Mini dominate the first stage of the Dakar Rally-Raid
Rally Raid Dakar took off yesterday for an edition that looks very competitive since fifteen pilots aim victory in the Autos category. Argentina, Chile, and first major, Peru will cross during this edition 2012.
The first stage saw the competitors rally Mar Del Plata on the Atlantic facade of Argentina, Santa Rosa de la Pampa. Mini All-4 of the German Team X-Raid have imposed their own pace, with the first three positions on arrival. The victory went to the 2011 World Champion Rally-Raid, Russian Leonid Novitskiy (co-pilot Andreas Schulz experimented German) before the Polish and French Holowczyk Peterhansel. South African Giniel De Villiers (Toyota) and American Robby Gordon (Hummer) round off round of the first five.
This week, the first days of competition in Argentina more like a traditional rally, in terms of routes and difficulties. Five steps are planned in Argentine territory, five in Chile and four in Peru. According to forecasts, slightly more than half of the 469 registered should be able to rally the arrival in Lima.
The only day off is scheduled for next Monday, 8 January, Copiapo in Chile. At the center of international attention for more than a month in 2010, when thirty to three miners were stranded underground, this city of 130,000 people is an opportunity for the crews to enjoy the beauty of the region at the foot of the Cordillera of the Andes, before the second week promises to be difficult, with a majority of deserts and sand hills. The arrival is scheduled in the capital of Peru, Lima, January 14.
For competitors in the car, this 2012 edition of the Dakar Rally-Raid totals 8,373 kilometers to go, 4 191 km in timed stages. An average of 600 km per day of competition!
The first stage ridden yesterday was the shortest second (60 kilometers) from the ordeal while next Tuesday, January 10, is not less than 577 km of timed step that will browse the crew, between Antofagasta, the capital of the province of the same name in Chile, Iquique, the largest commercial port in South America.
The security around the course is also a very important element for the organizers, who know that in case of an accident involving a spectator, the international mainstream press may mediate this hyper one aspect of the event. But with more than 8 000 km and cross five million spectators expected on the roadside, how to avoid any incident, how to prevent an unconscious through the course at any given time? The "Dakar" will always remain a unique Rally Raid and very popular, with a share of permanent risk. For competitors, who come from fifty countries, it is also a great sporting and human adventure.
