A total of 472 vehicles will compete in the 2013 Dakar Rally next week; the rugged road race being hosted for the fifth consecutive year in South America.
The rally will inaugurate in Peru’s capital Lima on January 5, and after crossing through Argentina, will end in Chile’s capital Santiago on the 20th of the same month.
After leaving Lima, the competitors race through the southern Peruvian regions of Ica, Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna. They then cross into Chile on the sixth day, and on the eighth day enter the Argentinean province of San Miguel de Tucuman. On Day 17, they return to Chile, where they cross the finish line on the 20th of January.
196 motorcycles, 40 four-wheel-drive vehicles, 161 cars and 75 trucks from 50 different countries will be taking part in the rally raid, racing across 5,711 km in 14 stages over 21 days, including one rest day.
2011 Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah will be tackling this year’s edition of the rally alongside Carlos Sainz for the Qatar Red Bull Rally Team.
The Dakar Rally was originally held between Paris (France) and Dakar (Senegal), but political turbulence in Africa led organizers to relocate the race to South America, where it has taken place since 2009.