The Dakar Rally hits the road in Lisbon on Saturday with safety and security the major concerns after two children and a competitor were killed last year.
A record 525 teams have registered for the 29th edition of what many consider to be the most dangerous and toughest, as well as most controversial, challenge in the world of motorsport.
The 187 cars, 250 bikes and 88 trucks face a 7 915km trek through Morocco, Mauritania and Mali after crossing the Mediterranean from southern Spain before reaching the Senegalese capital for the finish on January 21.
The route has already had to be modified for security reasons, with the 10th and 11th stages from Nema in Mauritania to Timbuktu in Mali cancelled after the French Foreign Ministry warned they were not safe.
French security services said in November that participants risked being kidnapped or ambushed by Algerian rebels while passing through Mali.
Public safety is a prime concern, with two boys hit and killed by rally vehicles in West Africa last year, while Australian bike rider Andy Caldecott died in a separate crash.
Since the first Dakar, from Paris in 1978, the rally has claimed the lives of 48 people — including eight children and 23 competitors.
Alphand defending
Mitsubishi, with defending champion and former World Cup downhill skier Luc Alphand, remain the favourites after winning eight of the past 10 editions.
”I feel really good,” the Frenchman said on Thursday. ”I know we are coming here as the favourites and I think it’s possible to do it again this year.”
The Japanese manufacturer can also count on eight-time winner Stephane Peterhansel and Hiroshi Masuoka, the latter competing for the 20th time.
Spain’s double world rally champion Carlos Sainz returns with Volkswagen, whose four-car line-up includes Finland’s Ari Vatanen and last year’s runner-up, Giniel de Villiers of South Africa.
Vatanen, a four times Dakar winner and European parliamentarian, is ready to challenge the desert sands again at the age of 54. ”I am fascinated by everything about the Dakar and that has never worn out over the years,” the Finn told Britain’s Autosport magazine. ”You cannot plan for a Dakar.
”There has not been one time I’ve done the event knowing what was going to happen next. It’s like the desert says, ‘Yes, you little man, I can see you have got this plan but I’m deciding otherwise for you.”’
Compatriot Markku Alen is competing for Isuzu, while Italian Miki Biasion, a double rally world champion, drives a Fiat Panda. World touring car driver Yvan Muller will be at the wheel of a buggy while Robby Gordon has entered again in a Hummer.
France’s Carole Montillet-Carles, the 2002 Olympic downhill Alpine skiing champion, is competing with former teammate Melanie Suchet in a Nissan.
In the bikes category, Spaniard Marc Coma defends his crown with Frenchman Cyril Despres determined to regain the title he lost last year. — Reuters
Additional reporting by Henrique Almeida in Lisbon