It's Official! Dakar Rally 2009's in South America!

[HeilSvenska]

It goes on! And with a new continent, everything's turned upside down! I hope all the teams can come back...

South America to host Dakar Rally Argentina and Chile will host the 2009 Dakar Rally after this year's race was cancelled because of safety concerns. The 2008 rally was called off in January after four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania on 24 December. The event's organisers, the Amaury Sport Organisation, said there had been "direct threats against the race issued by terrorist groups". Next year's Dakar Rally, which has been going since 1979, will start and finish in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. It was necessary to take a break in Africa... the fact the resumption is on a new continent is good news Mitsubishi Motorsport chief Dominique Serieys It will feature 6,000km of special stages over a 9,000km-long course, details of which are set to be unveiled in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. "Signing-up priority will be given to the Dakar 2008 competitors," said Etienne Lavigne, director of the Dakar Rally. Competitors will be able to sign up for the race from 15 May. Dominique Serieys, head of Mitsubishi Motorsport, the sporting subsidiary of the Japanese manufacturer unbeaten on the Dakar since 2001, said the announcement that the 2009 edition would go ahead in South America was timely. "It's good news, one month after the cancellation of the 2008 rally," said Serieys. "Mitsuibishi will announce its decision at the end of February or beginning of March. In principle we're very interested. "It was necessary to take a break in Africa given the geopolitical context there. The fact the resumption is on a new continent is good news. "We've already taken part in the Atacama Rally and the Las Pampas Rally. Chile and Argentina are countries where there are great varieties of terrain. "Bearing in mind we don't know the exact details of Dakar 2009, I would think it will make for a very difficult course. But that's great, we want a testing course."

In a related news,

France promises Mauritania reimbursement for cancellation of Dakar Rally NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania -- France intends to reimburse Mauritania for financial losses from last month's cancellation of the Dakar Rally, which was called off because of the possibility of terrorism. France Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner made the promise Friday, adding his country would increase its cooperation with Mauritania on security. "It's true that we have damaged the image of Mauritania as well as its tourism economy, but we will ask businessmen and French investors to return to Mauritania," Kouchner said. The French organizers of the 5,760-mile race canceled the 30-year-old rally after back-to-back terror attacks in Mauritania, including the slaying of four French tourists. Although the race crosses several African countries, the cancellation was especially harmful to Mauritania whose remote, dune-enveloped hamlets rely on the influx of tourists that come with the cars and motorcycles. French tour groups immediately began canceling trips to Mauritania after the Christmas Eve killing of the tourists, an act the government blamed on an al-Qaida linked terror network. Mauritania is a relatively stable Islamic country and one of the only Arab League states that recognizes Israel. In the past month the country has faced an attack on one of its army bases as well as on the Israeli Embassy in Nouakchott. The attacks on the base and on the embassy were claimed by Al-Qaida in North Africa, an Algerian-based terror cell. No group has claimed responsibility for the killing of the French tourists, but Mauritanian authorities have blamed the same terror cell.

[79TA]

Ooooh, maybe I'll see some Dakar hardware pass through my local Mitsubishi HQ on its way to S.A.? Ehh, it's not that likely, but I'll keep hoping.