The Dakar Series label concerns rally-raid events where the best riders and drivers in the world come together to share in highly intense competition with amateurs. Whilst the Dakar Series bears the renowned organisational standards of A.S.O., the concept can cover a varied range of races.
After the first year of the Dakar Series in 2008 with the Central Europe Rally and the Pax Rally, the formula continued in 2009 with the first edition of the Silk Way Rally that snaked through Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Convinced, like A.S.O., of the Silk Way Rally's potential, the Russian authorities have decided to make a lasting commitment to developing the event. In choosing Sochi as host to the finishing line, the organisers will be associating the rally with the Winter Olympics of 2014, which is the major sporting project for the Russian government in the coming years. This show of trust will help to the race to anchor its place in the discipline and in the international calendar.
A.S.O., contacted by several States wishing to organise events under the Dakar Series umbrella, is giving serious consideration to these various development opportunities.
The third edition of the « Dakar Series » cornerstone event, the Silk Way Rally, will be run from July 9-16, 2011. The route will begin in the Russian capital city of Moscow and conclude at the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sotchi.
Taking inspiration from the Dakar, rally raid attracts competitors looking to discover wide open spaces a s well as take on physical and technical challenges. The Dakar Series was created to offer different formats, in regions less travelled while remaining true to the principles of the sport. Since 2008, rally raid competitors and teams have also tested their adaptation skills on the Central European Rally (Hungary and Romania) and the Pax Rally (Portugal). Then another challenge was added to the racing calendar for preparing for the Dakar: the Silk Way Rally. The competitors found the same organisational standards they have become accustomed to on the Dakar and benefited from comparable media coverage, thanks to the participation of the best drivers in the world.
Following the first edition in 2009, which traversed Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, then a second in 2010 between St. Petersburg and Sotchi, the 2011 Silk Way Rally will once again be contested in Russia, between Moscow and Sotchi from July 9-16. Last September, 48 cars and 16 trucks battled in what is regarded as the most interesting event, second to the Dakar itself. The calendar change slots the Silk Way into a more favourable period of the year for the planning of such a major event, in a context of world-class competition.
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