The way to Dakar triumph 2008 goes through a “sea of sand”, according to the rally director Etienne Lavigne at the official presentation of the 30th edition of the famous desert rally. It is dated from the 5th to the 20th January 2008. Starting point will be again Lisbon and finish in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Approximately 570 participants are going to participate. The Dakar 2008 has a total lengh of 9273 kilometers: 5736 kilometers of ratings mileage is on the program, about 1400 more than in the previous year.
The rally will start again in Portugal. From there the route leads through Spain, Markokko and Mauritania in Senegal. They are, according to the organizers, more traditional places from the long history of the rally snubbed.
Mitsubishi dominated the last years. And so the VW-factoryteam aims to kick Mitsubishi from the throne. Beside the two times World rally champion Carlos Sainz (Spain), the South African Giniel de Villiers and Mark Miller (USA), three times German rally champion Dieter Depping with co-driver Timo Gottschalk are driving a VW factoryteam Touareg.
Mitsubishi also participate with four cars. Head of the team is the last years and nine-times Dakar-winner (six times on a motorcycle, three times with a car) Stephane Peterhansel and former Ski-Wordcup-winner Luc Alphand (both France), who won the 2006 edition.
To get the latest updates, videos and pictures visit our Rally Dakar 2008 thread at our forum.
