Autoblog

After the cancellation of the Dakar Rally due to terrorist threats, the Amaury Sport Organization decided to bump up its launch of the Dakar Series, a new campaign that attempts to bring the thrills of the Dakar to venues around the globe.

The first event of the series, the Central Europe Rally, will begin on April 20th and run through the 26th, and Mitsubishi is one of the first major teams to confirm participation. Mitsubishi walked away with the Dakar title last year and had already been signed up to compete in the traditional Dakar Rally before its untimely demise. The Central Europe Rally won't replace the Dakar event, as it's been rescheduled for a future date in South America.

Mitsubishi's press release is posted after the jump with the team's complete driver lineup. And we're still waiting to see if BMW, Volkswagen and KTM are planning to participate.

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]