In January, Diesel Power editor David Kennedy had the chance of a lifetime to travel to Europe with Volkswagen Motorsport to race in the Dakar Rally. Volkswagen was out to prove that its diesel engine technology was capable of winning the event overall, and Diesel Power wanted to be there to document the action.
As some of you have undoubtedly heard, this year's Dakar Rally was canceled a day before the scheduled start due to terrorist threats made against the race. The cancellation was an epic tragedy, and may spell the end of rally racing in Africa. Currently, the organizers of the Dakar race have no plans to return to Africa. The rumor is the Dakar may become a series of rallies that are held around the world. Only time will tell.
365 DAYS BEFORE THE RACE
Preparing for the Dakar takes a team like Volkswagen a full year. It took Editor Kennedy nearly two months to get his passport, visas, and vaccinations in order before his New Year's Day departure. While our plan was to bring you a full race report on the Dakar-we'll have to wait until they run it again next year. In the meantime, we'll show you some of the awesome diesel trucks we found leading up to the race. What is The Dakar?
Volkswagen set Diesel Power up with one of its service car Touaregs that was prepped for chasing the Race Touaregs during the Dakar Rally.
The Dakar Rally, formerly known as the Paris to Dakar, is a 16-day off-road endurance race that was to celebrate its 30th running this year. The Amaury Sport Association (A.S.O.), which organizes the event, laid out a course that stretched 5,700 miles from Lisbon, Portugal across the Mediterranean Sea, through Africa, and on to Dakar, Senegal.