Mitsubishi's Hiroshi Masuoka clinched victory in the autos section of the Dakar Rally for his second straight win after the 17th and final stage, essentially a 56km lap of honour. For Mitsubishi it was their eighth triumph - a record in the four wheels history of the event.
The Japanese driver benefited from mechanical problems suffered by long-time race leader Stephane Peterhansel, who had himself been poised for victory after Mitsubishi said, barring accidents, it would call for him to be allowed to go on to claim the win.
The 42-year-old Masuoka won four stages in this the 25th edition of the race, making it 21 stage wins in all since he first set out on the Dakar trail in 1987.
Masuoka saw off Frenchman Jean-Pierre Fontenay and Peterhansel, who had the consolation of making the podium despite the steering problems that wrecked his challenge barely 50km from the finishing line.
"I always believed I could do it, even when I was 23 minutes down," insisted Masuoka.
"You must never give up hope. I prepared myself for a win - you never know what can happen in the desert, where the situation can change very quickly." Peterhansel thus failed in his bid to emulate race creator Hubert Auriol, the only man to win on two and four wheels.
Frenchman Richard Sainct, riding a KTM, won the motorbikes category for the third time. Sainct (32) won five specials in all which proved enough to edge out compatriot Cyril Despres and Italy's double champion Fabrizio Meoni.
Sainct, who first participated in the gruelling race in 1991 after winning a motorbike in a competition, scored wins with BMW in 1999 and 2000 before last year brought heartbreak as he suffered engine problems and was then hit with a speeding penalty.
Having switched to KTM he brought the Austrian firm their third straight success. Sainct, who first caught the racing bug aged 10, was born in a village called Saint-Affrique - but with this win the joke was that it could be renamed "Sainct-Afrique" given the success he has had on this continent.
Now he may follow Peterhansel, six times a motorcycle winner, into the four-wheel version.
"If someone handed me a serious project for the cars then why not give it a go? I'd like to give it a go," said Sainct.