The Amaury Sports Organisation organized a rally every year that is known as ‘The Dakar Rally’. Most events since the beginning in 1978 were from Paris, France, to Dakar and Senegal. Since 2009, the rally races have been held in South America. In this race, amateur and professional both can take part. Taking both amateur and professional in a hand, amateur only contributes eighty percent of the contestants.
It is the largest rally of the year organized all across the world. It is the most challenging rally in the world. two teams from India are also taking part in the event. Indian Rally Teams will also be seen battling with other competitors as well as the host amongst them. This is going to be the 41st season of the Dakar Rally. The 2019 Dakar Rally will be hosted in Peru, South America. This time the rally is going to be hosted in one country only.
The participants or the contestants will be covering 5000 km in 10 days from 6 January to 17 January 2019. The race would not be as easy as you may think. The contestant will race through some of the most false regions, weather circumstances, and directional tasks.
Two teams representing India in Dakar Rally 2019 are Sherco TVS Factory Team and the Hero MotoSport Rally, Team. CS Santosh is volunteering from Hero MotoSport Rally Team while on the other hand, Aravind KP is volunteering from Sherco TVS Factory Team. This is going to be the third time for Aravind to take part in Dakar. Due to Injury and health issues, Aravind had to withdraw his name from the previous editions. Meanwhile, Santosh is prepared for his fifth-time participation for the rally. Santosh holds the merit to become the only Indian to have completed the exhausting rally.
Two riders those are Joaquim Rodrigues and Oriol Mena will join CS Santosh a Hero in the Dakar. Rodrigues had been great in past. He is a Dakar old-timer. He did a comeback after sustaining a major injury putting him off gear for six months. Oriol Mena is having the second tour in the Dakar Rally. Last year, Oriol Mena secured seventh place in the Dakar rally and was also awarded with ‘Rookie of the Year’ Award.
On the other hand, from the Sherco TVS Factory Team, Adrien Merge and Michael Metge, as well as Lorenzo Santolino, will be joining Aravind KP. This Dakar Rally is going to be the first Dakar rally of Michael Metge and Lorenzo Santolino with TVS Factory Team.
This edition of the Dakar Rally will be having a total of 3000 km of racing. The race is divided into 10 special stages. Almost 70 percent of the land will be completely covered with sand. The rally will begin in Lima, the capital of Peru on 6 January 2019. The next destinations will be Pisco, San Juan de Marcona, Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna and then back to Lima. This year almost 135 women racers are taking part in the Rally race. This year accounts the highest participation of women in the history of the rally. Total 534 numbers of racers will be participating in the Dakar including women. The competitors will be racing through cars, motorcycles, ATVs, buggies, and trucks.
Viewers can watch the Dakar Rally 2019 live and highlights on NBC Sports (U.S.) and can watch the live stream on NBC Sports App (U.S.) and Red Bull TV (Worldwide).
