Peterhansel - through little fault of his own - semi-unintentionally found himself leading after stage 12; when he passed Roma in a section of dunes - stuck - and thereby inherited the lead. Roma (operating under the assumption that the "team order" given at end of stage 11 (when Roma was still legitimately the leader)... which he HAD been since stage 6 when Peterhansel suffered a spate of (4?) flats in one stage that dropped him down the order... in the first place )
On stage 13, when Peterhansel "let" Roma past again for the "win", he did so not only as required by the decision made by the team manager at conclusion of stage 11... but because he is a proffessional 100%.
Possibly also out of respect/repayment to both Quandt and Roma for the years of support they have offered/sacrificed in the past to Stephane.
All five of Stephanes DAKAR auto wins have come under Quandt's management. It was Sven who was involved in the recruitment of Peterhansel into the Mitsubishi squad (yes... that's right - SQ was CEO/Team manager at MMSP back at that time also). This after the frenchman had endured a couple of ill fated attempts in the auto division at DAKAR. The (then) six-time ex-MOTO champion had flirted with a Renault Kangoo and Nissan pick-up un-successfully and Quandt, seeing the potential brought Peterhansel to "his" team. Other "names" he can claim credit for doing the same...? Kleinschmidt, Roma, Alphand, Chicherit and even Al Attiyah (though he came with a cheque-book also).
As far as "Nani" goes... he has been in the reverse situation a number of times in his career as team mate to Peterhansel (they have BOTH had factory dirive almost all of their career on the same team, at the same time, with Mitsu, BMW and at MINI). As he said in a couple of his interviews... "team order" have been implemented on a few occassions in the past, where "he" had been asked not to attack his team mate (in a couple of instances Peterhansel) in order to ensure the team maintain it's hold on the victory. In this rspect had he always complied... and as a "professional" he expected (assumed) the same would be maintained in 2014.
So see it as a "repayment on SP's behalf of a collaboration on all three's behalf (Stephane, nani and Sven), that goes back over a decade.
I agree that "team orders" and the corporate intervention dilutes to a certain extent the "purity" of sport... but it is not new to DAKAR or motorsport in general. And when the millions of dollars that are involved are at stake, it is not really suprising that the factories step in to protect their investment.
If you don't like that aspect, one can always refrain from accepting a factory drive and do as many of the high profile privateers do, and spend their OWN MONEY to fund a Dakar campaign. In that respect - like the majority do - you can run as hard or as fast as you like. But if you are being PAID then you follow you employers request I would think. Peterhansel is a pro... and his action proved it.
Nani is also, and after many years loyal service... it was "his" turn. Record book "twelve" and marketing semantics aside - THAT was the decision the team management came to, and THAT's what was executed... in military precision. The PR aspect of it however, was less that stellar. Unfortunate in many ways that it became so public... as similar "agreements" in the past (eg. Mini, BMW, VW, Mitsu etc.) had been executed without the same level of "confirmed" media coverage.
And so to the last point; that Peterhansel (should have told them to stick it). He would never do, he is too aware of his reputation to ever do so. Quite aside from any "debt" he may or may not feel to Nani or Sven as consequence of the history they have:
So far in the interviews that I have read/seen... most of the reports that Peterhansel is "reportedly" talking with Peugeot about DAKAR 2015, have come from the media. The only report (that I have seen) where Peterhansel mentioned this, was some days prior to X-mas; and there he stated only that he is contracted to MINI for 2014 Dakar, and maybe the future - as yet no decision?
Whether it is Peugeot or Citröen (both PSA Group brands) that saddle up for DAKAR 2015 is also very much open to speculation... The Peugeot name came up after the successful pikes Peak campaign - with seb löeb at the wheel. Citröen is also a rumour - in past they (as Peugeot) have a great record at dakar, and on the back of Löebs history with them at WRC (and in 2015 WTCC) it seems a good "fit" also.
Tack onto the back of this, the fact that Seb turned up to VIP the dakar this year, went all over the Red Bull sponsored SMG operation (French Dakar team with tons experience and backing from Seb's personal sponsor - Red Bull), even had a joy-ride in one of them at conclusion of one of the days stages. With him and carlos sainz contacts to Citröen, Red Bull and the SMG team... yeah, for sure something is in the cookpot there... whether it will be in Peugeot or Citröen livery... only the names involved and the big wigs at PSA know at the moment - probably.
But, it does seem probable/possible that a major french AUTO factory teameffort will be at DAKAR possibly as early as 2015... and (possibly) in a 2WD T1 class vehicle?
Which raioses the question as to what MINI and TOYOTA will do from here?
Would Peterhansel jump at the chance to work with the French connection? maybe so? Does X-Raid have something up their sleeve for the 2015 Dakar? Who knows? Where will Peterhansel be in 2015? Not sure right now, but it will be somewhere that he knows he has a fighting chance to take "number 12" I reckon.
For the moment "Nanii" got re-paid for "years of service", Stephane "paid" for years of support and "the boss" made sure his investment "paid off"... just as it has been at DAKAR since Porsche/Rothmans and Peugeot/Pioneer brought the big dollars to the "amateur" rallye.
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