DAKAR RALLY WELCOMES RECORD ENTRY !
It is the second year in a row the race has started in Lisbon. A record 525 teams are set to take part in the 2007 Dakar Rally, a 4,918-mile race of endurance over 15 stages which begins in Portugal and ends in Senegal.
Mitsubishi driver Luc Alphand will be attempting to defend his title but is likely to come under pressure from a strong Volkswagen entry.
Safety will be a key concern for organisers after two children and a competitor were killed last year.
The race begins in Lisbon on Saturday and will end in Dakar on 21 January.
Mitsubishi have won eight of the last 10 races with former skiing champion Alphand claiming his maiden victory last January.
"I feel really good. I know we are coming here as the favourites and think it's possible to do it again this year," said the 41-year-old Frenchman.
The Mitsubishi team are also represented by eight-time winner Stephane Peterhansel.
But Volkswagen have invested heavily in their attempts to snap Mitsubishi's domination and are aiming to produce the first diesel-powered winner of the race.
Mitsubishi driver Luc Alphand will be attempting to defend his title but is likely to come under pressure from a strong Volkswagen entry.
Safety will be a key concern for organisers after two children and a competitor were killed last year.
The race begins in Lisbon on Saturday and will end in Dakar on 21 January.
Mitsubishi have won eight of the last 10 races with former skiing champion Alphand claiming his maiden victory last January.
"I feel really good. I know we are coming here as the favourites and think it's possible to do it again this year," said the 41-year-old Frenchman.
The Mitsubishi team are also represented by eight-time winner Stephane Peterhansel.
But Volkswagen have invested heavily in their attempts to snap Mitsubishi's domination and are aiming to produce the first diesel-powered winner of the race.
2007 DAKAR RALLY
187 cars
250 bikes
88 trucks
4,918 miles in 15 stages over 16 days (one rest day)
Its entry includes two former world rally champions in Carlos Sainz and Ari Vatanen, as well as last year's runner-up Giniel de Villiers.
Other competitors in the race include World Touring Cars driver Yvan Muller, who will be behind the wheel of a buggy, and ex-Nascar star Robby Gordon, who will be in a Hummer.
Frenchwoman Carole Montillet-Carles, the 2002 Olympic downhill champion, will be taking part in a Nissan.
In the bikes category, Spaniard Marc Coma is defending his crown.
Since the first race in 1978, 48 people have been killed during the rally and last May race organisers announced new measures to better protect competitors and spectators.
The route of the 29th Dakar Rally has also been modified for security reasons, with the 10th and 11th stages from Mauritania to Mali cancelled after the French foreign ministry warned there was a risk of kidnap.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
posted by jackaranda at 1:25 pm
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