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Eight South African Participants in 2008 Dakar

Dakar – After 510 vehicles registered for the 2007 event, 2008 is going to set a new benchmark, with 570 teams taking on an even longer route. In addition, the Dakar’s international character is being extended to 50 nationalities, including amongst others an Indian, a Namibian, a Guatemalan, a Kenyan, some Kazakhs, and some Chinese.

What’s more, once again this year a large number of competitors will be attempting the adventure for the first time. 40% of the bike field will be rookies and 18% of the car entries. There is also a trend towards younger competitors - almost half the competitors are aged under 40.

There are eight South Africans in this 30th running of the desert endurance race. Giniel de Villiers will be driving a works Volkswagen navigated by Dirk von Zitzewitz (Germany). Ralph Pitchford will navigate for American Mark Miller in another Volkswagen, while Mark Corbett and Francoise Jordaan will be the only all-South African car team in their Nissan truck.

Three SA motorcyclists have entered - Tom Classen, Albert Hinenaus and Robert Straek - all on KTMs. South African never-say-die iron man Cornel de Villiers will once again tackle the marathon route of nearly 10,000km on a CanAm quad bike.

The 500+ vehicles will leave Lisbon on 5 January and head to Senegal’s capital where the finish line will be crossed on Sunday 20 January. Competitors will cover a total of 9273km, of which 5736km will be competitive mileage on special stages.

2007/12/23 | 17:29 CET | Editor: MR/HS/Total ZA