Life Changing Dakar Rally
Posted on 1 February 2012 by Wendy Stenberg-Tendys in Education, Environment, student research information
No competitor can remain the same, as man and machine are brutally tested in the daunting Dakar Rally, in what has been described as ‘The School of Life’.
The 14 stage rally attracts competitors from approximately 50 countries, racing around 465 vehicles, motobikes, quad bikes, cars and trucks. The comptitiors traverse snow-capped mountains, rocky rivers and blistering deserts. In 2012 organizers were forced to cancel one section of the race due to summer snow in the Andes.
The Dakar Race was originally run from Paris, France to Dakar, Sengal. Starting in 1979 the race quickly attraced star rideres and drivers, along with specialist machinary.
From getting lost among the dunes and deserts, to exhaustion, the race has claimed 50 lives, including the founder Thierry Sabine, who died in a helicopter crash at the race in 1986.
One of the most famous competitors was Mark Thatcher, the son of exBritish prime minster, MargaretThatcher. Mark went missing for six days, before being found again.
500 miles of sand dunes see the competitors sleeping in bivouacs, or under the stars in a sleeping bag, over a two to three week period.
Four time winner, Ari Vatanen, describes it as being ‘life changing’. “At night it was like being in a thousand-star hotel that beats all the smartest five-star establishments in Paris and London.”
Politics and wars in Africa, saw the event move out of the Sahara Desert into Argentina. Starting in Chile the race now finishes in Peru.
In claiming his fourth Dakar win, an exhausted Cyril Despres said “I’ve done nearly 100 rallies and this is the one where I had to fight the hardest to get the win. The 2012 Dakar is without a shadow of a doubt the toughest Dakar I have ever raced in.”
Dealing with the needs of the competitors and their support crews, the helicpoters and their crews, medical teams, plus thousands of spectators and tourists, is no mean task for the organizers, of one of the world’s most gruelling endurance rallies.
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