Dreaming of Dakar

So, just what is the Dakar you ask?  In the US a lot of people know little about this major international event.  The Dakar Rally (originally know as the Paris-Dakar Rally) is a 2 week long off-road desert race.  The original route of the event started in Paris France, went through the Sahara desert and ended in Dakar Senegal.  Due to pollitical instability in 2009 the race was moved to south america starting  in Buenos Aires, Argentina, across the Andes Mountains into Chille and back through Buenos Aires.  The rally however retains the name "The Dakar".  There is talk about the race returning to Africa in the future.

The rally is raced by motorcycles, cars and trucks all in separate classes however they all share essentially the same route.  Unlike off road races such as the Baja 1000 the Dakar is a stage race.  Each day has a specific route that is divided up in "liasion" sections where you are expected to ride at a defined pace, often on public roads and "special" sections which is where the racing happens.  On the liasion sections you can get pennalized for arriving at a checkpoint too early.  On the special stages the idea is of course to get to the finish as fast as possble.  The winner of the event is the one with the fastest combined time from all the stages (plus any time penalties).