Canceled off road race in North Africa moves to Argentina and Chile.
Fears of terrorism canceled this years Paris to Dakar Ralley in France and North Africa, however, the event has now been moved to Chile and Argentina for 2009. The South American nations will host the 2009 Dakar Rally between January 3-18 with Buenos Aires as the start and endpoint, organisers said this past Monday.
This years event was cancelled for the first time since it began in 1979 due to security concerns after four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania on December 24. The 2009 rally will feature 6,000km of special stages over a 9,000km-long course, details of which are set to be unveiled soon in Buenos Aires.
Given the huge dunes, the Andes, forests, lakes, pampas, and altitude, the race is going to be quite a bit different. The terrain is far more varied and dramatic than North Africa. Currently similar rallys, such as the Atacama Rally and Las Pampas Rally, are held in the countries.
