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.

Vehicles and classes

The three major competitive classes of the Dakar are motorcycles, automobiles (ranging from buggies to small trucks) and large trucks. Many vehicle manufacturers exploit the harsh environment the rally offers as a testing ground, and consequently to demonstrate the durability of their vehicles, although most vehicles are heavily modified.

Related Topics:
Motorcycle - Automobile - Buggies - Truck

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Originally, mostly European utility vehicles such as Land Rover, Range Rover, Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes Geländewagen and Pinzgauer dominated the race; other manufacturers entered heavily modified street vehicles such as Rolls Royce, Citroën and even Porsche. As of 2002, examples in the car class include Mitsubishi (Pajero/Montero), Nissan, and Hyundai; Mercedes, Range Rover, and BMW sport-utilities are represented but do not appear in the leader positions. Jean-Louis Schlesser builds a series of custom dune buggy vehicles for the race, and has won with them several times. American ("Baja") style pro trucks make an appearance, but they are also seldom in the winner's circle.

Related Topics:
Land Rover - Range Rover - Toyota Land Cruiser - Mercedes Geländewagen - Pinzgauer - Rolls Royce - Citroën - Porsche - As of 2002 - Mitsubishi - Pajero - Nissan - Hyundai - BMW - Jean-Louis Schlesser - Dune buggy - Baja

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Trucks (T4 "Camions" or "Lorries") include Tatra, Kamaz, Hino, MAN, DAF and Mercedes-Benz Unimog. In the 1980s, a strong rivalry between DAF and Mercedes-Benz led to vehicles which had twin engines and more than 1000 hp (750 kW). Later Tatra, Perlini and Kamaz took the race up.

Related Topics:
Tatra - Kamaz - Hino - MAN - DAF - Unimog - 1980s - Hp - KW

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KTM is the most popular and currently leading motorcycle. BMW used to produce a "Dakar" enduro bike, but quit recently due to KTM's dominance.

Related Topics:
KTM - Enduro

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At the present, the main competitors in the car class are Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Nissan, and in the motorcycle class are Yamaha Motor Corporation and KTM. After 2000, renewed competition started in the truck class between DAF, Tatra, Mercedes-Benz and Kamaz.

Related Topics:
Yamaha Motor Corporation - 2000

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