Motor rally (WRC)
Rally Raid
Street Racing
Other rally
Among the trucks, the first victory was gained by the Quatar cittizen Naser Ali-Atiia, whis was a BMW competitor (3:49.48). For the Bavarian car category it was the first victory as well. Nevertheless, the French leader - Stephan Patheranseli from "Mitshubishi" continue to be in the lead (37:35.19). He passed ahead of his partner Alifan within 10 minutes earlier (37:45.15). And overpass within one and half hour earlier than Shlesser (39:06.09). On the fourth place is the winner of tenth lap Ali-Attiia (39:35.32), but he lost, and the winner is Peteranseli, which passed ahead within 2 hours earlier.
In the lorry category, after the 10 days of ralli, the leader is Steisi (43:38.51). He overpassed Ilighizar Mardevim, who was on the second position(46:28.55). On the third place is the dutch Vulferd Van Gincheli, which has been overpassed by Steisi for 4 hours (47:57.39)
So it happens the most expected by the car racing fans event -Dacar starts!
According to the facts, during three days all the cars passed machine technical inspection and it was allowed 510 participants: 254 motorcyclists, 180 cars and 85 trucks.
However it is not a surprise for anyone, that Dacar beats all the records regarding the number of participants.
But it was a surprise for that racers who did not expected that this contest will be a really hard one. It was a hard work for all the participants for motorcyclists and for the truck drivers as well.
Today the procession leaves Europe and go across the African continent. The big battle is in front, so it is early to make any prognoses. But already, there are an unexpectable losses amongst the potential leaders. The fourfold leader- Ari Vatanen did a mistake near the water baffler and soaked the engine. As a result he lost one and half hour. In the final record, Vatanen occupied the second to last 176 place.
Dakar 2007: The Schedule Was Changed Once Again.
Few time remains before the start of the first major competition of the year 2007 – Marathon Rally Dakar. But the organizers of the rally are still optimizing its schedule. Two weeks ago the final speed section, which traditionally gathers dangerously great number of audience, for security reasons was shortened from 31 km to 16 km.
Next changes were even more radical – two speed sections between Nema and Timbuktu were refused after the Mali government doubted about the safety of the audience and participants on these sections. As a result the route of tenth day of the competition turned into the loop: Nema – Nema. And the next day race will start only in the afternoon and will take course only through the territory of Mauritania via Nema - Ayoun-el-Atrous.
So the schedule of Rally Dakar 2007 includes 15 speed sections with the total length of almost 8 000 Kilometers.
The technical characteristics of the route for the Paris-Dakar rally are already known. The race will take place from 6 to 21 January 2007.
This year as well as in the previous the rally will start in Lisbon. The participants should overcome 14 stages the length of which is 8 696 km. The length of special stages is 5 010 km.
After two traditional stages in Portugal the drivers will cross Mediterranean Sea on the ship and will be gathered at the starting point in Morocco. Then they will drive through Mauritania, Mali and Senegal.
The longest stage of the race (817 km) will begin on the 11th of January in Mauritania between Tan Tan and Zouerat. On the fourth stage of the race one of the major obstacles - the dunes will appear.
The final classification will be published on the 20th of January after the end of Tambocounda-Dakar stage.
Off-road rally raid is one of many disciplines in auto-racing.
To understand what rally raid is we should begin with some formalities and definitions.
Rally raid is automobile racing on highways or in off-road conditions. Each team which consists of driver and co-driver is supposed to cover the speed section following a predetermined route and with several point of reference in the shortest period of time at maximal speed.
Depending on the duration of a competition and the length of a route all the rally raids can be divided into 3 groups:
BAJA - the length of a route is up to 1200 km and the competition lasts no more than 5 days
Rally raid - a route can be up to 6500 km and its duration may be no more than 10 days
Marathon - the length of the route more than 6500 and the competition may last up to 30 days. Marathon Paris-Moscow-Pekin was included in The Guinness Book of Records. The participants started from Paris on the 1st of September in 1992 and finished after 30 days in Pekin. The length of this route was 17600 km.
In rally raids not only SUVs but also motorcycles and all-wheel drive trucks can take part. They all are divided into classes. Within each class there exists strong competition.
In European countries, such as Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Greece, these races are very popular and attract plenty of participants and spectators. The rally raids originated in France where the most famous rally raid (Dakar Rally) begins each year. In 2002 there was the 25 anniversary of this competition.