Dakar 2019 preview: Time for Tea
We're only five weeks away from the start of the toughest rally event on the planet
It's nearly December so that means only one thing. That's right: Dakar! With the 2019 running of the event just five weeks away, the drivers and riders of this gruelling 11-day rally are readying themselves for the immense challenge ahead. This year things are a little different because the rally doesn't leave Peru, although with 5000km of desert, mountains and rugged coastline to conquer, it will certainly be no less of a challenge for not crossing a border.
Among the 500 entrants to compete in 2019's event will be plenty of famous returnees, but it's the inclusion of nine-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb that's likely to garner headlines. Following his stunning WRC win in Spain, the Frenchman clearly hasn't lost the knack of going extremely quickly on slippery stuff. And this year he enters as a privateer, meaning there's even more glory on the line should his two-year-old Peugeot 3008DKR take the chequered flag first.
Before that there will be 10 stages spanning Peru's western and southern regions between the capital of Lima and the city of Tacna, which lies near the Chilean border. Completing them all will require guts, nerve and - particularly for the bikers - plenty of muscle endurance, too. As the videos below show, even after nearly four decades of running, this remains the most demanding endurance rally on the planet.
Really great for all of the South African Motorsport community and race car builders.
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