The Dakar Rally, also known as The Dakar (and formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally), has achieved legendary status, not just in the world of motor sport but across sport as a whole. This embodiment of endurance is covered and broadcast extensively around the world (in 190 countries!), and followed enthusiastically by armies of motor-heads.

Action from the 2013 Dakar Rally (car category)

The rally was the brainchild of Thierry Sabine. The Frenchman, taking part on a motorbike in the 1977 Abidjan-Nice Rally, found himself hopelessly lost in the sands of the Libyan (Tenere) Desert. He just about managed to return but was left entranced by the beauty of the desert landscape. Sabine then dreamed of a race that would start in Europe and pass through Algiers (Algeria) and Agadez (Niger), before finishing up in Dakar, Senegal. The dream became reality in 1979, and over the years Monsieur Sabine’s vision of adventure has lived up to its promise, and remained true to its motto – “A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind.”