Dakar Rally Infographic
The Dakar Rally is an annual off-road race. Part of the Dakar Series, it is organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation.
Most events since the inception in 1978 were from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, the 2009 Dakar Rally was run in South America (Argentina and Chile). It has been held in South America each year since 2009. The race is open to amateur and professional entries, amateurs typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
Despite its ‘rally’ name, it is an off-road endurance race, properly called a ‘rally raid’ rather than a conventional rally. The terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher and the vehicles used are true off-road vehicles rather than the modified on-road vehicles used in rallies. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, and erg among others.
Dakar Rally Infographic made by Safelite® (click to enlarge)
The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day.
