2004 Dakar Rally also known as the 2004 Paris-Dakar Rally was the 26th running of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

event. The rally started in the

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; or ) is a cultural region in central France. As of 2016 Auvergne is no longer an administrative division of France. It is generally regarded as conterminous with the land area of the historical Province of Auvergne, which was dis ...

region of France, passing through

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

and

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

, and finishing

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. This was the last time the rally ever visited France. The rally was won by the French team of

Stéphane Peterhansel Stéphane Peterhansel (born 6 August 1965) is a rally driver from France. He holds the record for wins at the Dakar Rally, with 14 victories. He currently drives for Team Audi Sport. Biography Peterhansel made his Paris to Dakar Rally debut in ...

and

Jean-Paul Cottret Jean-Paul Cottret (born June 19, 1963 in Gien) is a French rally navigator, best known for his seven success in the Dakar Rally alongside Stéphane Peterhansel. Biography Cottret's partnership with Peterhansel began during the 1999 event, in wh ...

in a

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

; while the motorcycle class was won by

Nani Roma Joan "Nani" Roma Cararach (born 17 February 1972) is a rally racing driver from Folgueroles, Barcelona, Spain. He won the Dakar Rally riding a motorcycle in 2004. Since then, he has entered the car category, taking the win in the 2014 edition ...

of Spain on a KTM and the trucks class was won by Russians Vladimir Chagin, Semen Yakubov and

Sergey Savostin Sergey may refer to: * Sergey (name), a Russian given name (including a list of people with the name) * Sergey, Switzerland Sergey is a municipality in the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Sergey is f ...

in a Kamaz.

Entries

Bikes

Cars

Trucks

Stages

Notes: * — The event for trucks was cancelled due to hazardous conditions.

Summary

The competitors included former world rally champion

Colin McRae Colin Steele McRae, (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007), was a British rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver to win the World Rally Championship Drivers' title. At 27, ...

. Stephane Peterhansel took an early lead after the third stage. Four times winner of the rally,

Ari Vatanen Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen (; born 27 April 1952) is a Finns, Finnish rally (sports), rally driver turned politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1999 to 2009. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and t ...

, won the fourth stage, which was his 50th individual stage win at the Dakar Rally. Peterhansel received a five minutes penalty after his team-mate pushed his car when it encountered gearbox trouble 300m from the finishing line of the fifth stage but retained his overall lead. McRae moved up to third place after the sixth stage but lost time on the seventh stage after getting stuck in a sand dune. Peterhansel retook the lead from overnight leader Hiroshi Masuoka after the eighth stage, and retained it after stage nine. Stages 10 and 11 were cancelled owing to concerns over the security situation in

. The rally resumed with stage 12 between

Bobo-Dioulasso Bobo-Dioulasso ( , ) is a city in Burkina Faso with a population of 1,129,000 (); it is the second-largest city in the country, after Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The name means "home of the Bobo- Dioula". The local Bobo-speaking pop ...

and

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

; Peterhansel retained the lead at the end of the stage. McRae won the 13th stage between Bamako and

Ayoun el Atrous Ayoun al Atrous (also known as Aioun el Atrouss) () is a town in southern Mauritania. It is located at around . It is the capital of Hodh El Gharbi region. The city is served by the Aioun el Atrouss Airport, north-west of the city. The town ...

, the first Briton to win a stage of the Dakar rally since

Andrew Cowan Andrew Cowan (13 December 1936 – 15 October 2019) was a Scottish rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on 30 November 2005. Early years Cowan was raised in Duns, a small town in the ...

in 1990. The 14th, 15th and 16th stages were won by

Luc Alphand Luc Alphand (born 6 August 1965) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from France. He specialized in the speed events and later became a race car driver. Ski racing Born in Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), Alphand was world junior champion in 19 ...

, Hiroshi Masuoka and

Jutta Kleinschmidt Jutta Kleinschmidt (born 29 August 1962) is a German competitor of offroad automotive racing events. She is known for her numerous showings in the Paris Dakar Rally, and notably for having won the event in 2001, becoming the first woman driver ...

. McRae won the final stage but the overall winner was Stephane Peterhansel, who became only the second man to have won both the car and motorcycle categories of the Dakar Rally. The motorcycle category was won by Spaniard

Stage results

Bikes

Cars

Note: * — Peterhansel was awarded a five-minute penalty for receiving illegal outside assistance. This only affected the overall classification, with Peterhansel retaining his stage win.

Trucks

* - As the stage was cancelled, all competitors were awarded a stage time of 34:21.

Entries

Bikes

Cars

Trucks

Stages

Summary

Stage results

Bikes

Cars

Trucks

Final standings

Motorcycles

Cars

Trucks

References