Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as "The Paris–Dakar" or "Paris to Dakar Rally") is an annual Dakar Series rally raid type of off-road race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, the 2009 Dakar Rally was run in South America (Argentina and Chile). It was the first time the race took place outside of Europe and Africa.[1] It has stayed in South America from 2009 to the present (2012).[2][3] The race is open to amateur and professional entries. Amateurs typically make up about eighty percent of the participants. Despite its name it is an off-road endurance race, called a rally-raid rather than a conventional rally – the terrain the competitors traverse is much tougher and the vehicles used are true off-road vehicles rather than the modified on-road vehicles used in rallies. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks and erg among others. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day. The race originated in 1978, a year after racer Thierry Sabine got lost in the desert and decided that it would be a good location for a regular rally. Originally, the
ally was from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, interrupted by a transfer across the Mediterranean. However, due to politics and other factors, the course, including origin and destination, has varied over the years. Dakar has been the destination city on all but four occasions during the period the rally was held in Africa (i.e., prior to 2009). The event started from Paris every year from 1979 to 1994, and also in 1998 and 2001. In 1994 the rally both began and ended in Paris but, due to complaints by the mayor, the finish had to be moved from the Champs-Elysees to Disneyland Paris. This also caused the organisation to lay out the rally through different locations in following years. [edit]Complete list of routes 1979–1980: Paris–Dakar 1981–1988: Paris–Algiers–Dakar 1989: Paris–Tunis–Dakar 1990–1991: Paris–Tripoli–Dakar 1992: Paris–Cape Town 1993: Paris–Dakar 1994: Paris–Dakar–Paris 1995–1996: Granada–Dakar 1997: Dakar–Agadez–Dakar 1998: Paris–Granada–Dakar 1999: Granada–Dakar 2000: Dakar–Cairo 2001: Paris–Dakar 2002: Arras–Madrid–Dakar 2003: Marseille–Sharm el-Sheikh 2004: Clermont-Ferrand–Dakar 2005: Barcelona–Dakar 2006–2008: Lisbon–Dakar[4] 2009: Buenos Aires–Valparaiso–Buenos Aires[5] 2010: Buenos Aires–Antofagasta–Buenos Aires[6] 2011: Buenos Aires–Arica–Buenos Aires[7] 2012: Mar del Plata–Copiapo–Lima 2013: Lima–Tucuman–Santiago