Dakar 2009 : Dakar

24-02-2009 - THE 2010 DAKAR IN ARGENTINA AND CHILE

Based on the success and the popular infatuation raised by the 2009 Dakar that was
held for the first time in Argentina and Chile, A.S.O. and the two countries have
decided together to renew the organisation of the rally in 2010 in South America for
the 32nd edition.
The information concerning the event will be communicated on the occasion of two
press conferences, the first one on the 2nd of March in Buenos Aires and the second
on the 3rd of March in Santiago de Chile.
Argentina, the 2nd of March 2009 at10:30 AM (local time)
Residencia de la Presidenta, Quinta de Olivos - Buenos Aires
Chile, the 3rd of March 2009
To be confirmed

18-02-2009 - Dakar.com: 2.9 million absolute unique visitors for the 2009 edition.

An increasing umber of motor racing enthusiasts followed the 2009 Dakar on Dakar.com, where, in real time, they could keep up to speed with the major moments of the rally, listen to interviews of the stage winners or follow the progress of their favourite competitor thanks to the Irittrack system. In total, 2.9 million absolute unique visitors were tallied (60% more compared to 2007). The number of viewed pages was up 15%. The on-line videos were a big hit with visitors with nearly 2.4 million clips viewed during the rally, and 1.25 million viewed pages of the event presentation published in December. 

Additionally, the enormous popularity of the rally among Argentineans and Chileans, which resulted in huge public turnouts along the route, was confirmed in an analysis of internet visits. Argentina topped the list of nations with 20% of the visits to the official website, ahead of France (13%), Holland (10 %), Spain (7%) and Chile (6%).

11-02-2009 - Final leg: the vehicles return to Le Havre

For the majority of the European competitors, the Dakar began at the end of November with the verifications in the French town of Le Havre. The vehicles then set off for the long trans-Atlantic crossing to Buenos Aires. Nearly three months later, the Normandy port city will welcome the return of the Grande Francia, which transported the same vehicles for the return trip. After their arrival, scheduled for the early hours of Thursday morning, the Dakar teams have foreseen two full days for the complete unloading of the vessel. The competitors can then come and retrieve their vehicles from Monday February 16th (Wednesday February 25th for bikes). 

Dates & hours for retrieving vehicles
Monday February 16: 9h00 - 18h00
Tuesday February 17: 9h00 - 18h00
Wednesday February 18: 9h00 - 18h00
For all information, contact the competitor department: concurrents@dakar.com

10-02-2009 - Actions Dakar: a charity evening February 12

While the Dakar has, in fact, distanced itself from its Continent of origin, to set off in the discovery of South America; the organisers like a majority of the competitors still have a great amount of affection for Africa. The projects that have been in place since 2002 within the framework of Actions Dakar still have the support of the A.S.O, and several competitors continue to finance development operations focused on respect for the environment. In association with the Schroders Company, Philippe Lecomte will organise an evening to raise funds for the Actions Dakar programme, February 12 at the Pavillon Elysée Lenôtre (10, av des Champs-Elysées). 
 
Based on the same principle for previous charity events held in 2006 and 2007, the participation of the guests (minimum €50) and all the proceeds of a wine auction of ‘Grand Crus’, will be donated to SOS Sahel, for the funding of Actions Dakar.