Jan 15, 2006, 15:59 GMT
Dakar, Senegal - The 28th Dakar Rally ended Sunday with Mitsubishi's Luc Alphand declared the winner but without the 15th and final stage being time by organisers out of respect for the two young boys killed in separate accidents Friday and Saturday.
A cyclist looks on as French rally driver Luc Alphand is ready to go with his Mitsubishi at early sunrise at the start of the eleventh stage of the Rally Dakar from the town of Kayes to Bamako, Mali, Wednesday 11 January 2006. Alphand was declared the winner but without the 15th and final stage being time by organisers out of respect for the two young boys killed in separate accidents Friday and Saturday. EPA/Gero Breloer
'I am very sad about the tragic events of the past few days. Out of respect for the dead and their families we decided to carry out the final stage without timing,' said event director Etienne Lavigne.
'But the Senegalese authorities asked us not to cancel the run to the finish and the victory ceremony as this is a national event in Senegal.'
Alphand was already virtually assured of a victory in the car category as he took a lead of 17 minutes 53 seconds over second- placed Giniel de Villiers in a Volkswagen Touareg into the final day.
Spain's Joan-Nani Roma took third place, 1 hour 50.38 minutes behind the winner. It was the sixth Dakar win in a row for Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi and the 11th in total.
Another Spaniard, Marc Coma of KTM, won his first Dakar in the motorcycle category. France's Cyril Despres came in second, 1:13.29 hours behind.
There were three fatalities in this year's Dakar, all of them coming in the final week.
A 12-year-old boy was killed in an accident on a road used by vehicles servicing the rally on Saturday while a day earlier a 10- year boy died when was hit by by a car driven by Latvian Maris Saukans.
Motorcycle category competitor Andy Caldecott died of a broken neck following a fall from his bike last Monday.
This brings to 48 the number of deaths in the event's history.
'Yesterday, I was looking forward to a big beach party but not today,' said former ski World Cup winner Alphand, who ended his skiing career in 1997, taking up rallying a year later.
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