2003 Dakar Rally

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2003 Dakar Rally, also known as the Telefónica-Dakar Rally, was the 25th running of the event. The race ran from January 1 to January 19, starting in Marseille, France, and finishing in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, crossing North Africa.

Winners:
- Cars: Hiroshi Masuoka and co-driver Andreas Schulz, in a Mitsubishi.
- Bikes: Richard Sainct, in a KTM.
- Trucks: Vladimir Chagin with Semen Yakubov and Sergey Savostin, in a Kamaz.

Notable events:
- Ari Vatanen, a former world rally champion, returned to compete and won stages 9, 13 and 15.
- Kenjiro Shinozuka, the 1997 winner, was seriously injured in an accident in Libya.
- Bruno Cauvy, the French co-driver, died in a stage 10 crash when their car overturned in sand dunes.
- Stephane Peterhansel led early but retired in the penultimate stage due to mechanical problems.
- Masuoka won the rally for the second consecutive time, while Sainct won the motorcycle category for the third time.