2001 Paris–Dakar Rally
The 2001 Dakar Rally, also known as the 2001 Paris–Dakar Rally, was the 23rd running of the Dakar Rally event. The format was revised to reduce the amount of airborne assistance to competitors in favour of assistance vehicles. The 2001 rally was 6,600 miles (10,600 km) long and began in Paris, France, on New Year's Day, passing through Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali before finishing at Dakar in Senegal. This was the last Paris-Dakar Rally that commenced and finished in the same locations as the original race. Jean-Louis Schlesser won the penultimate stage of the rally to take the lead but was penalised one hour for unsportsmanlike conduct. The rally was won by German Jutta Kleinschmidt, who became the first woman to win the event. The motorcycle class of the rally was won by Italian Fabrizio Meoni, with Karel Loprais winning the truck class.
| 2001 Dakar Rally | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| Host country | France Spain Morocco Mauritania Mali Senegal | ||
| Results | |||
| Cars winner | Jutta Kleinschmidt Andreas Schulz Mitsubishi | ||
| Bikes winner | Fabrizio Meoni KTM | ||
| Trucks winner | Karel Loprais Josef Kalina Petr Hamerla Tatra | ||
On stage 19, teammates Schlesser and Servia started the stage earlier than scheduled, which meant that race leader Masuoka was left behind the trail of the two buggies. As Masuoka drove off track to overtake Servia, the car was damaged. Masuoka's co-driver, Pascal Maimon, walked to the track to try to stop Servia to complain, Servia braked and nearly ran over him. Schlesser and Servia were given a 60-minute penalty, which gave Kleinschmidt and Masuoka a comfortable lead for the final mini stage.