2008 Dakar Rally

The 2008 Dakar Rally would have been the 30th running of the annual off-road race. The rally was to start in Lisbon, Portugal on 5 January, 2008, running through Europe and Africa until the finish in Dakar, Senegal on 20 January. The event was cancelled one day before the intended start date, due to concerns of a possible terrorist attack aimed at the competitors.

Cancellation

The rally was cancelled on January 4, 2008, due to safety concerns in Mauritania, following the killing of four French tourists there on Christmas Eve, December 2007. France-based Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), in charge of the convert|6000|km|mi|-1|abbr=on rally, said in a statement they had been advised by the French government to cancel the race. They said direct threats had also been made against the event by "terrorist organizations".cite news |url=http://www.thestar.com/News/article/291241 |title=Terror threat cancels famed Dakar Rally |publisher=Toronto Star |first=Jamie |last=Keaton |date=2008-01-05 |accessdate=2008-01-05] Before the start of the race, rally director Étienne Lavigne had approved the Mauritanian legs only after two stages planned for Mali were scrapped. An Al-Qaeda affiliate organization was blamed for the cancellation. [ [http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN648110.html News | Africa - Reuters.com ] ] [ [http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=673196 Future of Dakar Rally now in doubt ] ]

Entrants

As of December 2007 there were 245 motorbikes, 20 quads, 205 cars and 100 trucks. A total of 570 teams from various countries (50) would have raced in the Dakar this year, up from 510 in 2007. [cite web |url=http://www.dakar.com/2008/DAK/RIDERS/us/r3_8-engages.html |title=List of entrants |publisher=Dakar organizers |accessdate=2008-01-05]

Route

The race would have begun in Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal. The total race distance would have been convert|9273|km|mi|0|abbr=on, of which convert|5732|km|mi|0|abbr=on was timed special stage. [ [http://www.dakar.com/2008/DAK/presentation/docs/carte.pdf pdf file of course] from dakar.com. Retrieved 2nd January 2008.] There would have been a rest day in Nouakchott on 13 January. [cite web |url=http://www.dakar.com/2008/DAK/presentation/docs/parcours_novembre.pdf |format=PDF |title=Map showing 2008 planned route |accessdate=2008-01-05]

Planned Stages

References