Dakar 2009 Fast Facts
- The 2009 Dakar Rally took place from 3 - 18 January.
- Over 550 teams participated from 50 countries.
- Over 5900 miles (9574 km) were raced through 2 countries (Argentina and Chile).
- Winners: Marc Coma - Motorbike; Josef Machacek - Quad; Giniel De Villiers - Car; Firdaus Kabirov - Truck.
- 113 bikers, 13 quad riders, 91 car teams and 54 truck teams finished the rally.
- There was one fatality: Frenchman Pascal Terry was found dead on January 7, three days after he suffered an accident.
The Most Dangerous Race in the World
The Dakar Rally (or the Paris-Dakar Rally) first took place in 1979 and was organized by Frenchman Thierry Sabine. It is an extreme race, to say the least, that traditionally ran from Paris (France) to Dakar (Senegal). Due to various political disturbances and all out war in some of the countries, the route changes annually. In 2009 it changed drastically, and moved to South America where it will take place in Chile and Argentina.Navigation skills are always the key to winning the race and this year (2009) competitors battled the desert sands as well as high altitude and precarious mountain passes. The 2009 course was different to any previous race in Africa and veteran Dakar racer Peterhansel did not meet the challenge.
The Dakar Rally is a very popular race, the organizers of the rally traditionally had to stop accepting applicants 6 months before the deadline. In 2008, the organizers introduced a selection process to make it fairer than just "first come, first serve". Given the last-minute cancellation, this year (2009) competitors from last year got first dibs on the race.
The Participants
Traditionally most of the participants are amateur adventure seekers with a bit of cash to spare. But the race also attracts some major motor-racing stars looking to test their mettle against the elements. Car manufacturers like to use the rally to test the endurance of their new vehicles.About 550 teams participate (from 50 countries) in three categories:
- Large Trucks (84 in 2009)
- Automobiles (194 in 2009)
- Motorcycles (235 (and 29 quads) in 2009)
Over 200 supporting vehicles make up the rest of the caravan. Only 40 percent of all participants make it to the finish of this grueling race.
The Route
This year (2009) the race started in Buenos Aires, on the Plaza de la Republica and ran through Patagonia, the Andes Mountains, along the shores of the Pacific Ocean in Chile and back to Argentina through the Atacama Desert. 15 stages were driven over a two week period.The Dakar Rally requires extreme endurance and navigational skills. There was only 1 rest day this year (2009) and it was spent tinkering the vehicles to run to maximum capacity despite the problems of sand, sand and more sand in every nook and cranny of the engines. Every stage of a regular rally runs about 300 miles. Click here for more on the route.
The Danger
It isn't called an extreme race for nothing. Every year people get lost or killed during the race. Some major incidents that made headline news include:
- 1982 Mark Thatcher (Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers son) got lost for 6 days in the desert.
- 1988 DAF the leading truck (which was also beating every car at the time) crashed and killed a driver.
- 2005 Two of the top motorcyclists to compete in the rally died within 2 days of one another.
- 2006 Australian KTM motorcyclist Andy Caldecott, in his third time in the Dakar, died as a result of injuries after a crash. 2 young spectators were also killed in the latter stages of the rally.
- 2007 2 motorcyclists died, a South African crashed in the 4th stage and a Frenchman died of heart failure during the 14th stage.
A total of 49 deaths among competitors have been recorded since the rally began. Spectators have also been injured and killed either by competitors or their support vehicles.
Past Winners
A quick glance at the list of past winners and you'll see that Stephane Peterhansel is the current rally hero. He has won 9 Dakar titles in both the car and motorbike categories.There were a handful of women competing in the Dakar in 2009 including Dutch contender Mirjam Pol riding a Honda motorbike; Annie Seel from Sweden, riding a KTM motorbike, and Tina Thorner from Sweden who co-drive a BMW car,
The KTM motorbike has dominated past races and is looking for more victories. Mitsubishi has won the past 6 rallies in the car category and Kamaz has dominated in the truck category in recent years.
Low-cost alternatives to the Dakar Rally
For those who don't have the money to participate in the rather expensive Dakar Rally, but still hanker for the adventure, there are alternatives:
- Plymouth-Banjul Rally This rally requires entrants to drive cars that are not worth more than 175 USD. This is a rally for charity and I quote from the web site, "Unofficially spoken of as 'The Ultimate Banger Challenge', another motley collection of cars costing less than 100 British Pounds will be assembled to drive over 3,000 miles from the South coast of Great Britain to the West coast of Africa. On this run, the unloved Russian LADA car is the ultimate choice of vehicle. Cheap, simple and tough, no Lada has every failed to complete the Challenge."
- Budapest-Bamako Rally Started in 2005 by Zoltan Dulai, a Hungarian frustrated at the prohibitive cost of the Dakar Rally. This rally offers the same adventure without the strict entry requirements and raises money for the people of Mali. The rally started in Budapest on the 26th of December (2005) and drivers were encouraged to bring as many toys and books for the children they met along the way. No news of a possible 2006/7 rally at this time (Dec, 2006).
More information about the Dakar Rally
- Results of the 2006 Dakar Rally which ran from 31 December - 15 January (2005/6)
- Results of the 2007 Dakar Rally which ran from 6 - 21 January (2007)
- Dakar Rally Official Site
- Dakar Rally news related stories
Sources:
Dakar Rally Official Site
MotorSM.com
Wikipedia, Paris Dakar Rally
