The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. The 2020 edition was held in Saudi Arabia. The rally is open to amateur and professional entries, amateurs typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
Rally is a form of motorsport that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. It is distinguished by not running on a circuit, but instead in a point-to-point format in which participants and their co-drivers drive between set control points, leaving at regular intervals from one or more start points. Rallies may be won by pure speed within the stages or alternatively by driving to a predetermined ideal journey time within the stages.
The Plymouth-Banjul Challenge or unofficially the Ultimate Banger Challenge and previously known as the Plymouth-Dakar Challenge, is an annual car event for charity. It is not a race or a competition as its website states. It was first run in 2003 to Dakar and since 2005 to Banjul. It very roughly follows the route of the more famous Dakar Rally, visiting many of the same countries.
The Baja 1000 is a Mexican off-road motorsport race held each year on the Baja California Peninsula. The race was founded by Ed Pearlman in 1967 and is sanctioned by SCORE International. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, attracting competitors from Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guam, Guatemala, India, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, The Balkans, and from every state in the United States, as well as the host country of Mexico. The race is the final round of a four-race annual series, including the SCORE Desert Challenge, the SCORE San Felipe 250 and the SCORE Baja 500. The 2017 Baja 1000 marked the 50th anniversary of the race.
The Mongol Rally is an intercontinental car rally that begins in Europe and ends in Ulan Ude, Russia. The rally originally ended in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. However, to avoid punitive costs and taxes associated with vehicle imports and disposal, the rally now passes through Mongolia and ends in Ulan Ude. The principal launch is from Goodwood Circuit in the United Kingdom, with subsidiary starting points in the Czech Republic. There are three fundamental rules to the rally:
- Rally vehicles have a 1200cc engine limit
- Rally teams are unsupported
- Rally teams need to raise at least £1000 for charity
The Budapest-Bamako or Great African Run is a charity car race in Africa, and the largest amateur rally in the world. It is a low-budget version of the Dakar Rally, and goes from Budapest, Hungary to Bamako, Mali through the Sahara. It passes through Hungary, Austria or Slovenia, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali. The Budapest-Bamako was inspired by the Paris-Dakar Rally. There are few entry restrictions: as long as a vehicle is street legal, it can join the event. The event also raises money and supplies for local communities and charities in Mali.
Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on extended cross-country, off-road courses. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges. The main type of enduro event, and the format to which the World Enduro Championship is run, is a time-card enduro, whereby a number of stages are raced in a time trial against the clock.
Baja SAE is an Collegiate Design Series competition run by the Society of Automotive Engineers International. Teams of students from universities all over the world design and build small off-road cars. The cars all have engines of the same specifications. As of 2018 the engine has been an unmodified Briggs & Stratton Model 19 Vanguard engine single-cylinder with a displacement of 305cc and power output of approximately 10 bhp (7.5 kW).
Desert racing life is the act of racing through the desert in a two- or four-wheeled off-road vehicle. Races, which generally consist of two or more loops around a course covering up to 4,660 miles (7,500 km), can take the form of Hare and Hound or Hare scramble style events, and are often laid out over a long and harsh track through relatively barren terrain.
The Indian Autorickshaw Challenge is an international autorickshaw rally. The entrants use the autorickshaw or tuk-tuk, a common vehicle of India's urban east, to cross large portions of the Indian sub-continent over a period several of days. The simple construction of the autorickshaw and the diversity of the landscape requires the participants to be resourceful and determined in order to finish the course. The event is organised by Chennai Event Management Services.
Rodney K. "Rod" Millen is a racing competitor, vehicle designer, and business owner. He has competed in numerous genres of motorsports, including rally racing, off-road racing, hillclimbing, drifting, and super touring.
A charity rally is a charitable event in which participants usually drive, ride or otherwise participate in through the medium of motorised wheeled transportation in an event to raise money for a charitable cause.
Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon rallies like the Dakar Rally; with other cross-country rally events lasting 4–5 days. With skill in navigation being key, the driving skill and endurance of riders, drivers, co-drivers, and machines are put to the test. The total distance covered can be anywhere between 600 km to over 5,000 km with terrain ranging from sandy dunes, forest roads, mountain roads, and dry river beds; among others.
Sébastien Ogier is a French rally driver, competing for Toyota World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Championship seven times, in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020. With 49 victories in the World Rally Championship and seven titles, he is the second most successful WRC driver, after former Citroën WRC teammate Sébastien Loeb.
The National Off-Road Racing Association is a desert off-road racing association.
The Silk Way Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road race. The first Silk Way Rally was raced in 2009 from Kazan, Russia to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. From 2010 to 2013, the race has taken place in Russia. The 2016 edition had a Moscow-Astana-Beijing route, the 2017 edition starts in Moscow and finishes in Xi'an, China. From 2009 to 2011, the rally was part of ASO's Dakar Series. The rally compete in three categories - moto, cars and trucks.
Africa Eco Race is an annual rally raid organized in North of Africa, as an answer to the cancellation of 2008 Dakar Rally, and the subsequent moving of the rally to South America, for those who wanted to live the real Dakar spirit.
CS Santosh is an Indian off-road and enduro motorcycle racer. His full name is Chunchunguppe Shivashankar Santosh. He is a multiple National Supercross and Motocross champion. CS Santosh has spent more than a decade racing motorbikes across challenging terrains and multiple nations. He is a rider who is under the banner of Hero MotoSports, and has spearheaded a rally revolution of sorts in India and has given fresh hope to fellow talented riders that they too can make the step up to the global rally level.
The Baja XL is a biennial off-road charity rally and road trip organized by the creators of the largest amateur rally in the world, the Budapest-Bamako. It is the successor of the Baja 4000. It's a low budget, amateur version of the famous Baja 1000 and Dakar Rally. The first edition was held in January 2017. The rally started in Los Angeles and traveled 4000 kilometers on the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. In 2018 before the second edition of the event organizers changed the event's name from Baja 4000 to Baja XL. From Jan 29-Feb 7, 2019 the second edition was held with 120 teams entering the event.
The 2021 Dakar Rally is a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia and the 43rd edition of the Dakar Rally. The event will be held for 14 days, starting from 3 January and ending 15 January 2021. It is the second time Saudi Arabia has hosted the event, with support from the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. The race will start and end in Jeddah, allowing the competitors to venture through the desert and alongside the Red Sea. The route consists of one prologue stage and 12 normal stages, with one rest day in Ha'il on 9 January. The rally was orginally intended to run through 2–3 additional countries, with Egypt and Jordan being rumoured likely candidates. However, due to travel and border restrictions implimented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the route stayed entirely within Saudi Arabian territory.
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