His victory in Lima at the end of his 23rd Dakar earned Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel a place in the history of the race, with a total of ten wins across all categories: six on motorcycles and four in cars. The star of the global rally raid scene revisits the ten victories which turned him into a legend.

1991
Paris-Tripoli-Dakar: Everyone got lost in a sandstorm in the stage before the rest day in Agadez. I was the only one who found the right course and got a 45-minute advantage. That´s when I won my first Dakar.

1992
Paris-Sirte-Cape Town: I´ll always remember the demise of Gilles Lalay, right in front of me on a short liaison stretch. The loss of a friend and a period of introspection: is racing really the most important thing in life? I win, but I´m not sure I´ll keep on going.

1993
Paris-Tangier-Dakar: I´m battling Arcarons and take a wrong turn on purpose to make him miss a CP. Then I backtrack and go through the CP myself. The penalty he incurs is a fatal blow to his chances...

1995
Granada-Dakar: I´m leading the race when I make a mistake at a refuelling station. Arcarons lodges a complaint and I´m handed down a 15-minute penalty. I feel somewhat discouraged, but in black Africa I go on an all-out attack throughout an entire stage and win with a 20-minute margin... That´s when the balance is tipped in my favour.

1997
Dakar-Dakar: A very fair race! I was under a lot of pressure and was forced to ride quite fast every day. But, one by one, my rivals start to make the wrong moves: falls, mechanical problems, navigational mistakes... I didn´t need to beat them, they "self-destructed". It was quite an easy win.

1998
Paris-Granada-Dakar: I´ve got mixed feelings about this one. Although I´m happy to break Cyril Neveu´s five-win record, I´ve also got a sinking feeling when I think this is the last time I´ll reach Lac Rose on a motorcycle. I bring one of the most beautiful chapters of my life to a close: the motorcycle competition...

2004
Auvergne-Dakar: The end of a long period without winning (five years). A long overdue win. It was my first victory in the car category, with the new sensation of sharing this success with someone, Jean Paul [Cottret], whereas my previous ones were very personal. I´m also happy to show the Mitsubishi team they were right to trust me.

2005
Barcelona-Dakar: It was a great battle with Luc [Alphand], my teammate at Mitsubishi. There was always a lot of respect between us. I came out on top in the end, but it was an amazing duel in which I had to give it everything I´d got at all times.

2007
Lisbon-Dakar: A new duel with Luc. But the most remarkable thing for me was winning the Dakar after having to change the clutch on the course. Twice. We lost 45 minutes, so it came down to the wire, but Jean-Paul´s mechanical skills made the difference and in the end we were able to win all the same. This genuine team win was an immense satisfaction.

2012
Mar del Plata-Lima: A huge relief after five more years in the wilderness. That´s how long it took us to build a "real" racing team with X-Raid. We left an extremely well structured team at Mitsubishi and joined another team, X-Raid, which still wasn´t up to the task. It took us three years to restructure the team and improve it with our experience, opinions and ideas. Sven Quandt was very open and heeded our advice. This year really showed the difference between our first Dakar with them and what the team has grown to be today, with eight finishers out of eight cars on the starting line. This is also our first victory in South America, so we´re happy to get back to our winning ways... And if you had to choose just one of them?
Without a shadow of a doubt, my first win on a motorcycle, in 1991! When I started racing at the Dakar, I dreamt of participating in this race with Auriol, Neveu and the rest... So winning it was the culmination of a great effort! It was a childhood dream come true...