Comments:
They still have Dakar in the name. I'm seriously annoyed by that for years and years now. It should be called Peru 2019. Because this rally has got nothing to do with Paris - Dakar anymore since 2008 when they finished in Dakar for the last time. So to be honest I haven't followed it anymore since they shipped the whole enterprise to South America. It just doesn't feel right. If that is fair? Probably not. But to me the heydays are gone. Each year the son of our Dutch Legend Jan de Rooy still competes. He won the rally twice, but the Russian Kamaz RedBull team is simply almost unbeatable.
I know I will sound like a nostalgic man now, but can you remember the legendary old days? Who can't recall that 1988 DAF truck overtaking a baffled Ari Vatanen?! Man it was a sight never to be seen again.
Dakar 2019
They still have Dakar in the name. I'm seriously annoyed by that for years and years now. It should be called Peru 2019. Because this rally has got nothing to do with Paris - Dakar anymore since 2008 when they finished in Dakar for the last time. So to be honest I haven't followed it anymore since they shipped the whole enterprise to South America. It just doesn't feel right. If that is fair? Probably not. But to me the heydays are gone. Each year the son of our Dutch Legend Jan de Rooy still competes. He won the rally twice, but the Russian Kamaz RedBull team is simply almost unbeatable.
Paris - Dakar 1979 - 2008
After the easy win in 1987 DAF and Jan de Rooy, aka The Bear, wanted to race with the cars. That resulted in a monster truck. The 1988 DAF truck (with aluminium space frame!) had 2 diesel engines with 3 turbo's. One turbo pre-compressing the air before directing it to the other two turbo's. Resulting in a truck with1.200 HP (!!). 0 - 100 km/h in 7,8 seconds and a top speed of 220 km/h. In the dessert sand!! Sadly it also resulted in drama. The second truck of the team crashed and one of the team members (Kees van Loevezijn) didn't survive the crash being catapulted out of the truck during the crash. At that point DAF redrew out of Paris - Dakar. And that wa the end of that.
Stuff of legends
Well, "Dakar" is a - valuable - brand
So it was clear the organizers would not drop that asset.
The African routes grew increasingly dangerous: mines, ambushes, together with logistic difficulties made a complete relocation a logical consequence.
Finally, Volkswagen as new main sponsor had no interest in an event in Africa where sales of new cars do not play a major role. South America, in the contrary, is a market with large potential for Volkswagen's production facilities in S. America.
Marcus
The African routes grew increasingly dangerous: mines, ambushes, together with logistic difficulties made a complete relocation a logical consequence.
Finally, Volkswagen as new main sponsor had no interest in an event in Africa where sales of new cars do not play a major role. South America, in the contrary, is a market with large potential for Volkswagen's production facilities in S. America.
Marcus
I know and understand
But still....when I drove around in Berlin I’m not saying I was in a Paris tour right?
I fully second your opinion, but I understand the economic reason behind the decision to keep the name "Dakar"
... including the logo, which, too, has nothing to do with its current location:
What hurts me more that Porsche's rallye acitivities became a victim of the Volkwagen "takeover" of the Dakar: The great Transsiberia had to be cancelled.
Marcus
One of the coldest and most miserable nights
I can remember was one New Year's Eve in Paris we decided to watch the Paris-Dakar race taking off.
The surly crowd with umbrellas
I still have the t-shirt somewhere...
Cazalea
(sorry for the poor photos; this was about 20 years ago)
There was rain, and a little snow. Everyone was prepared for it, except we tourists from California.
Motorcycles went off first
Just like the Tour de France, from a little platform. You can see it was a lovely evening, around midnight
The hyped-up riders
There was rain, and a little snow. Everyone was prepared for it, except we tourists from California.
Motorcycles went off first
Just like the Tour de France, from a little platform. You can see it was a lovely evening, around midnight
The hyped-up riders
The surly crowd with umbrellas
I still have the t-shirt somewhere...
Cazalea