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. Since 2020, the race has been entirely in Saudi Arabia. The rally is open to amateur and professional entries, amateurs typically making up about eighty per cent 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.
Baja California Sur, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California Sur, is the second-smallest Mexican state by population and the 31st admitted state of the 32 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is also the ninth-largest Mexican state in terms of area.
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 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.
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.
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.
Hurricane Norbert is tied with Hurricane Jimena as the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the west coast of Baja California Sur in recorded history. The fifteenth named storm, seventh hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2008 hurricane season, Norbert originated as a tropical depression from a tropical wave south of Acapulco on October 3. Strong wind shear initially prevented much development, but the cyclone encountered a more favorable environment as it moved westward. On October 5, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Norbert, and the system intensified further to attain hurricane intensity by October 6. After undergoing a period of rapid deepening, Norbert reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, with maximum sustained winds of 135 mph (215 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 945 mbar. As the cyclone rounded the western periphery of a subtropical ridge over Mexico, it began an eyewall replacement cycle which led to steady weakening. Completing this cycle and briefly reintensifying into a major hurricane, a Category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale, Norbert moved ashore Baja California Sur as a Category 2 hurricane late on October 11. After a second landfall at a weaker intensity the following day, the system quickly weakened over land and dissipated that afternoon.
Hurricane Otis was a moderate Category 2 hurricane that threatened the Baja California Peninsula but dissipated before landfall. Otis was the fifteenth and final named storm and seventh hurricane of the 2005 Pacific hurricane season. The storm developed on September 28, 2005, off the western coast of Mexico, from a tropical wave that emerged from the western coast of Africa and traversed the Atlantic Ocean during the preceding several weeks. After attaining tropical storm status on September 29, Otis moved in a generally northwestward direction for most of its duration. It ultimately peaked at Category 2 intensity on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale before beginning to weaken. The storm degenerated into a tropical depression on October 3 and dissipated fully on October 5, near the coast of Baja California Sur. Preparations for Otis were completed on the Peninsula; tropical cyclone watches and warnings were declared and numerous shelters opened. However, the storm's effects were minimal, and limited to gusty winds with heavy rainfall. No major damage was reported.
Hurricane Jimena was the second-strongest hurricane of the 2009 Pacific hurricane season, and tied with Hurricane Norbert as the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall on western portion of the Baja California Peninsula. Forming from a tropical wave late on August 28, 2009, off of Mexico's Pacific coast, the system rapidly intensified into a Category 2 hurricane on the next day. Two days after developing, Jimena strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane. After peaking close to Category 5 intensity on September 1, it encountered cold water and began to weaken. When the hurricane made landfall on the Baja California Peninsula on September 3, it was only a Category 2 hurricane. On the next day, the tropical cyclone entered the Gulf of California, though the storm weakened into a remnant low after looping back eastward towards Baja California. The storm's remnants drifted westward into the Pacific afterward, before dissipating on September 8.
The National Off-Road Racing Association is a desert off-road racing association.
Africa Eco Race is an annual rally raid organized in North Africa launched after the cancellation of 2008 Dakar Rally, and the subsequent moving of the rally to South America.
Hurricane Odile is tied for the most intense landfalling tropical cyclone in the Baja California Peninsula during the satellite era. Sweeping across the peninsula in September 2014, Odile inflicted widespread damage, particularly in the state of Baja California Sur, in addition to causing lesser impacts on the Mexican mainland and Southwestern United States. The precursor to Odile developed into a tropical depression south of Mexico on September 10 and quickly reached tropical storm strength. After meandering for several days, Odile began to track northwestward, intensifying to hurricane status before rapidly reaching its Category 4 hurricane peak intensity on September 14. The cyclone slightly weakened before making landfall near Cabo San Lucas with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h). Odile gradually weakened as it tracked across the length of the Baja California Peninsula, briefly crossing into the Gulf of California before degenerating into a remnant system on September 17. These remnants tracked northeastward across the Southwestern United States before they were no longer identifiable on September 19.
Hurricane Blanca in 2015 was the earliest recorded tropical cyclone to make landfall on the Baja California Peninsula. Forming as a tropical depression on May 31, Blanca initially struggled to organize due to strong wind shear. However, once this abated, the system took advantage of high sea surface temperatures and ample moisture. After becoming a tropical storm on June 1, Blanca rapidly intensified on June 2–3, becoming a powerful Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale; maximum sustained winds reached 145 mph (230 km/h) at this time. The hurricane's slow motion resulted in tremendous upwelling of cooler water, resulting in a period of weakening. Blanca gradually recovered from this and briefly regained Category 4 status on June 6 as it moved generally northwest toward the Baja California peninsula. Cooler waters and increased shear again prompted weakening on June 7 and the system struck Baja California Sur on June 8 as a weak tropical storm. It quickly degraded to a depression and dissipated early the next day.
The Baja 4000 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'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 to Baja XL.
The 2019 Rally Mexico was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 7 and 10 March 2019. It marked the sixteenth running of Rally Mexico and was the third round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the newly-created WRC-2 Pro class. The 2019 event was based in the town of León in Guanajuato and consisted of twenty-one special stages. The rally covered a total competitive distance of 316.51 km (196.67 mi).
The 2019 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies was the 27th season of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies; an annual competition for rally raid events for cars, buggies, side-by-sides, and trucks held in multiple countries.
Hurricane Lorena was a strong Pacific hurricane in September 2019 that brought heavy rainfall, flooding, and mudslides to Southwestern Mexico and the Baja California Peninsula and also brought severe weather to the U.S. state of Arizona. Lorena was the thirteenth named storm and seventh and final hurricane of the 2019 Pacific hurricane season. A tropical wave, originally from the North Atlantic, entered the East Pacific basin on September 16. With increasing thunderstorm development, Lorena formed as a tropical storm on September 17 alongside Tropical Storm Mario. Lorena made its passage northwestward and quickly gained strength before it made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Jalisco on September 19. Due to interaction with the mountainous terrain, Lorena weakened back to a tropical storm. After moving into the warm ocean temperatures of the Gulf of California, however, Lorena re-strengthened into a hurricane, and reached its peak intensity with 1-minute sustained winds of 85 mph and a minimum barometric pressure of 985 millibars Lorena made a second landfall in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur, and quickly weakened thereafter. Lorena weakened to a tropical storm over the Gulf of California, and became a remnant low on September 22, shortly after making landfall in Sonora as a tropical depression. The remnant low moved inland over Mexico, and eventually dissipated inland over Arizona on September 24.
Hurricane Genevieve was a strong tropical cyclone that almost made landfall on the Baja California Peninsula in August 2020. The twelfth tropical cyclone, seventh named storm, third hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2020 Pacific hurricane season, Genevieve formed from a tropical wave that the National Hurricane Center (NHC) first started monitoring on August 10. The wave merged with a trough of low pressure on August 13, and favorable conditions allowed the wave to intensify into Tropical Depression Twelve-E at 15:00 UTC. Just six hours later, the depression became a tropical storm and was given the name Genevieve. Genevieve quickly become a hurricane by August 17, and Genevieve began explosive intensification the next day. By 12:00 UTC on August 18, Genevieve reached its peak intensity as a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 130 mph and a minimum central pressure of 950 millibars (28 inHg). Genevieve began to weaken on the next day, possibly due to cooler waters caused by Hurricane Elida earlier that month. Genevieve weakened below tropical storm status around 18:00 UTC on August 20, as it passed close to Baja California Sur. Soon afterward, Genevieve began to lose its deep convection and became a post-tropical cyclone by 21:00 UTC on August 21, eventually dissipating off the coast of Southern California late on August 24.
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