2004 Dakar Rally also known as the 2004 Paris-Dakar Rally was the 26th running of the Dakar Rally event. The rally started in the Auvergne region of France, passing through Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali, and finishing Dakar in Senegal. This was the last time the rally ever visited France. The rally was won by the French team of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret in a Mitsubishi; while the motorcycle class was won by Nani Roma of Spain on a KTM and the trucks class was won by Russians Vladimir Chagin, Semen Yakubov and Sergey Savostin in a Kamaz.

Quick Facts Host country, Results ...

2004 Dakar Rally
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Host country	France  Morocco / Western Sahara  Mauritania  Mali  Senegal
Results
Cars winner	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret Mitsubishi
Bikes winner	Nani Roma KTM
Trucks winner	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin Kamaz

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More information Stage, Date ...

Stage	Date	From	To	Total (km)	Stage winners
					Bikes	Cars	Trucks
1	1 January	Clermont-Ferrand	Narbonne	396	M. Graziani	K. Shinozuka	V. Chagin
2	2 January	Narbonne	Castellón de la Plana	526	D. Frétigné	J. M. Servia	Stage cancelled1
3	3 January	Castellón de la Plana	Tangier	865	D. Frétigné	G. de Villiers	G. de Rooy
4	4 January	Tangier	Er Rachidia	752	F. Meoni	A. Vatanen	F. Kabirov
5	5 January	Er Rachidia	Ouarzazate	575	I. Esteve	S. Peterhansel	V. Chagin
6	6 January	Ouarzazate	Tan-Tan	803	N. Roma	H. Masuoka	V. Chagin
7	7 January	Tan-Tan	Atar	1055	R. Sainct	H. Masuoka	V. Chagin
8	8 January	Atar	Tidjikja	393	N. Roma	S. Peterhansel	K. Loprais
9	9 January	Tidjikja	Néma	739	C. Despres	H. Masuoka	F. Kabirov
10	10 January	Néma	Mopti	Stages cancelled
11	11 January	Mopti	Bobo-Dioulasso
	12 January	Bobo-Dioulasso		Rest day
12	13 January	Bobo-Dioulasso	Bamako	666	C. Despres	L. Alphand	F. Kabirov
13	14 January	Bamako	Ayoun el Atrous	734	D. Frétigné	C. McRae	K. Loprais
14	15 January	Ayoun el Atrous	Tidjikja	551	C. Despres	L. Alphand	F. Kabirov
15	16 January	Tidjikja	Nouakchott	651	F. Meoni	H. Masuoka	F. Kabirov
16	17 January	Nouakchott	Dakar	647	R. Sainct	J. Kleinschmidt	F. Kabirov
17	18 January	Dakar		106	C. Despres	C. McRae	H. Stacey

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Notes:

• ^1 — The event for trucks was cancelled due to hazardous conditions.

The competitors included former world rally champion Colin McRae.^[1] Stephane Peterhansel took an early lead after the third stage.^[2] Four times winner of the rally, Ari Vatanen, won the fourth stage, which was his 50th individual stage win at the Dakar Rally.^[3] 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.^[4] McRae moved up to third place after the sixth stage but lost time on the seventh stage after getting stuck in a sand dune.^[5][6] Peterhansel retook the lead from overnight leader Hiroshi Masuoka after the eighth stage,^[7] and retained it after stage nine.^[8] Stages 10 and 11 were cancelled owing to concerns over the security situation in Mali.^[8] The rally resumed with stage 12 between Bobo-Dioulasso in Burkina Faso and Bamako in Mali; Peterhansel retained the lead at the end of the stage.^[9] McRae won the 13th stage between Bamako and Ayoun el Atrous in Mauritania, the first Briton to win a stage of the Dakar rally since Andrew Cowan in 1990.^[10] The 14th, 15th and 16th stages were won by Luc Alphand, Hiroshi Masuoka and Jutta Kleinschmidt.^[11][12][13] 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.^[14] The motorcycle category was won by Spaniard Nani Roma.^[14]