Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka retained his Dakar Rally title after successfully negotiating the final stage.

Masuoka completed the race in 49 hours, 8 minutes and 52 seconds after setting out from Marseille almost three weeks ago.

Jean-Pierre Fontenay finished second almost two hours back.

Masuoka had been trailing Stephane Peterhansel by 25 minutes on the penultimate stage, but the Frenchman was forced out with technical problems.

Frenchman Richard Sainct, riding a KTM, won the motorbikes section for the third time.