2005 Dakar Rally also known as the 2005 Paris-Dakar Rally was the 27th 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 2005 event was long, began in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

on 31 December 2004 and passed through

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, ...

and

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 ...

before ending at

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 ...

on 16 January 2005. The course was shorter than in 2004 but was more challenging. A record number of competitors, 696 cars, motorbikes and trucks (including assistance vehicles) in total, entered the rally. This year introduced a regulation for motorcycles that allowed open class single cylinder motorcycles of any capacity but limited twin cylinder motorcycles to 450cc.

Robby Gordon Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American semi-retired auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA, Inter ...

and

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, ...

swapped the lead in the early stages of the rally, until McRae suffered a crash during the sixth stage between

Smara Smāra (also romanized Semara, , ; ) is a city in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara, with a population of 57,035 recorded in the 2014 Moroccan census. It is served by Smara Airport and Smara bus station. History The largest city in ...

and Zouerat and retired from the event. Stephane Peterhansel took the lead after winning the seventh stage. The eighth stage between

Tichit Tichit, or Tichitt (, ), is a village at the foot of the Tagant Plateau in central southern Mauritania that is known for its vernacular architecture and proximity to the Dhar Tichitt archaeological sites. The main agriculture in Tichit is date ...

and

Tidjikja Tidjikja () is the capital of the Tagant region of central Mauritania, lying on the Tagant plateau. Founded in 1680, it has a population of around 11,000 people. The town is known for its palm trees and its vernacular architecture. The town ...

across the Mauritanian desert was cancelled due to stormy weather.

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 ...

won the ninth stage although Peterhansel retained the overall lead. Peterhansel won the tenth stage around the town of

Atar Atar, Ahtra, Atash, Azar () or ''Dāštāɣni'',, s.v. ''agni-.'' is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is conside ...

, and retained his lead after the twelfth stage. The motorcycle stage was cancelled as a mark of respect for Fabrizio Meoni, twice winner of the motorcycle category, who died following an accident on the 11th stage. Peterhansel also won the thirteenth stage from

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 ...

Kayes Kayes ( Bambara: ߞߊߦߌ tr. ''Kayi'', Soninké: ''Xaayi'') is a city in western Mali on the Sénégal River with a population of 127,368 at the 2009 census. Kayes is the capital of the administrative region of the same name. The city is loc ...

. The 14th stage was won by

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 ...

, the 51st of his career, the 15th was won by

Giniel de Villiers Giniel de Villiers (born 25 March 1972 in Barrydale, Western Cape, Barrydale, South Africa) is a South African racing and rally driver, best known for winning the 2009 Dakar Rally. Biography De Villiers began his career in circuit racing, wi ...

, and the final stage by Bruno Saby. The overall title was won by Stephane Peterhansel for the second successive year. The motorcycle category was won by

Cyril Despres Cyril Despres (born 24 January 1974) is a French rally racer and resident of Andorra. He won the Dakar Rally five times, in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013, riding a KTM motorcycle. He also won the Red Bull Romaniacs, an enduro event, three tim ...

Entries

Bikes

Note: Number one was not issued as a mark of respect Richard Sainct, who was killed during the Rally of the Pharaohs in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in September 2004. The reigning champion in the category,

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 ...

, switched to the car category for this year.

Cars

Trucks

Stages

David Schwarz - KTM - 2005 Barcelona to Dakar Rally

Notes: * — Stage cancelled for bikes only due to adverse weather conditions. * — Stage cancelled for all classes due to poor visibility. * — Stage cancelled for bikes only as tribute for Fabrizio Meoni, who died during the previous stage. * — Stage winner

penalised for excess speed.

Stage results

Motorcycles

Notes: * — Despres' time includes a nine-minute penalty.

Cars

Notes: * — Vatanen's time includes a 12-minute penalty for excess speed during the liaison section of the stage.

Trucks

Final standings

Motorcycles

Cars

Trucks

References

{{Dakar Rally Dakar Rally by year D Dakar Rally, 2005 2005 in French motorsport