A record 570 teams from 50 countries will take on the 2008 Dakar Rally over a tortuous desert-dominated course.
The centre-piece of the endurance race is a lengthy trek through the Sahara in Mauritania, with the competitors clocking up over 9,000km.
Organisers have reduced the liaison sections at either end of the stages, meaning more of the rally is timed, while the race sidesteps Mali entirely because of safety concerns.
Race director Etienne Lavigne said: "It is simply too complicated to organize a Dakar through such regions."
The race gets under way in Lisbon - for the second year in a row - on January 5, arriving in the Senegalese capital Dakar 15 days later.
Sahara challenge for Dakar field - Yahoo! Eurosport UK
11-22-2007, 06:52 PM
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