2009 Dakar Rally to be held in Argentina and Chile
As we reported last week, the Amaury Sport Organization that has held the annual Dakar Rally uninterrupted since 1979 has forged ahead after this year's event was cancelled an account of terrorist threats. They've already announced a new schedule of events called the Dakar Series that will kick off with the Central Europe Rally to be held April 20-26 in Romania and Hungary, and now they've gotten around to picking the venue for next year's official Dakar Rally. The fine nations of Argentina and Chile will be the new location for the 2009 Dakar Rally. The 9000 kilometer-long rally will be held January 3-18 and use the city of Buenos Aires as its start and finish line. Competitors who have raced in previous Dakar rallies in Africa as well as rallies in South America are surmising that the relocated Dakar event could actually be more difficult than it was before, which is fine with them. Mitsubishi, which has won the Dakar Rally every year since 2001, is also interested in competing again, and all the competitors quoted by the AFP seem genuinely impressed that the ASO has moved so quickly to reestablish the race and grow a new series just one month after the 2008 Dakar Rally was cancelled.
[Source: Associated Free Press, Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
psijas73 4:43PM (2/11/2008)
Great news! Chile and Argentina are well known for their natural beauties (women included), only concern is the name of the event, it should be called Atacama-Buenos Aires or something like that.
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mk 4:58PM (2/11/2008)
Agreed. Hard to call a rally by the name of a city it no longer involves, and doesn't even share a tectonic plate with.
New rally, new name. Replacing old rally with old name.
Hope the northern africans appreciate the lack of tourism and increased trade along the rally route. They can thank muslim terrorism for it.
Sometimes money speaks louder than rhetoric.
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Peter L 4:59PM (2/11/2008)
Great to the rally living on.
Australia is a must for a location also
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Level 5:20PM (2/11/2008)
you would think with the reputation the Mitsu-Montero has in other countries they would of still kept it in the US and build Mitsu on the reputation it has instead of the Endeavor CUV...
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HenkC 5:51PM (2/11/2008)
Can you really call it the Dakar Rally if it ends in South America? Let's play Wimbledon in Lagos then? It shows the commitment they have. Give us back the name - you can't have it both ways. A bit more on Dude, where's my rally at http://angryafrican.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/hey-dude-wheres-my-rally/
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Mazdamia 11:50AM (2/12/2008)
I know, I'm married to a Chilena.
And I will make sure our yearly visit coincides with the Rally. Awesome!
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Guenther 12:32PM (2/12/2008)
Reply to mk-
Add to that the medical attention that hundreds, if not thousands of people have received in the past. Many of the indigenous tribes only have access to modern medicine while the race is "in town". Too bad-so sad.
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AzzardX 12:43PM (2/12/2008)
Your rally, thankfully, is now far far away from the local savages. We want a race, not a carnage in the name of a slightly different variation of an outdated concept that retards call "god".
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Schneegz 2:11PM (2/12/2008)
This is great news. The rugged landscape and extreme elevation changes of Chile and Argentina will make for one hell of a race.
Senegalis, Moroccans, etc. can thank their local reprobates, primitives and religious sadists for the loss of revenue.
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