Start of the 40th Dakar Rally in South America
RALLY The 40th Dakar Rally begins on January 6. This is the tenth time the event has been held in South America and will run from Lima in Peru via Bolivia to Argentina. Logical favorites are Peugeot, but the competition from Toyota and Mini has also upgraded. The Paris-Dakar Rally for adventurous private drivers on two and [...]
The Paris-Dakar Rally, which was launched in 1978 for adventurous private drivers on two and four wheels, has become the toughest marathon competition on the planet. The rally, known simply as the Dakar, has long since moved from South Africa for political security reasons to South America for the tenth time.
The race begins on Saturday in Lima, the capital of Peru, with a ceremonial start, a 272 km liaison stage and a special stage only 31 km short. However, the race already enters the dunes, which are likely to play a greater role in the awarding of places again in this year's staging.
After five stages in Peru, the Dakar 2018 leads to Bolivia, where a rest day will be turned on January 12 in the capital La Paz. One of the three stages in Bolivia leads up to 4786 meters in altitude! On January 20, after a total of 14 daily stages over a planned total distance of 8793 km, including 4329 km on time for the automobiles, the winners of the individual classifications will be determined.
The technical and sporting competition is at the highest possible level. Peugeot optimized its 3008DKR Maxi in all areas and tried to compensate for an imposed weight handicap of 70 kg of ballast in order to score its third triumph in a row. The company then withdrew from this scene.
For record world champion Sébastien Loeb, this is the last chance to win the world's most famous off-road rally at the third attempt. Last year, after leading for a long time, only a puncture shortly before the finish line deprived him of the victory he had been waiting for. Thus, Stéphane Peterhansel crossed the finish line as the winner of the Dakar Rally for the 13th time - including six times in the motorcycle category.
The third factory Peugeot was driven by two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard won with Volkswagen in 2010 but has always retired early since 2013. If the three star drivers fail, the time could come for Cyril Desprès to take his first win (after five in the motorcycles) in the automobile classification. Otherwise, the Frenchman will have to be content with the role of the fast water carrier.
The greatest opposition for Peugeot comes from the two Toyota Hilux of Nasser Al-Attiyah (winner in 2011 with VW and in 2015 with X-Raid Mini) and Giniel de Villiers (winner in 2009 with VW). Thanks to rule changes in the technical area, the two race pickups designed in South Africa are even more competitive than before.
De Villiers has finished on the podium four times since 2012, but never at the top. In Nasser's case, he is the three-time winner of the FIA Cross Country World Cup, having won nine rallies since the 2017 Dakar. "The first week will be crucial. Whoever is in front then has already achieved a lot on the way to victory," believes the desert fox from Qatar.
German team X-Raid has two hot irons in the fire with former Ford WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen and Nani Roma (winner in 2014). The Finn got to grips with the unfamiliar terrain straight away in his first two participations and this year is driving a newly developed Mini John Cooper Works Buggy with rear-wheel drive. Roma drives the tried-and-tested 4×4.
Every evening at 11 p.m., the free-to-air TV channel Eurosport broadcasts a report with current images from the day's stage and highlights from the previous day, some of which are added later. The program is repeated the following morning.
The only downer is that, apart from Swiss by choice like Loeb and Peterhansel, who are driving for their home country of France, there are no Swiss drivers in any of the five categories this year. But this will not dampen the excitement at the anniversary rally.
