Dakar rally to break new ground in 2009

December 29, 2008

After a last-minute cancellation in 2008 because of security fears in Africa, the famed Dakar rally is back in 2009 in a new and rugged location - South America.

Set to begin on January 3 in the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires, 235 riders -- including KTM-mounted Australian David Schwarz -- and 28 ATVs will embark on the 5650km journey, bringing an end to months of hard preparation.

The rally, a massive logistical operation, will slice its way through Argentina and Chile over 18 days and 14 stages, reaching an oxygen-robbing 4700m in altitude at one stage. Riders will also negotiate the legendary Argentina Pampas, head into Patagonia, cross the terrifyingly high Andes mountains, take in hundreds of kilometres of desert and sand dunes, including the Atacama Desert, known as the world's driest.

KTM will again be the dominant marque in the Dakar rally, with 55 percent or riders on the Austrian hardware, including a crack factory team of previous winners Cyril Despres and Marc Coma. KTM's other factory-supported riders wil be Jordi Viladoms and Alain Duclos, with the quartet all on the single-cylinder 690 Rally.

Despres won the Dakar in 2005 and 2007, while Coma came up trumps in 2006.

"Even though a lot of things will change it is reasonable to expect that Marc will continue to be my principle rival," Despres said. "Wherever we race in the world it is usually between me and him and I can't see that being any different. That's fine by me. We always fight clean and have tremendous respect for each other."

Coma too is quietly confident: "We have a new Dakar in 2009 and this also means new deserts. But I am confident that it will also be great and that it will have the same kind of Dakar spirit.  That means it will be hard and there will be risks to take."

Schwarz, seventh in this year's Australia Safari, will also ride the 690 Rally in the Dakar, which will be the third time he's embarked on the iconic event.

In the auto division, Aussie Bruce Garland will race an Isuzu alongside navigator Hiroaki Suzuki.

Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel, a legendary six-time winner of the motorcycle division at Dakar, will again start as one of the favourites in the auto class after winning three of the last four events, and he's expected to face stiff opposition from former world rally champion Carlos Sainz.

After a massive round trip, the Dakar will end back in Buenos Aires in January 18.

Second pic: Schwarz during the 2008 Australian Safari