable cushion, even though he and Picard could taste the possible Dakar crown. However, the key at the end was consistency and navigation.

"It is always a big relief to be in Dakar. And when you win, it is incredible. It has been a beautiful race, with a real battle. We had to push ourselves further every day in the car, even when we were more than tired," said a very relieved Alphand. "I don’t really realize what is happening to me. But I had to remain focused on everything till the end. And today, I am very happy."

The duo did not back down from the de Villiers’ late-race challenge and earned the coveted status of not only surviving Dakar but becoming a legend.

Alphand joins two-time car winner Peterhansel on the list of legends, Peterhansel was defending his back-to-back title from last year, until the tree jumped out and hit him. Still, Peterhansel has a total of eight Dakar titles in both car and bike categories.

Prior to Peterhansel, Hiroshi Masuoka scored wins in 2002 and 2003 following Jutta Kleinschmidt’s victory for her former ride with Mitsubishi in 2001 — the first and only woman to win Dakar. And even though Peterhansel bettered Ari Vatanen’s record of 50 career stage wins, Vatanen still has the most car category wins in Dakar at four. Peterhansel now has 52 career stage wins.

"Of course it’s a little bit frustrating but I’m also satisfied for Mitsubishi team and for Luc (Alphand) and Gilles (Picard). Our team’s satisfaction is more important than my own disappointment," explained Peterhansel. "I’m going to think about something else now. I’ll be focusing on the next Dakar in a few months."

The penultimate stage proved to be a tough one for the navigators but Picard successfully guided Alphand and their Mitsubishi Pajero through the dusty tracks to allow the crew to set the eighth fastest time and ultimately win the event by 17 minutes and 53 seconds over South African Giniel De Villiers.

De Villiers gave it all he could, but still lost to Alphand by nearly 18 minutes. However, he and his Volkswagen teammates proved that they can run with and beat the Pajeros in their new Race Touareg 2 prototypes. The factory team will return next year for the 29th challenge of Dakar.

Teammates Joan ‘Nani’ Roma and Henri Magne, and Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret, both had navigational problems and were only able to set 18th and 14th fastest times respectively. However, the Repsol Mitsubishi Ralliart Team crews claimed third and fourth positions overall upon arrival in Dakar.