South Africa's Giniel De Villiers and Spain's Marc Coma wrapped up overall victory in the 2009 Dakar Rally following Saturday's final stage.
De Villiers won the car section and Coma triumphed among the motorcyclists following a final 227km special from Rioja to Cordoba to take the honors in the race's 30th edition.
GordonThe duo confirmed their victories by safely negotiating their way through the final liaison which took them into Buenos Aires, two weeks after they left.
De Villiers, driving for Volkswagen, led teammate Mark Miller of the United States by 2 minutes 20 seconds going into the final stage and increased his advantage to 8 minutes 59 seconds to emerge on top.
It was his and Volkswagen's first win in the event and also the first by an African driver.
Ironically, it came after the race was switched from Africa following the cancellation of the 2008 edition following a terrorist attack in Mauritania which left four French tourists dead.
"It's absolutely incredible. I have never felt such emotion," said De Villiers, who had finished second in 2006 and admitted to feeling "very nervous over the final kilometers" with victory in sight.
"I couldn't stop counting up how many kilometers remained. I am really happy for the team, for Volkswagen, who have backed us for five years to achieve this win."
Miller said he was delighted with his second place.
"The team won and that was our goal. It's really awesome. Finishing second is great. It could have been Giniel or me; that's the race," Miller said. "I am still young and I will have plenty more opportunities to win this race."
NASCAR driver Robby Gordon finished third overall, 1 hour 46 minutes behind De Villiers. In Saturday's 14th and final stage, Gordon finished 23rd, 19 minutes from the lead.
The finish was the highest in five Dakar Rally attempts for Gordon and the podium finish had Gordon feeling like a champion.
"[Team Dakar USA] may not be the overall winner in this year's Dakar Rally, but I can tell you that we are our own winners," Gordon said. "What we did here this year is really amazing. This my highest finish in a Dakar Rally and a testament to the Team Dakar USA program."
KTM rider Coma, champion in 2006, suffered a bad fall on the final day in 2007 to lose out. This year, he won the opening special on January 3 and then captured the third and fourth stages to put himself ahead of French title holder Cyril Despres, who endured tire problems and a fall to see his challenge fade early on.
"It was a tough race," said Coma, who beat Despres by 1 hour 25 minutes 38 seconds. "There were so many race days and a lot of work so I'm really happy. We didn't know the terrain too well and so it was difficult to set down tactics."
This year's race was marred by the death of French rider Pascal Terry, who was found dead early on January 7 three days after he suffered an accident and disappeared during the second stage.
Wire Services contributed to this repor
