It’s a question journalist revert too when theres nothing left to talk about; it can go on for hours. Some say Le Mans especially now it is such as sprint race; others say the Daytona or Indy 500 for the mind numbing constant speed. How about Monaco; threading the eye of a needle in an F1 car or climbing over the varying terrain in a WRC beast? For me the answer is pretty simple, combine the endurance of Le Mans with the terrain from WRC and sometimes the constant flat out speed of Indy and you have it….Dakar.
Cross Country Rallying happens all year round, some events are stand alone while others count for points towards the FIA Cup (won this year by Russian Leonid Novitskiy) but none quite have the challenge and atmosphere of Dakar, and that’s what makes the event special, filling the void when most of the motorsport world are sleeping or skiing.
The Paris-Dakar Rally started in 1979 and every year bar one has successfully grown into a bigger and better spectacle, supported by various manufactures of both cars, bikes and trucks. The organisers seemingly had the whole of Africa to create more and more challenging routes until, in 2008 terrorists stepped in.
It was Dakars’ 30th Anniversary and much of the rally was to take place in Mauritania, its diverse landscape perfect for the off road challengers but on route lay terrorists ready to gun down competitors and organisers alike. Their motives were unclear but they had already killed a French family the week before making the severity obvious. At the time many competitors shrugged, in the passed cars had returned with bullet holes in doors and one fateful year a Citroen Support truck hit a mine killing its driver. The danger was part of the lure, the challenge, the struggle.
For some reason 2008 was different. I had been asked to do the commentary that year for the TV pictures and witness first hand the passion and emotion that goes into the event, even before the start. Amateurs dream of taking part for years and save up much more to pay the entry, support crew and various insurances. In 2008, fully grown men were crying at the ‘meeting exceptional’ that announced the cancelation.
Some thought that was it. The financial strain surely would stunt the event? But 3 years ago the organisers ASO announced moving ‘Dakar’ to Argentina. This was heralded as a new dawn but competitors weren’t so sure. Stalwards such as Truck racing family De Rooy’s or multiple winner and one time organiser Hubert Auriol decided it was too much a break with tradition, how could you take an African rally to a different continent and expect the same atmosphere?
Slowly the event has gathered pace, not helped by the financial crisis which saw Mitsubishi withdrawn its long term support. The change of venue made sure there was no local knowledge and yet the Dakar skills is still required. While the bike wins have been shared between Frenchman Cyril Depres and Marc Coma for the last 4 years the car doors have been thrown open. VW have won both years, with different drivers.
So to 2010 and while VW is still expected to be strongest with their Red Bull Touraegs the cars are new for 2011, yes they won on the Silk Way but they have yet to see Argentinian soils. In contrast, the BMW X-Raid team will be bringing their proven X3’s in fact they have 6 of them which is possibly good with safety in numbers or rather too much too handle! They have backing of Energy Drink Monster and will also be running a newly developed Mini Countryman. Eric Van Loon provides interest in his ex-works Mitsubishi, but expect him to be fighting Robby Gordons Hummer for best of the rest.
Both Despres and Coma are still the class of the Bike field however with extra Chilian stages expect Francisco Lopez to feature strongly. David Casteu continues with his impressive Carbon Sherco but he hasn’t yet conquered a full Dakar.
Over the rally I will be blogging on this site and on my new website www.benconstanduros.com where I will give you an in depth look into the workings of the rally and also keep up to date on the race itself at Dakar.com, I am at twitter to @Benconsty
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