The most popular rally in the world. Dakar meets the winners

Rally is one of the most popular types of modern racing. It is very spectacular, and therefore interesting to millions of viewers around the world. Among all kinds of championships, the Paris-Dakar route is special. This race stands out among others. What is it that attracts fans and participants so much? This will be discussed in this article.

History of the famous automobile marathon

The Paris-Dakar rally has been held since the end of 1978. The author of the idea of this route was a motorcycle racer from France T. Sabin. In 1977, he lost his way in the desert in Libya during the race "Abidjan-Nice". A few days later the wanderers found the wanderings without food and water from the motorcyclist, who saved him. Despite all the misadventures, the desert made an indelible impression on Sabina, which he wanted to share with the whole world. It was this idea that inspired the rider to create the route of the most popular rally to date. Dakar, according to Thierry Sabin's plan, was to be the end point of the race, and the initial one was Paris.

The original route of the rally passed through the north of Africa, Algeria, but, due to the difficult political situation and frequent riots in this state, another race, Morocco, was approved for the race. Sometimes part of the way participants overcome through Libya.

First, the race was one of the stages of the World Cup. However, the rules of the competition caused a lot of disagreements, so it was decided to exclude the rally from the overall standings of the planet and make it autonomous.

It is interesting that in the competition for the whole history of its existence not only professional racing drivers took part, but also many rock stars, well-known sportsmen-representatives of other disciplines (alpine skiers, climbers, yachtsmen and others).

Rally Rules

To participate in this competition, you need to know the rules of the rally. Dakar is the final point of the route. The race starts in Paris. The competition lasts for three weeks and covers a distance of about 10 thousand kilometers. To participate, riders are allowed not only on special cars for rallying, but also on cars, as well as on trucks and motorcycles. For each type of transport there is a separate set-off. Among the participants there can be not only professional racers, but also amateurs, who usually make up about 80% of the total number of applicants.

As already mentioned above, the World Cup offset does not include this rally. Dakar is the final city in the way of the riders, where the winners are determined. In order to become the champion of the competition, you just need to overtake your rivals in the results of this automobile marathon, unlike the World Cup, where the participants receive points for each race, which at the end of the season are summed up.

The winners of the rally

Up to the beginning of the 21st century, Stefan Petransel was the main record winner in the number of victories in the Paris-Dakar rally, who won this automobile marathon six times in ten years of participation in it.

2001 was a turning point both in the rules of the race and in respect of the winners. In accordance with the changes made to the rules of the competition, the team could not carry a technician, which in case of breakage would be able to eliminate the malfunction. Any repairs should be carried out by the driver and the navigator. In the same year, the woman Jutta Kleinschmidt won the rally for the first time.

Russian trucks became the real triumphors of the Paris-Dakar rally. "KAMAZ-master", an excellent Russian team, won the marathon many times. In recent years, she continues to hold the lead and regularly wins at major international competitions.

Team "Kamaz-master"

In the history of the Dakar rally, the Russian team won 13 times in this prestigious marathon. In 2015, the rally, which took place on the territory of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, first won the pilot Airat Mardeev in the standings of trucks. At the final stage of the race, he managed to break away from his pursuers and eventually surpassed his closest competitors, among other things, teammates, at 14 and 51 minutes respectively (2nd place - Nikolaev, 3rd place - Karginov).

Thus, the Russian pilots again showed what the car "KamAZ" costs. Rally "Dakar" year after year in the standings of trucks obeys him.