Yes, confusing name, but I think it will log with us all, Dakar Rally and discover the south of South America! Anyway, it’s  fantastic for us fans down here, and it will be all an adventure,….. like Etienne Lavigne, said, director of the Dakar, officially presented to the press this morning ( some weeks ago now )the detailed route of the Dakar Argentina Chile 2009.

 

I have mapped it out here on Live Search Maps,…..

 

 

……. After more than a hundred days of reconnaissance, the sporting team invites participants to evaluate their skills on over 9,500 km 100 % Dakar including 5,650 km of special. Dunes, fesh fesh sand, limitless roads, mountains… all the ingredients will be there to remind competitors that the arrival in Buenos Aires on January 17 will be hard-won. The plains of Patagonia, the Atacama Desert and the passageway through the Andes Mountains – all in the heat of the austral summer – will provide an ideal setting for testing the endurance of pilots committed to the Dakar 2009.

And many have responded to the call.



On the morning of January 3rd, 530 teams will take off from Buenos Aires: 230 motos, 30 quads, 188 cars and 82 trucks, representing 49 nationalities.



The figures for this South American Dakar are amazing. In addition, the elite of worldwide rally-raiding will meet to fight it out over these new territories.

 

So don’t forget what the Rally is all about, ……… The Dakar exists above all because of a longing for discovery and a capacity to confront the unknown. By crossing the ocean, the rally is ready for an experience that is true to its values and temperament. 100 % Dakar: it is the quality of the challenge offered to the competitors with one idea always in mind: human adventure, extreme adventure.