The 2013 Dakar Rally will start from Peru for the first time in its history, organizers announced on Wednesday. The 35th edition of the event will stay in South America for the fifth consecutive year, starting on Jan. 5 and finishing on Jan. 20.
For the first time in its history, the Dakar will take to the desert from the first days of the rally.Competitors will start the event in Peru's capital Lima, will cross Argentina and will finish in Santiago de Chile for the first time.
"Bolstered with the same confidence, but also the same humility, we have started to plan for the Dakar in 2013, with inspiration as our guide and the Pacific as the horizon," said Dakar director Etienne Lavigne. "After four editions organized in South America, the race is smoothly adapting and blossoming in the format offered by the continent.
"A new way of tackling its geography has been imagined. The three biggest Spanish-speaking countries in the world will be visited in a fresh order. Peru, Argentina and Chile, explored on a north to south journey, will offer the Dakar a different angle of attack on the Pacific Coast, the Atacama's dunes and the Andes Mountains.
"Far from a ride along the coast between Lima and Santiago, the sequence of difficulties that we are planning promises to provide a scorching racing scenario, with exceptional as the watchword."