Dakar is the Big 'Kahuna'
In motorsports, there are tough races, and then there are tough races. For sprint racers, 78 laps at the Molson Indy Toronto seems
like a long way, but to a veteran of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, it's a cakewalk, nothing more than an afternoon drive. So, what would it take for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or the Rolex 24 at Daytona to look like a lunchtime break - welcome to the 'Dakar'.
By any standard, trying to put the Dakar into reasonable terms is tough at best, but as it is a new year, with new challenges....here I go. You see, the Dakar 'rally' is an event of extremes. Extreme distances: 9,043 km - if you don't get lost - of which 4,813 are timed stages, compared to about 3,500 km for a Le Mans run. Covering that distance also takes a bit of time, like 16 days.
The event runs from Lisbon, Portugal to Dakar in Senegal, and there are some very difficult stages, some parts you'd have trouble walking through let alone driving. There also have been, in the past, holdups - yep, just like the old west - robberies, and unfortunately a fair number of deaths to competitors. The only thing that everyone can agree on about the Dakar is that it is by far the toughest 'event' in motorsports.
This year, Volkswagen has sent five race prepared Touareg's to contest the event. They have some fairly famous names in them, but most are not recognizable to many North Americans. The five VW entries are driven by Jutta Kleinschmidt / Fabrizia Pons, Mark Miller / Dirk von Zitzewitz, Bruno Saby / Michel Périn, Carlos Sainz / Andy Schulz and Giniel de Villiers / Tina Thörner.
In motorsports, there are tough races, and then there are tough races. For sprint racers, 78 laps at the Molson Indy Toronto seems
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| Welcome to the 'Dakar', the toughest race of all. (Photo: Volkswagen Canada) |
By any standard, trying to put the Dakar into reasonable terms is tough at best, but as it is a new year, with new challenges....here I go. You see, the Dakar 'rally' is an event of extremes. Extreme distances: 9,043 km - if you don't get lost - of which 4,813 are timed stages, compared to about 3,500 km for a Le Mans run. Covering that distance also takes a bit of time, like 16 days.
 |
| Volkswagen has sent five race prepared Touareg's to contest this year's event. (Photo: Volkswagen Canada) |
This year, Volkswagen has sent five race prepared Touareg's to contest the event. They have some fairly famous names in them, but most are not recognizable to many North Americans. The five VW entries are driven by Jutta Kleinschmidt / Fabrizia Pons, Mark Miller / Dirk von Zitzewitz, Bruno Saby / Michel Périn, Carlos Sainz / Andy Schulz and Giniel de Villiers / Tina Thörner.