|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 6, 2018 20:15:53 GMT
This is the 40th anniversary of the Dakar rally. I have absolutely no interest in motor sports, but this one has always interested me, obviously not because of the cars, motorcycles and trucks but because of the adventure. For the first 30 years, it really did go from Paris to Dakar, starting on New Year's day. I went to Place de la Concorde at 7 a.m. on the 3rd or 4th year to see the departure, and it was really exciting to see all of these people driving to Africa through hell and high water for about three weeks. It was not easy. People died, including careless spectators. A lot of it was through the Sahara. The teams would get lost, stuck in the sand. Helicopoters would go looking for them. There was suspense. When was the last time that a sporting event had real suspense?
At the beginning of the 21st century, things became complicated. There were terrorist threats, certain stages had to be cancelled and the participants airlifted over the dangerous areas. The departure point shifted over the years, but in 2008 the whole rally was cancelled for security reasons, with 2500 participants and support staff waiting to leave in Lisbon. Africa had to be abandoned.
So now, the name has remained but the Dakar takes place in South America. It has nasty deserts, flooded areas, terrible terrain. The adventure continues, but I really regret that it has strayed from its origins, even though it is not its fault. I still watch bits and pieces and it is "almost" as fascinating as ever. I say "almost" because technology has removed more and more of the adventure and the danger from the event. Nobody can get lost anymore, and when they get stuck or injured somewhere, help is on the way immediately.
It still makes for some exceptional images. The 2018 edition started today, departing from Lima, Peru.
Here are some highlights from last year's rally.
|
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Jan 7, 2018 4:53:59 GMT
I always try and catch the highlights every day, was once in west Africa at the same time as the rally but only caught peripheral parts of it, like seeing the cars transiting on the road, but I've always secretly seen myself as one of the truck drivers.
|
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Jan 7, 2018 7:45:31 GMT
Frankly I think this race (and why keep calling it the Dakar?!) is totally useless and damaging to the environment. Okay, the first race or two may have been okay in terms of testing drivers and their vehicles, but now? And moving it to South America just so they can find more desert to destroy is stupid.
I remember towards the end of the races when they still took part in West Africa, various celebrities joining in. I remember your pictures, Mark, from that long report you once posted. That is certainly the kind of driving that many of these guys wouldn't be able to do, especially if they had old trucks and no GPS and support crews hovering around.
|
|
|
|
Post by questa on Jan 7, 2018 8:34:43 GMT
Being a motorsport participant, I have taken an interest over the years.
One of the men in our car club had a protege who was a State champion in motorbike off-roading but had no sponsorship. Some of us helped him raise the finances and he was off to compete in Dakar.
Naturally we followed his progress and were excited when he was running 3rd in the bike division. Then he went over a dune and lost control and the bike fell on him, pinning him down. As he was freeing himself a truck came over the dune and crashed into him, killing him. I still feel sick when I think of it, he was only young. Can't blame the truck driver, he couldn't see over the dune and it is not like there is a set track to follow.
I have no interest in the Dakar anymore.
|
|
|
|
Post by mickthecactus on Jan 7, 2018 9:20:09 GMT
Sorry. Motorsports are not for me.
|
|
|
|
Post by amboseli on Jan 7, 2018 9:59:16 GMT
I used to watch the desert part of the Dakar when it was still in Africa. The desert has always fascinated me. And it still does. I will never forget our desert crossing & dune bashing (just one day, helas) in the Wahiba Sands in Oman.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 7, 2018 14:50:57 GMT
I suppose that the Dakar still defends its ecological footprint that same way it always has -- it brings a ton of money into places that need it and elicits interest for tourism to places that people never thought of, particularly the kind of people who watch cars driving around in a circle on a racetrack most of the time.
Outside of the cities, the event is the most exciting thing that the locals have ever seen and they still talk about it 20 years later. People need circuses as much as they need bread.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Jan 20, 2018 19:56:20 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by onlyMark on Jan 21, 2018 6:27:06 GMT
He's a legend in the rallying world and was thought to maybe be just a bit too old to win. He is also the father of the Formula 1 driver, imaginatively named Carlos Sainz Jr.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Nov 21, 2019 5:43:44 GMT
The Dakar rally has left South America and will take place in Saudi Arabia next year, starting January 5th. Obviously, this will be a bit controversial, but the drivers are happy to find endless dunes again. The Dakar site |
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Nov 21, 2019 6:23:42 GMT
So are they going to circle around the oil rigs? I wonder how much the Saudis paid to get the race there.
|
|
|
|
Post by kerouac2 on Nov 21, 2019 6:30:05 GMT
Actually, all of the oil fields are on the east coast, and they are staying well away from it, probably for reasons of national security. I'm sure the Saudis paid a bundle, but South America would not have lost the rally if there hadn't been so much political unrest there in the last year. I read that the Dakar organisation is already planning 2021 to be in other countries of the Arabian peninsula because they like crossing borders (that way each country gets to pay!) and no borders will be crossed in 2020.
|
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Nov 21, 2019 15:22:03 GMT
A guy I know was the head race engineer for the Nissan team for several years for Paris-Dakar. Lots of crazy stories.
|
|
