The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar", formerly known as the "Paris–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. Security threats in Mauritania led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, and events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
KAMAZ is a Russian manufacturer of trucks, buses, and engines headquartered in Naberezhnye Chelny. Founded in 1969, the company is known for its cab over trucks. As of 2014, KAMAZ is the largest truck producer in Russia and the CIS, producing 43,000 trucks a year. Its trucks have won the Dakar Rally a record eighteen times, the most in the truck category by any manufacturer.
Truck racing is a form of motorsport road racing which involves modified versions of heavy tractor units on road racing or oval track circuits.
Rally raid is a type of off-road motorsport event for automobiles and motorcycles. Along with shorter baja rallies, rally raid constitutes cross-country rallying. Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) co-organise a common World Rally-Raid Championship featuring the same events for both types of vehicle.
The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad class was added for the first time. The race began on 3 January 2009, and took place across Argentina and Chile. The rally was for the first time to take place outside of Europe and Africa as the location was changed by organizers due to concerns about possible terrorist attacks that resulted in the moving of the 2008 edition from the traditional route to Senegal to Hungary and Romania in the spring.
The 2011 Dakar Rally was the 33rd running of the event. It was held in Argentina and Chile for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event on 23 March 2010.
Vladimir Gennadiyevich Chagin is a Russian rally raid driver. He has won the Dakar Rally driving Kamaz trucks in 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2011, becoming the most successful single category pilot in the history of the tournament earning him the nickname "The Tsar of Dakar".
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.
Africa Eco Race is an annual rally raid, organised in France and run in North and West Africa, launched after the cancellation of 2008 Dakar Rally, and the subsequent moving of the rally to South America.
The 2015 Dakar Rally was the 37th running of the event and the seventh successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 4, then ran through Argentina, Chile and Bolivia, before returning to Buenos Aires on January 17 after 13 stages of competition, for a total distance of 9,000 km (5,600 mi). For the first time, organizers reserved separate rest days for different categories so that at least two classes raced on each day.
The 2016 Dakar Rally was the 38th edition of the event and the eighth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 2, then ran through Argentina and Bolivia.
The 2016 Africa Eco Race was the 8th edition of the rally-raid which replaced the Dakar Rally after its departure to South-America.
Firdaus Zaripovich Kabirov is a retired Russian rally racer who twice won the Dakar Rally in the trucks category, competing for Kamaz.
The 2019 Dakar Rally was the 41st edition of the event and the eleventh successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Lima, Peru on 6 January and finished there on 17 January after 10 stages of competition.
Andrey Olegovich Karginov is a Russian rally raid driver, best known for winning the 2014 and the 2020 Dakar Rally in the truck category for Kamaz.
The 2020 Dakar Rally was the 42nd edition of the event and the first edition held in Saudi Arabia. The event started in Jeddah on 5 January and finished in Al-Qiddiya on 17 January after 12 stages of the competition.
Dmitry Sergeyvich Sotnikov is a Russian rally raid driver who specializes in the truck category. He is a two-time Dakar Rally and a three-time Silk Way Rally champion.
Anton Yuryevich Shibalov is a Russian rally raid driver who specializes in the truck category.
The 2023 Dakar Rally was a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia and the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally organized by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). The event takes place between 31 December 2022 and 15 January 2023. This is the fourth time Saudi Arabia has hosted the event. For the second year running, the event is also the first round of the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship.
Dmitry Sotnikov 
