2008 Dakar Rally

The 2008 Dakar Rally would have been the 30th running of the annual off-road race. The rally was to start in Lisbon, Portugal on 5 January 2008, running through Europe and Africa until the finish in Dakar, Senegal on 20 January. The event was cancelled one day before the intended start date, due to concerns over a possible terrorist attack aimed at the competitors.^[1]

Postponement and Relocation

The rally was cancelled on 4 January 2008, due to safety concerns in Mauritania, following the killing of four French tourists there on Christmas Eve, December 2007. France-based Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), in charge of the 6,000 km (3,730 mi) rally, said in a statement they had been advised by the French government to cancel the race. They said direct threats had also been made against the event by "terrorist organizations".^[1] Before the start of the race, rally director Étienne Lavigne had approved the Mauritanian legs only after two stages planned for Mali were scrapped. An Al-Qaeda affiliate organization was blamed for the cancellation.^[1]^[2]^[3]

On 4 February 2008, the ASO organised the Central Europe Rally, with a Hungary to Romania route, to occupy the gap left by the cancellation of the event, as part of the new Dakar Series. The event only lasted one year. The Dakar Rally was relocated to South America from 2009 until 2019, and in 2020 the event moved to Saudi Arabia.

Entrants

As of December 2007, entrants included 245 motorbikes, 20 quads, 205 cars, and 100 trucks. A total of 570 teams from various 50 countries were entered, up from 510 in 2007.^[4]

All entries were deferred to the Central Europe Rally. 110 motorbikes, 19 quads, 91 cars, and 40 trucks started the Central Europe Rally.

Route

The race would have begun in Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and Senegal. The total race distance would have been 9,273 km (5,762 mi), of which 5,732 km (3,562 mi) was timed special stage.^[5] There would have been a rest day in Nouakchott on 13 January.^[6]

Planned stages

Stage	Date	From	To	Connection		Special		Connection		Total
Stage	Date	From	To	km	mi	km	mi	km	mi	km	mi
1	5 January	Lisbon	Portimão	104 kilometres	65 mi	120 kilometres	75 mi	262 kilometres	163 mi	486 kilometres	302 mi
2	6 January	Portimão	Málaga	15 kilometres	9 mi	60 kilometres	37 mi	460 kilometres	286 mi	535 kilometres	332 mi
3	7 January	Nador	Er Rachidia	182 kilometres	113 mi	372 kilometres	231 mi	16 kilometres	10 mi	717 kilometres	446 mi
4	8 January	Er Rachidia	Ouarzazate	29 kilometres	18 mi	356 kilometres	221 mi	199 kilometres	124 mi	584 kilometres	363 mi
5	9 January	Ouarzazate	Guelmim	188 kilometres	117 mi	498 kilometres	309 mi	148 kilometres	92 mi	834 kilometres	518 mi
6	10 January	Guelmim	Smara†	66 kilometres	41 mi	454 kilometres	282 mi	105 kilometres	65 mi	625 kilometres	388 mi
7	11 January	Smara†	Atar	198 kilometres	123 mi	619 kilometres	385 mi	12 kilometres	7 mi	829 kilometres	515 mi
8	12 January	Atar	Nouakchott	44 kilometres	27 mi	450 kilometres	280 mi	37 kilometres	23 mi	531 kilometres	330 mi
	13 January	Nouakchott		colspan="8"
9	14 January	Nouakchott	Nouadhibou	37 kilometres	23 mi	525 kilometres	326 mi	86 kilometres	53 mi	648 kilometres	403 mi
10	15 January	Nouadhibou	Atar	111 kilometres	69 mi	552 kilometres	343 mi	22 kilometres	14 mi	685 kilometres	426 mi
11	16 January	Atar	Tidjikja	35 kilometres	22 mi	524 kilometres	326 mi	133 kilometres	83 mi	692 kilometres	430 mi
12	17 January	Tidjikja	Kiffa	131 kilometres	81 mi	398 kilometres	247 mi	2 kilometres	1 mi	531 kilometres	330 mi
13	18 January	Kiffa	Kiffa	25 kilometres	16 mi	484 kilometres	301 mi	6 kilometres	4 mi	515 kilometres	320 mi
14	19 January	Kiffa	Saint-Louis	326 kilometres	203 mi	301 kilometres	187 mi	130 kilometres	81 mi	757 kilometres	470 mi
15	20 January	Saint-Louis	Dakar	239 kilometres	149 mi	23 kilometres	14 mi	42 kilometres	26 mi	304 kilometres	189 mi
				km	mi	km	mi	km	mi	km	mi

†Smara is located in the Moroccan-administered portion of the Western Sahara

References

^ Keaton, Jamie (2008-01-05). "Terror threat cancels famed Dakar Rally". Toronto Star. Archived 8 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
^ "News Africa – Reuters.com". Reuters. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2008.
^ Future of Dakar Rally now in doubt Archived December 23, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "List of entrants". Dakar organizers. Archived from the original on 16 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
^ "The Route". Dakar Rally. Amaury Sport Organisation. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
^ "Map showing 2008 planned route". Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-05.