In a sense, Thierry Sabine finally made it back to Lac Rose on Saturday.

40 years after his untimely passing in a helicopter crash while overseeing the rally he created, Team DAK’CAR brought their bus bearing the likenesses of Sabine and his Paris–Dakar contemporaries to the Africa Eco Race finish along Lake Retba in Dakar, Senegal. Sabine and his wife Diane are featured in an emblem on both sides of the bus accompanied by former winners and race icons on two and four wheels.

“As I drove toward Lac Rose, I thought back to all those early Paris–Dakar Rallies, to all our fellow travelers, to my brother Philippe, to those who are no longer with us, with a touch of nostalgia,” DAK’CAR boss Marc Joineau commented. Joineau himself was a Dakar regular during its infancy in the 1980s before getting back on a bike and signing up for the AER.

“I will have done it on a motorcycle, in a buggy, in a 4×4, and finally in a school bus painted in the colors of the Thierry Sabine era. A wonderful challenge very close to my heart.”

Stage 12 was not included in the final overall results, though there was still a 22-kilometer Selective Section to go with the 246-km trip from Mpal to Dakar. Of course, the SS was irrelevant in the bigger picture of another AER that successfully reached the legendary finish by the pink water of Lac Rose. Organizers even called for a mass start along the beach as done in Dakars of yore and for a one-off in 2025 (the 2026 Dakar Classic also conducted one in Stage 8).

René Metge’s Range Rover is among the cars on the DAK’CAR bus, which makes it all the more fitting that his kids Jonathan and Élodie finished the AER in their own. 45 years after their dad won the Dakar for the first time, the siblings finally achieved their goal of reaching the lake in a replica of René’s 1981 winner.

Besides celebrating the finish, they took a photo alongside a memorial marker by the lake to Sabine and caught up with Jean-Louis Schlesser, the two-time Dakar winner who co-founded the AER alongside René. The younger Metges also brought with them the trophy their dad received for winning the 1981 Dakar, which has a traditional cup design rather than the Bedouin used today.

“After an absolutely incredible day full of emotions, our dream—which we’ve been imagining for over a year—has finally come true,” the Metge siblings jointly stated. “We set off at night from Mpal on a long liaison. There was a lot of traffic this morning, then we went to the beach where we put the pedal to the metal.

“It was an intense and, to be honest, a bit nerve-wracking moment: high tide, the waves catching up to us, adrenaline at its peak. The emotion was so strong that Élodie couldn’t even manage the navigation on the beach.

“At the finish line, there was immense relief, an indescribable pride in having completed this adventure with this Range Rover, and above all, the immense joy of being reunited with our loved ones. Standing on the podium, surrounded by the entire Africa Eco Race team, was a timeless moment.

“Today, there were so many tears… but tears of joy. Thank you all!”

Since the Africa Eco Race retraces the route that the Dakar followed until 2009, it made sense that getting to Lac Rose was an emotional moment for those with connections to the older race. Noa Sainct got to be at the location where his father Richard stood triumphant in 1999 (the 2000 and 2003 Dakars finished in Egypt), while Tomáš Tomeček and his crew of service truck drivers got three Tatra 815s to Retba as the late Karel Loprais certainly would’ve been proud of. Yoshimasa Sugawara, who still holds the record for the longest Dakar consecutive start streak, was also back by the water for the second year in a row.

Even Stéphane Peterhansel made a point of showing up. Like in 2025, he briefly participated in the final stage on a Yamaha Ténéré so that he could join everyone at the lake. He wasn’t as involved as last year since he was still unwinding after January’s Dakar in Saudi Arabia, but his presence was still more than welcomed by those like the Metges and Sainct.

Stage 12 winners

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	1	12	David Frétigné	David Frétigné Honda Off Road Center	12:20
Over 450cc	41	20	Mirco Bettini	Rally Team Azzurrorosa	19:21
Over 650cc	3	191	Mike Wiedemann	Wiedemann Mtorsports	13:06
Quad	61	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	24:24

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	7	215	Christian Femont	Desert Foxx Racing	16:34
T1.1	2	202	Imre Varga	Varga Racing Team	13:54
T1.2	1	236	Andrea Schiumarini	R Team	12:58
Open	10	210	Cédric Feryn	Feryn Rally Raid Team	20:40

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	3	285	Eric Bernard	Vendée Team	15:37
T3	9	253	Jérôme Cambier	Jérôme Cambier	16:24
T4	1	275	Martijn van den Broek	Van Ham Racing / QFF Racing	14:43

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	16:57

Overall winners

Bike

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
450cc	3	176	Jean-Loup Lepan	RC Assistance	398:40:13
Over 450cc	22	13	Alexandre Azinhais	Club Aventura Touareg	48:18:03
Over 650cc	1	171	Kevin Gallas	Ténéré Yamaha Rally Team	39:24:05
Electric	N/A	100	Cyril Forget	CFR Endurance	197:53:40
Quad	68	97	Alexis Varagne	Team Sénégal	118:51:59

Car

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1+	2	215	Christian Femont	Desert Foxx Racing	40:42:43
T1.1	3	200	Vincent Vroninks	Desert Lions Rally Team	41:02:29
T1.2	1	201	David Gérard	Nominoe Aventures / Les Fous du Volant / MD Rallye	39:13:24
Open	11	210	Cédric Feryn	Feryn Rally Raid Team	107:31:53

SSV

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
SSV	4	285	Eric Bernard	Vendée Team	44:20:56
T3	2	299	Martin Benko	Norwit Racing	42:44:22
T4	1	275	Martijn van den Broek	Van Ham Racing / QFF Racing	41:56:38

Truck

Class	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T5	400	Gerrit Zuurmond	Rainbow Truck Team	61:18:21

Featured image credit: Metge Adventure