Home > Paris Dakar Rally

There is also a Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, organized by an entirely different group of people and restricted to vehicles which cost their owners less than GBP100, with GBP 15 allowed for "race" preparation. The vehicles used here are mostly held together with duct tape.

Most of the competitive sections ("stages" or "specials") are off-road, over dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, erg, etc; and vary from several kilometers to several hundred kilometers per day.

1 History and route

The race originated in 1978, a year after racer Thierry Sabine got lost in the desert, and decided this would be a good location for a regular rally. Historically, the rally originally was from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal (interrupted by a transfer across the Mediterranean); however due to politics and other factors, the course as well as the origin and destination have varied. The 2002 course was from Arras, France (near Paris), through Madrid, Spain, to Dakar. The 2000 course was from Dakar to Cairo, Egypt. Early rallies passed through AlgeriaAlgeria is a country in northern Africa with a coast on the Mediterranean Sea along the north and bordered by Tunisia in the northeast, Libya in the east, Niger in the southeast, Mali and Mauritania in the southwest, and Morocco in the west (the Moroccan, now considered one of the most inhospitable countries on earth as regards foreigners.

2 Vehicles and classes

The three major competitive classes of the Dakar are motorcycleA motorcycle (or motorbike is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. The wheels are in-line, and at higher speed the motorcycle remains upright and stable by virtue of gyroscopic forces; at lower speeds continual readjustment of the steering by the rs, automobileAn automobile usually called a car (an old word for carriage) or a truck is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own engine. Older terms include horseless carriage and motor car with "motor" referring to what is now usually called the engine. The act of opes (small trucks) and large trucks. Many vehicle manufacturers use the Dakar as an opportunity to demonstrate the durability of their vehicles, though most vehicles are heavily modified. Originally, (mostly) European utility vehicles dominated the race: Land RoverLand Rover was the name of one of the first British civilian all-terrain utility vehicles, first produced by Rover in 1947. Eventually, the Land Rover division was split off from Rover, and produced an expanding range of four wheel drive vehicles under a, Range Rover, Toyota Land CruiserThe Land Cruiser is a series of popular four-wheel drive automobiles from Toyota of Japan. Originally, they were strictly utility vehicles, but they now are available as sport utility vehicles. Widely used around the world in areas which require durabilit, Mercedes GeländewagenDaimlerChrysler offers a series of sport utility vehicles to the public under the Mercedes-Benz brand as G-Class''. From 2003, the cars are assembled by Magna Steyr of Austria. Some expected DaimlerChrysler AG to introduce an all-new G-Class at the 2005 N and PinzgauerPinzgauer is a (male) inhabitant of the Pinzgau, an Alpine region in the west of the state of Salzburg, Austria the name of a breed of horse, as well as a breed of cattle A High Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle designed by Steyr-Daimler-Puch.; other manufacturers entered heavily modified street vehicles such as Rolls Royce, Citroën, and even Porsche. Recent (2002) examples in the car class include Mitsubishi (Pajero/Montero), Nissan, and Hyundai; Mercedes, Range Rover, and BMW sport-utilities are represented but do not appear in the leader positions. Jean-Louis Schlesser builds a series of custom dune buggy vehicles for the race (and has won with them several times). American (" Baja") style pro trucks make an appearance, but are also seldom in the winner's circle. Trucks (T4 "Camions" or "Lorries") include Tatra, Kamaz, Hino, MAN, DAF and Mercedes Unimog. In the eighties a strong rivalry between two companies, DAF and Mercedes, led to vehicles which had twin engines and more than 1000 hp (750 kW). Later Tatra, Perlini and Kamaz took the race up. KTM is the most popular/leading motorcycle; BMW also produces a "Dakar" enduro bike.