Dakar Rally 2012 -- Motor Sports Events -- Red Bull

Dakar Rally 2012

Location: Argentina, Chile, Peru (Map this address )
Start: JAN 1, 2012 at 12:00 AM
End: JAN 15, 2012 at 11:59 PM
About: In 2012, the Dakar will be staging a pan-American adventure of more than 9,000km in total. Unlike previous year’s loops, the route will transport the rally from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to those of the Pacific, enabling its competitors to discover new lands and another aspect of South America. The scale of this challenge has also led to a change in the race’s format, which will include 14 days of racing in 2012. Constantly guided by the Andes Mountain range, the drivers and riders will be crossing the Atacama, and will experience in particular the diversity of the dunes as they head into Peru.

The competitors will be getting to the heart of the sporting matter on January 1, after the starting ceremony at Mar del Plata. They will for the first time be making a bee-line for the Andes Mountains. The rally will enter Chile with a spot of climbing. After having travelled over the Andes, it will then start to follow the range to its tip, working their way up between the mountains and ocean. During this journey northwards, they will be delving in to the heart of the Atacama Desert, where navigational skill is just as important as the ability to tame the dunes. At sea level, crossing the border into Peru will seem relatively painless, until they hit sections of never-ending Peruvian dunes, where only the best will master the Mauritanian.