Dakar Rally

Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally 2020
Vehicle type	Prototypes
Country or region	International
Current name	Dakar Rally
Previous names	Paris-Dakar Rally
First season	1979
Official website	dakar.com

The Dakar Rally (formerly Paris – Dakar Rally ) is a rally raid competition that is considered the most important long-distance and desert rally in the world. It was held once a year from 1978 to 2007, mainly on the African continent . In 2008 the Dakar Rally was canceled due to a terror threat. From 2009 to 2019 it was carried out in South America for safety reasons . The rally has been taking place in Saudi Arabia since 2020 .

history

The BMW on which Gaston Rahier won the rally in 1985 (in the Neckarsulm two-wheeler museum )

Vehicles of the rally in Paris, 1992

The first Dakar Rally started in Paris on December 26, 1978 and ended in Dakar on January 14, 1979 . The event was founded by the French Thierry Sabine . The organizer at that time was the Thierry Sabine Organization . After his death, his father took over the rally for a few years, but then sold the rights to the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), which still runs the rally today. The ASO is a large French sports company that z. B. also organizes the Tour de France .

Sabine was inspired by participation in the Abidjan-Nice rally , where he got lost on his motorcycle in the Libyan desert in 1977. Sabine's frequently quoted motto was "If life gets boring, risk it!" - he himself was killed on January 14, 1986 in Mali in a helicopter crash in a sandstorm during "his" Dakar rally. In his memory, a small acacia tree on a hill in northeastern Niger was named Arbre Thierry Sabine . A memorial stone and an illustrated book there remind of him and his accident.

In 2008 the Dakar Rally did not take place for the first time in its 30-year history. On January 4th, just one day before the scheduled start in Lisbon , the organizer canceled the competition due to an urgent travel warning from the French government. In addition to the murder of four French tourists on December 24, 2007 and a fatal attack on three soldiers on the border with Algeria, there was also a terrorist threat against the rally itself.

As a consequence of the terror threat and the cancellation in 2008, the Dakar Rally in 2009 no longer took place in Africa, but in South America. The rally started on January 3, 2009 in Buenos Aires and ended there on January 18, 2009 . A total of around 6000 km of the scoring route had to be tackled, with the rally not only passing through Argentina , but also through Chile .

The former race director of the Dakar Rally, Hubert Auriol , then organized the Africa Eco Race with René Metge , which took place for the first time in 2009. The Amaury Sport Organization then had Auriol's further participation in the Africa Eco Race prohibited by a temporary injunction.

In 2010 the Dakar Rally took place again in Argentina and Chile. The rally started on January 2nd, 2010 in Buenos Aires, where the award ceremony was held on January 17th. The 2011 Dakar began again in Buenos Aires on January 1, 2011 and ended on January 15, 2011. In 2012 the route led from Mar del Plata in Argentina via Chile to Lima ( Peru ).

After more and more countries had canceled their participation for cost reasons, the rally 2019 took place for the first time in its history in only one country - Peru . The start and finish was Lima . The rally has been taking place in Saudi Arabia since 2020 . David Castera, the former organizer of the Rallye du Maroc, has been the new race director since 2020.

After the participant record of 2007 with 525 vehicles, the number of participants has been falling continuously since 2009 with the move to South America and the Africa Eco Race, which has been taking place since the same year . In 2009, 500 vehicles took part in the rally, in 2020 there were only 342. Almost 160 fewer vehicles have taken part in the Dakar rally since 2009, and around the same number of vehicles in the Africa Eco Race during the same period. The Africa Eco Race is seen by the established rally raid teams and the international sports press as a competitive event in Africa to the Dakar Rally.

Character of the desert rally

2009 motorcycle winner Marc Coma in inhospitable desert conditions

In contrast to, for example, the races for the World Rally Championship (WRC), in which a series of short tests are carried out over a long weekend, "the Dakar" as a rally raid is a real marathon race in which individual stages of over 800 km are covered the majority of it on desert soil.

A complicating factor is the fact that the participants - with the exception of a rest day in the middle of the race - are on the road every day. This is an enormous burden, especially for privateers without factory support or a team of mechanics: If the stages are mastered within the set time limit, the privateers have to repair their vehicle themselves or change wear parts. If these drivers only reach their destination at night, sleep and service have to be reduced or the start of the next stage postponed. Overall, the failure rate for motorcycles and cars is therefore well over 50 percent.

route

2006: The route from Lisbon to Dakar

Route of the Dakar 2012 in South America

The competition took its original name of "Paris-Dakar Rally" according to first between the French and the Senegalese capital instead. Later the route as well as the starting and finishing point varied from year to year. The 2006 rally, for example, ran in 15 stages from Lisbon ( Portugal ) via Spain , Morocco , Western Sahara , Mauritania , Mali , Guinea and Senegal to the destination Dakar.

In 1992 the rally was extended by a week in order to reach the destination in Cape Town after crossing all of Africa . From a motorsport point of view, however, this route was unsatisfactory for most of the participants; overtaking was rarely possible on the narrow slopes in Central Africa.

In 2009 , the Dakar Rally was not held in Europe and Africa for the first time, but in the South American countries Argentina (with start and finish in Buenos Aires ) and Chile (with a day of rest in Valparaíso ).

In 2019 the Dakar Rally took place exclusively in Peru. The total length of the route was approx. 5600 kilometers with approx. 3000 kilometers special stage. About 70% of this was sand.

The 2020 edition of the rally took place in Saudi Arabia and ran over approx. 7,900 km from Jeddah to Al-Qiddiya near Riyadh .

winner

KamAZ-4911 from Vladimir Chagin

Jutta Kleinschmidt was the first woman to win the Dakar Rally in 2001

Records

The previous record winner of the Dakar is the French Stéphane Peterhansel . He won the motorcycle rating six times in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, he was in 1997 and 1998. The car category yet seven times, namely in 2004, 2005, 2007, 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2017, with his co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret win .

Besides Peterhansel, Hubert Auriol (motorcycle 1981 and 1983, car 1992) and Nani Roma (motorcycle 2004, car 2014) are the only drivers who were able to win the race on both two and four wheels.

The most successful car driver is Peterhansel with seven wins, followed by the Finn Ari Vatanen with four wins between 1987 and 1991. In 2001, the German Jutta Kleinschmidt was the first woman to win the Dakar car classification.

The most successful driver in the truck category is Russian Vladimir Chagin , who won the race a total of seven times (2000, 2002–2004, 2006, 2010 and 2011). Behind him is the Czech Karel Loprais with six wins (1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999 and 2001).

The Frenchman Luc Alphand , winner in 2006, had previously been very successful in another sport: in 1997 he won the overall World Cup for Alpine Skiers  - as the only speed specialist to date, i.e. only with results from downhill and super-G.

The most successful passenger car brand is Mitsubishi Motors with a total of 12 overall Dakar victories.

The most successful truck brand is KAMAZ with a total of 16 overall Dakar victories.

The most successful motorcycle brand is KTM . The manufacturer from Austria was the overall winner from 2001 to 2019. In 2018 Matthias Walkner was the first Austrian to win the motorcycle championship.

The winners and routes of the Dakar Rally since 1979

year	cars		motorcycles		Trucks		Quads		UTVs		route
	driver	brand	driver	brand	driver	brand	driver	brand	driver	brand
1979	A. Génestier	Range Rover	C. Neveu	Yamaha	-	-	-	-	-	-	Paris - Algiers - Dakar
1980	F. Kottulinsky	Volkswagen	C. Neveu	Yamaha	M. Ataouat	Sonacome	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1981	R. Metge	Range Rover	H. Auriol	BMW	A. Villette	ALM / ACMAT	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1982	C. Marreau	Renault	C. Neveu	Honda	G. Groine	Mercedes Benz	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1983	J. Ickx	Mercedes Benz	H. Auriol	BMW	G. Groine	Mercedes Benz	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1984	R. Metge	Porsche	G. Rahier	BMW	P. Lalleu	Mercedes Benz	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1985	P. Zaniroli	Mitsubishi	G. Rahier	BMW	K.-F. Capito	Mercedes Benz	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1986	R. Metge	Porsche	C. Neveu	Honda	G. Vismara	Mercedes Benz	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1987	A. Vatanen	Peugeot	C. Neveu	Honda	J. de Rooy	DAF	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1988	J. Kankkunen	Peugeot	E. Orioli	Honda	K. Loprais	Tatra Mountains	-	-	-	-	Paris – Algiers – Dakar
1989	A. Vatanen	Peugeot	G. Lalay	Honda	-	-	-	-	-	-	Paris – Tunis –Dakar
1990	A. Vatanen	Peugeot	E. Orioli	Cagiva	G. Villa	Perlini	-	-	-	-	Paris - Tripoli - Dakar
1991	A. Vatanen	Citroën	S. Peterhansel	Yamaha	J. Houssat	Perlini	-	-	-	-	Paris – Tripoli – Dakar
1992	H. Auriol	Mitsubishi	S. Peterhansel	Yamaha	F. Perlini	Perlini	-	-	-	-	Paris– Sirt - Cape Town
1993	B. Saby	Mitsubishi	S. Peterhansel	Yamaha	F. Perlini	Perlini	-	-	-	-	Paris - Tangier - Dakar
1994	P. Lartigue	Citroën	E. Orioli	Cagiva	K. Loprais	Tatra Mountains	-	-	-	-	Paris – Dakar – Paris
1995	P. Lartigue	Citroën	S. Peterhansel	Yamaha	K. Loprais	Tatra Mountains	-	-	-	-	Granada - Dakar
1996	P. Lartigue	Citroën	E. Orioli	Yamaha	V. Moskovskich	KAMAZ	-	-	-	-	Granada – Dakar
1997	K. Shinozuka	Mitsubishi	S. Peterhansel	Yamaha	P. Reif	Hino	-	-	-	-	Dakar - Agadez - Dakar
1998	J. Fontenay	Mitsubishi	S. Peterhansel	Yamaha	K. Loprais	Tatra Mountains	-	-	-	-	Paris – Granada – Dakar
1999	J.-L. Schlesser	Schlesser Renault	R. Sainct	BMW	K. Loprais	Tatra Mountains	-	-	-	-	Granada – Dakar
2000	J.-L. Schlesser	Schlesser Renault	R. Sainct	BMW	W. Tschagin	KAMAZ	-	-	-	-	Dakar– Cairo
2001	J. Kleinschmidt	Mitsubishi	F. Meoni	KTM	K. Loprais	Tatra Mountains	-	-	-	-	Paris – Dakar
2002	H. Masuoka	Mitsubishi	F. Meoni	KTM	W. Tschagin	KAMAZ	-	-	-	-	Arras - Madrid - Dakar
2003	H. Masuoka	Mitsubishi	R. Sainct	KTM	W. Tschagin	KAMAZ	-	-	-	-	Marseille - Sharm El Sheikh
2004	S. Peterhansel	Mitsubishi	N. Roma	KTM	W. Tschagin	KAMAZ	-	-	-	-	Clermont-Ferrand -Dakar
2005	S. Peterhansel	Mitsubishi	C. Despres	KTM	F. Kabirow	KAMAZ	-	-	-	-	Barcelona –Dakar
2006	L. Alphand	Mitsubishi	M. Coma	KTM	W. Tschagin	KAMAZ	-	-	-	-	Lisbon - Dakar
2007	S. Peterhansel	Mitsubishi	C. Despres	KTM	H. Stacey	MAN	-	-	-	-	Lisbon – Dakar
2008	On January 4th, 2008, one day before the scheduled start, canceled for safety reasons. The replacement event was the Central Europe Rally .										Originally planned route: Lisbon – Dakar
2009	G. de Villiers	Volkswagen	M. Coma	KTM	F. Kabirow	KAMAZ	J. Macháček	Yamaha	-	-	Buenos Aires - Valparaíso - Buenos Aires
2010	C. Sainz	Volkswagen	C. Despres	KTM	W. Tschagin	KAMAZ	M. Patronelli	Yamaha	-	-	Buenos Aires- Antofagasta -Buenos Aires
2011	N. Al-Attiyah	Volkswagen	M. Coma	KTM	W. Tschagin	KAMAZ	A. Patronelli	Yamaha	-	-	Buenos Aires – Arica –Buenos Aires
2012	S. Peterhansel	Mini	C. Despres	KTM	G. de Rooy	Iveco	A. Patronelli	Yamaha	-	-	Mar del Plata - Lima
2013	S. Peterhansel	Mini	C. Despres	KTM	E. Nikolayev	KAMAZ	M. Patronelli	Yamaha	-	-	Lima– Santiago de Chile
2014	N. Roma	Mini	M. Coma	KTM	A. Karginov	KAMAZ	I. Casale	Yamaha	-	-	Rosario - Valparaíso
2015	N. Al-Attiyah	Mini	M. Coma	KTM	A. Mardeev	KAMAZ	R. Sonik	Yamaha	-	-	Buenos Aires – Iquique –Buenos Aires
2016	S. Peterhansel	Peugeot	T. Price	KTM	G. de Rooy	Iveco	M. Patronelli	Yamaha	-	-	Buenos Aires – Rosario
2017	S. Peterhansel	Peugeot	S. Sunderland	KTM	E. Nikolayev	KAMAZ	S. Karyakin	Yamaha	L. Torres	Polaris	Asunción – Rio Cuarto – Buenos Aires
2018	C. Sainz	Peugeot	M. Walkner	KTM	E. Nikolayev	KAMAZ	I. Casale	Yamaha	R. Varela	Can-Am	Lima-La Paz-Cordoba
2019	N. Al-Attiyah	Toyota	T. Price	KTM	E. Nikolayev	KAMAZ	N. Cavigliasso	Yamaha	F. López Contardo	Can-Am	Lima – Arequipa – Lima
2020	C. Sainz	Mini	R. Brabec	Honda	A. Karginov	KAMAZ	I. Casale	Yamaha	C. Currie	Can-Am	Jeddah-Quiddiya

In 1985, Karl-Friedrich Capito and his son Jost Capito were the only German to win the truck classification of the rally. In 1997 the two Austrians Peter Reif and Johann Deinhofer won the truck ranking on a HINO truck.

Constructor victories

cars

Victories	constructor	Year (s)
12	Mitsubishi	1985, 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2001-2007
7th	Peugeot	1987–1990, 2016–2018
5	Mini	2012–2015, 2020
4th	Citroën	1991, 1994-1996
	Volkswagen	1980, 2009-2011
3	Renault	1982, 1999, 2000
2	Land Rover	1979, 1981
	Porsche	1984, 1986
1	Mercedes Benz	1983
	Toyota	2019

motorcycles

Victories	constructor	Year (s)
18th	KTM	2001-2007, 2009-2019
9	Yamaha	1979, 1980, 1991-1993, 1995-1998
6th	BMW	1981, 1983–1985, 1999, 2000
	Honda	1982, 1986–1989, 2020
2	Cagiva	1990, 1994

Trucks

Victories	constructor	Year (s)
17th	KAMAZ	1996, 2000, 2002–2006, 2009–2011, 2013–2015, 2017–2020
6th	Tatra Mountains	1988, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001
5	Mercedes Benz	1982-1986
4th	Perlini	1990-1993
2	Iveco	2012, 2016
1	Sonacome	1980
	ACMAT	1981
	DAF	1987
	Hino	1997
	MAN	2007

Quads

Victories	constructor	Year (s)
12	Yamaha	2009-2020

controversy

Deaths

→ Main article : List of Dakar Rally deaths

Wreck of the DAF FAV3600 95X2 TurboTwin, which resulted in an accident in January 1988 (Kees van Loevezijn) in northern Ténéré

Due to the high number of deaths among racing drivers, spectators and in the organization team, the race repeatedly hit the headlines, but nevertheless (or because of it) it developed into one of the most famous sporting events worldwide. The race has claimed over 60 lives since its debut:

• Thierry Sabine , the founder of the rally, the singer Daniel Balavoine , the pilot François Xavier-Bagnoud, the radio operator Jean-Paul Le Fur and Nathalie Odent, a journalist for the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche , died when her helicopter died on January 14, 1986 crashed.
• Nine children were run over by rally participants, although the organizers have taken various safety measures for several years (speed limits when driving through the towns, combined with penalties for non-compliance, measures against possible dangers for the residents, using posters in the local language).
• In recent times, motorcyclists in particular have had fatal accidents; so did the winner of 2001 and 2002, Fabrizio Meoni , in 2005. A year later, the Australian motorcyclist Andy Caldecott died , although it had already been decided before the 2006 competition to limit the speed to 160 km / h in future.
• Over 30 participants from all vehicle classes and seven journalists were also killed.

criticism

The protest took on an international dimension through the action of the association CAVAD ( Collectif Actions pour les Victimes Anonymes du Dakar ; Eng . "Action collective for the anonymous victims of the Dakar Rally"). The CAVAD is an amalgamation of associations from France, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Mali, Guinea and Senegal. This association was founded in 2006 after the death of two children, Boubacar Diallo and Mohamed Ndaw, and calls for the rally to be abolished. A song, Stoppez le Dakar (“Stop the Dakar”), composed by a children's band from Marseille, was dedicated to them.

Your critics also believe that the rally represents ecological aggression and human contempt for African countries. This protest is also expressed in the song 500 connards sur la ligne de départ ("500 idiots on the starting line") by the French chansonnier Renaud .

Director and cameraman Nikolaus Geyrhalter also takes a critical look at the rally in his documentary 7915 KM, which he completed in 2008 . Along the rally route, it shows African locations in all their complexity and at the same time addresses wider economic and political conditions.

Another point of criticism is the exaggerated financial demands of the organizer Amaury Sport Organization on the host countries, in which large sections of the population still live in abject poverty. OSA does not contribute in any way to the costs of the terrain damage caused by the rally. She doesn't even put toilets at the start and finish points for the thousands of visitors. For this reason, more and more countries in South America have refused to participate until only Peru remained in the 2019 rally.

Participation and costs

The hosts of the rally have to pay entry fees in the millions to the organizer. The Peruvian government provided around 5.4 million euros (20.4 million soles) for participation in 2019. The cost of participating in the Dakar Rally varies depending on the vehicle. If you participate privately with a motorcycle, you can expect a total cost of at least 40,000 euros. Apart from the entry fee, visa and license fees, the question of the supply of spare parts and the maintenance or repair of the vehicle must also be clarified.

Web links

Commons : Dakar Rally  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Dakar Rally (Spanish, French, English)
• News about the Dakar Rally (multilingual)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Between two oceans, an extreme adventure. In: dakar.com .
2. ↑ Dakar 2008 - The caravan moves across the Andes. ( Memento of August 25, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: eurosport.yahoo.com , February 12, 2008.
3. ↑ Africa Eco Race: Numerous funding projects in Africa, a day of rest in Morocco. on .marathonrally.com
4. ↑ Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia: Real Adventure
5. ↑ https://www.dakar.com/en/competitors
6. ↑ speedweek.com
7. ↑ blick.ch Motorsport
8. ↑ marathonrally.com
9. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from March 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ Dakar Rally 2019: schedule, route and starter
11. ↑ Dakar Rally in the database of the International Ski Federation (English) (Luc Alphand in the World Cup)
12. ^ Günther Wiesinger: 15th KTM triumph in a row: Without diligence, no price. In: Speedweek Online. Red Bulletin Schweiz AG, January 16, 2016, accessed on January 16, 2016 . 
13. ↑ Kay Hettich: Dakar Rally, final: KTM, triumphs, Husky P3! In: Speedweek Online. Red Bulletin Schweiz AG, January 16, 2016, accessed on January 16, 2016 . 
14. ↑ KTM driver Matthias Walkner wins Dakar Rally 2018. motorsport.com, January 20, 2018, accessed on February 6, 2019 . 
15. ↑ ASO cancels the 2008 edition of the Dakar rally. In: dakar.com , January 4, 2008 (English).
16. ↑ Dakar Rally, start 02.01.2017 paraguay-auswandern.lima-city.de , accessed on 23 January 2019.
17. ↑ Evento Rally Dakar Perú 2019 recibe S / 20.4 millones para su financiación gestion.pe , October 7, 2018, accessed on January 23, 2019.