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Issy-les-Moulineaux, 21st of November 2007
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DAKAR
2008: HONOUR TO THE SAHARA
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“Proud of its
place in the history of motorsports and beyond, the Dakar is mainly an
event of its time with men and women of their time, concerned by the
problems of their time”,
claimed
Etienne Lavigne, director of the rally on the occasion of the official
presentation of the course of the 30th edition of the Dakar.
The first competitors of this one-in-a-kind event who took off from
the place du Trocadéro in December of 1978, were the pioneers of several
generations of ordinary adventurers. In 2008, close to 580 vehicles in
the race representing 50 nationalities will take off from Lisbon on the
5th of January heading towards Senegal’s capital where the finish line
will be crossed on Sunday the 20th of January. The success of
the Dakar can also be measured through the huge international
recognition.
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Faithful to its values, the 2008 Dakar 2008 offers
to its entrants a long journey in the Saharan desert that has made the
legend of the rally. After leaving Europe where two specials will be
competed on Portuguese soil, the race will spend four days in Morocco.
Eight stages are then planned in Mauritania before reaching Senegal:
“An ocean of sand” insists Etienne Lavigne. The concept of the
course which honours several ‘’historical’’ stage cities like
Guelmine in Morocco, Nouadhibou in Mauritania or Saint-Louis in Senegal,
was guided by one objective: density. A total of 9273 km will have to be
covered with 5736 of specials, that’s 1500 km more than in 2007 and
close to 1000 km more than during the 2006 edition.
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While the announcement of the stages promises a
good deal of sand, the variety of the program should allow different
types of competitors to use their strengths in the race for the title.
In the car event, Mitsubishi’s domination, winners of the last seven
editions, will once again be disputed by the ambitious Volkswagen team
that has been adding extra pressure on the “reds” since they arrived on
the event. The vehicles registered by Schlesser, as well as those of the
BMW X-Raid team will try to go from an umpiring status to that of an
outsider. On two wheels, the battle between the KTM riders in the Repsol
or RedBull colours could be worried by the 450cc bikers who already
impressed last year claiming several stage wins. Finally, the truck race
should see another fierce fight between Kamaz and Ginaf, for whom pride
was seriously shaken by the victory of an Exact-Man truck in 2007.
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Patrice Clerc in Paris and the «Ministre
of the Presidence » in Lisbon have also announced this morning that the
start of the Dakar rally 2009
will
again be given from Lisbon.
www.dakar.com
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