Paris Dakar Rally

The Paris Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar") is an annual professional off-road race, currently sponsored by Total S.A. and organized by the Amaury Sport Organisation. The race is open to amateur entries which usually make up about 80% of the participants.

Related Topics:
Total S.A. - Amaury Sport Organisation

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Despite its name, it is an off-road endurance race rather than a conventional rally – the terrain the competitors traverse is much tougher and the vehicles used are true off-road vehicles rather than the modified sedans used in rallies. Most of the competitive sections ("stages" or "specials") are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, erg, among others. The distances covered vary from several kilometers to several hundred kilometers per day.

Related Topics:
Endurance race - Rally - Dune - Mud - Grass - Rocks - Erg - Kilometer

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There is also a Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, organized by an entirely different group of people and restricted to vehicles which cost their owners less than £100, with £15 allowed for "race" preparation. It is jokingly said that the vehicles used here are mostly held together with duct tape.

Related Topics:
Plymouth-Dakar Challenge - Vehicles - £ - Duct tape

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In addition there's the Budapest-Bamako (B2), Great African Run organized by a group of Hungarians. The B2 is a low budget "Dakar" that goes from Budapest to Bamako through the Sahara. The Budapest-Bamako was inspired by the Paris-Dakar. It promises a sense of adventure and the romance of Africa, much like the Paris-Dakar did in its early days.

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