The Dakar 2011
Jan 2, 2011 19:04:05 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2011 19:04:05 GMT
The Paris-Dakar endurance rally used to be one of the most fascinating events of January, but it got too complicated and bogged down in all sorts of things. I saw it leave once at dawn from Place de la Concorde in Paris on January 1st, and it was a fantastic sports moment, just to see people who would be driving all the way to Senegal.
Then they decided that Paris was too complicated, and it would start farther and farther away, until it started in Spain. One year, it was even the Lisbon-Dakar. There were also various tragedies over the years, including the death of the creator of the rally, Thierry Sabine, in a helicopter.
Due to the instability of African countries, there were times when they had to avoid Algeria, Chad, Mauritania. And even being careful, somebody always ran over one or two African children in villages. However, during the high point of its popularity, one year (1992) the rally went all the way to South Africa.
Accusations were made of rich people taking advantage of the misery of Africa to use it as their playground. This was true, but not entirely true, because the Dakar always made a point of digging new wells and leaving other infrastructure in the places they passed through.
In 2009, the Dakar was moved to South America while keeping the name "Dakar." It leaves from Buenos Aires, Argentina and ends in Chile. Yesterday, one million people gather to see the rally leave. It will return to its starting point on January 16th after crossing mountains and deserts, leaving a few victims along the way.
dakar.sport.francetv.fr/parcours-2011
Then they decided that Paris was too complicated, and it would start farther and farther away, until it started in Spain. One year, it was even the Lisbon-Dakar. There were also various tragedies over the years, including the death of the creator of the rally, Thierry Sabine, in a helicopter.
Due to the instability of African countries, there were times when they had to avoid Algeria, Chad, Mauritania. And even being careful, somebody always ran over one or two African children in villages. However, during the high point of its popularity, one year (1992) the rally went all the way to South Africa.
Accusations were made of rich people taking advantage of the misery of Africa to use it as their playground. This was true, but not entirely true, because the Dakar always made a point of digging new wells and leaving other infrastructure in the places they passed through.
In 2009, the Dakar was moved to South America while keeping the name "Dakar." It leaves from Buenos Aires, Argentina and ends in Chile. Yesterday, one million people gather to see the rally leave. It will return to its starting point on January 16th after crossing mountains and deserts, leaving a few victims along the way.
dakar.sport.francetv.fr/parcours-2011