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.

History and route

The race originated in 1978, a year after racer Thierry Sabine got lost in the desert and he decided this would be a good location for a regular rally. Originally, the rally was from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal, interrupted by a transfer across the Mediterranean; however due to politics and other factors, the course, including origin and destination, have been varied over the years.

Related Topics:
1978 - Thierry Sabine - Desert - Paris - France - Dakar - Senegal - Mediterranean - Politics

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The last route from Paris to Dakar was organised in 1994; this was also the only time the rally went from Paris to Dakar and back to Paris. Due to complaints of the mayor of Paris, the finish had to be moved from the Champs-Élysées to Euro Disney. This also caused the organisation to lay out the rally through differing locations in the years to follow:

Related Topics:
1994 - Mayor - Champs-Élysées - Euro Disney

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• 2000: From Dakar to Cairo, Egypt.
• 2002: From Arras, in the north of France (160 km from Paris), through Madrid, Spain, to Dakar.
• 2005: From Barcelona, Spain to Dakar.
• 2006: From Lisbon, Portugal to Dakar.

Early rallies also passed through Algeria.

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