2009 Dakar Rally moves to South America over security fears in Africa

The 2009 Dakar Rally will be staged in Argentina and Chile after this year's event was cancelled due to security concerns in Africa.

Reuters - Mauritania killings may be new Qaeda chapter

On the move: Dakar Rally will move across the continent to South America for next year's race
The famous event for cars, trucks and motorcycles will take place in South America from Jan 3 to 18, starting in Buenos Aires.

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), organisers of the event, did not say whether the event's name would be changed, but it is believed that the race will start and finish in the Argentine capital and take in 6,000 kilometres of special stages over a 9,000 km-long course.

The rally will also take in the Atacama desert in northern Chile, the Andes mountain range and the southern Argentinian region of Patagonia.

Rally director Etienne Lavigne said that the Dakar was not leaving Africa for good.

"The Dakar is visiting South America, it's not quitting Africa. [The cancellation of Dakar 2008] cost us tens of millions of euros but we did well to err on the side of caution because three weeks later there was another attack in the centre of Nouakchott," said Lavigne.

"In Argentina and Chile, we are guaranteed to find the ingredients that make up the spirit of the Dakar.

"Nomadic test par excellence, with 21 African countries so far visited, the Dakar has as its mandate the exploration of the world's deserts.

"In the future, the world's biggest rally will also be taken across other oceans to be staged in other continents," he added.

The 2008 rally was cancelled earlier this year for the first time after ASO revealed that "direct threats" had been levelled at the race by terrorist organisations.

Organisers had been warned against a possible terrorist risk in Mauritania by the French government, where four French tourists were killed by suspected al Qaeda rebels in December.

The Dakar Rally, originally known as the Paris-Dakar, had always been staged entirely or mostly in Africa in its 30-year history.

Source: Telegraph