2005 Dakar Rally also known as the 2005 Paris-Dakar Rally was the 27th running of the Dakar Rally event. The 2005 event was 5,565 miles (8,956 km) long, began in Barcelona on 31 December 2004 and passed through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali before ending at Dakar in Senegal on 16 January 2005.^[1] The course was shorter than in 2004 but was more challenging.^[1] A record number of competitors, 696 cars, motorbikes and trucks (including assistance vehicles) in total, entered the rally.^[2]

Quick Facts Host country, Results ...

2005 Dakar Rally
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Host country	Spain  Morocco / Western Sahara  Mauritania  Mali  Senegal
Results
Cars winner	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi
Bikes winner	Cyril Despres KTM
Trucks winner	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev Kamaz

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This year introduced a regulation for motorcycles that allowed open class single cylinder motorcycles of any capacity but limited twin cylinder motorcycles to 450cc.^[3]

Robby Gordon and Colin McRae swapped the lead in the early stages of the rally,^[4][5][6][7] until McRae suffered a crash during the sixth stage between Smara and Zouerat and retired from the event.^[8] Stephane Peterhansel took the lead after winning the seventh stage.^[9] The eighth stage between Tichit and Tidjikja across the Mauritanian desert was cancelled due to stormy weather.^[10] Luc Alphand won the ninth stage although Peterhansel retained the overall lead.^[11] Peterhansel won the tenth stage around the town of Atar in Mauritania,^[12] and retained his lead after the twelfth stage.^[13] 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.^[13][14] Peterhansel also won the thirteenth stage from Bamako to Kayes in Mali.^[15] The 14th stage was won by Ari Vatanen, the 51st of his career,^[16] the 15th was won by Giniel de Villiers,^[17] and the final stage by Bruno Saby.^[18] The overall title was won by Stephane Peterhansel for the second successive year.^[18] The motorcycle category was won by Cyril Despres.^[18]

More information Stage, Date ...

Stage	Date	From	To	Total (km)	Stage winners
					Bikes	Cars	Trucks
1	31 December	Barcelona		50	D. Frétigné	R. Gordon	H. Bekx
2	1 January	Barcelona	Granada	920	Liaison only
3	2 January	Granada	Rabat	573	D. Frétigné	C. McRae	H. Bekx
4	3 January	Rabat	Agadir	666	Stage cancelled1	R. Gordon	V. Chagin
5	4 January	Agadir	/ Smara	654	A. Caldecott	C. McRae	V. Chagin
6	5 January	/ Smara	Zouérat	622	F. Meoni	S. Peterhansel	V. Chagin
7	6 January	Zouérat	Tichit	669	D. Frétigné	S. Peterhansel	F. Kabirov
8	7 January	Tichit	Tidjikja	Stage cancelled2
9	8 January	Tidjikja	Atar	399	I. Esteve	L. Alphand	V. Chagin
	9 January	Atar		Rest day
10	10 January	Atar		499	C. Despres	S. Peterhansel	F. Kabirov
11	11 January	Atar	Kiffa	695	M. Coma	J. Kleinschmidt	H. Bekx
12	12 January	Kiffa	Bamako	819	Stage cancelled3	G. de Villiers	G. de Rooy
13	13 January	Bamako	Kayes	668	A. Caldecott	S. Peterhansel	G. de Rooy
14	14 January	Kayes	Tambacounda	630	J. de Azevedo	B. Saby4	G. de Rooy
15	15 January	Tambacounda	Dakar	569	C. Despres	G. de Villiers	V. Chagin
16	16 January	Dakar		68	K. Walch	B. Saby	V. Chagin

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Notes:

• ^1 — Stage cancelled for bikes only due to adverse weather conditions.
• ^2 — Stage cancelled for all classes due to poor visibility.
• ^3 — Stage cancelled for bikes only as tribute for Fabrizio Meoni, who died during the previous stage.
• ^4 — Stage winner Ari Vatanen penalised for excess speed.