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; 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 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.
The Volkswagen Touareg is a car produced by German automaker Volkswagen Group since 2002 at the Volkswagen Bratislava Plant. Being a five-seater crossover SUV, the vehicle was named after the nomadic Tuareg people, inhabitants of the Saharan interior in North Africa. As of its first generation, the Touareg was developed together with the Porsche Cayenne and the Audi Q7, and as of October 2020, the Touareg was developed together with the Audi Q8, the Bentley Bentayga and the Lamborghini Urus. The vehicles were designed as unibody SUVs with independent suspensions. The first generation (2002–2010) offered five, six, eight, ten and twelve-cylinder engine choices.
The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from six continents. The race was founded by Ed Pearlman in 1967 and is sanctioned by SCORE International. The race is the final round of a four-race annual series, which also includes the San Felipe 250, the Baja 400 and the Baja 500. The 2017 Baja 1000 marked the 50th anniversary of the race.
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.
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.
The Central Europe Rally was a rally raid endurance race held in Romania and Hungary, and served as the relocated 2008 edition of the Dakar Rally, the 30th running of the event.
Larry Roeseler is an American professional off-road racer. He is notable for having won the prestigious Baja 1000 desert race a record 13 times, the most of any competitor since the race's inception in 1967. His victories made him one of the most accomplished multi-discipline desert racers in off-road racing history.
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.
Rob MacCachren is an American off-road racer from Las Vegas, Nevada. MacCachren won over 200 off-road races including five editions of the Baja 1000.
The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 32nd running of the event. It was held in South America for the second 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 in February 2009.
Lucas Cruz Senra is a Spanish computer engineer, mostly known as a rally racing co-driver and experienced navigator.
Michel Périn is a French rally navigator.
Chad Ragland was an American winning race car driver and the son of legendary off-road racer Larry Ragland.
Marc VDS Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team founded by Belgian owner Marc-Oswald van der Straten-Ponthoz, descendant of the founder of the Stella Artois brewery. The team competes in motorcycle racing in the Moto2 World Championship under the name ELF Marc VDS Racing Team. The team has previously competed in the MotoGP and MotoE classes. It also previously competed in many auto racing championships, particularly in grand touring classes - namely the FIA GT1 World Championship, the Blancpain Endurance Series, and the European Le Mans Series - as well as the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. They have also previously contested in rallying at various rally raid events, such as the Dakar Rally.
Jonah Street is a retired American off-road rally racing motorcycle rider from Ellensburg, Washington. He has competed in numerous rally events worldwide including the Dakar Rally, Baja 1000, Baja 500 and Rally Mongolia. Street has raced on six continents.
The Volkswagen Motorsport was a works rally team of the German car manufacturer Volkswagen, who competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and Dakar Rally.
Toby Joseph Price OAM is an Australian off-road and enduro motorcycle racing world champion. He lives in Gold Coast, Queensland, and rode for the KTM Off-Road Racing Team until October 2015. He now represents the Red Bull Factory KTM Rally Team.
Benediktas Vanagas is a Lithuanian rally driver. Vanagas is one of the few racing drivers in the Baltic states who has achieved good results competing in various auto racing disciplines, such as rallying, rally raid racing, endurance racing and off-road competitions, though he most often competes as a rally driver. He is a member of the Inbank Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics. Vanagas still holds the record for the best overall result in a car class in the Baltics as well as for a Lithuanian driver.
Gerard Farrés i Güell is a Spanish motorcycle racer of enduro and rally raid. In rally raid, he finished in third place in the motorcycle category in the 2017 Dakar Rally and won Baja Aragón in the same category in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
