Dakar Rally headed to South America next year

The president of the Dakar Rally organizing body Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), Patrice Clerc, has confirmed that next year’s race will take place in South America and there’s no date set as to when it may return to Africa. The African event was canceled last month because of direct threats targeted towards the ASO from terrorist organizations in the region.

The new race will take place in Argentina and Chile, running a 9,000km route starting and arriving in Buenos Aires in January next year. This year, however, the Dakar Series will be heading to Central Europe and will run between Budapest and Lake Balaton in Hungary, crossing Romania and running several special stages over the 3,000km length of the event.

ASO officials claim they had been preparing to introduce a new "Dakar Series" anyway and is only moving the plan forward a year. The Central Europe Rally, the group says, will be the first in "a series of new events" that will join the Dakar Rally in the racing calendar starting in 2009.