Dakar 2013, new challenges

The start for Dakar 2013 begins from Lima to Santiago, between 5 and 20th January this year. This year a new challenge for the great title is anounced: the arrival of Honda as official constructor with motorbike to compete with KTM, Carlos's Sainz return as team mate of Nasser Al Attiyah in the hope of competing with the advanced trio of Mini led by Stephane Peterhansel... Everything is opened!  

Change of axle and change of landmarks. By leaving for the first time Lima on January 5th of this year in edge of Pacific, Dakar will borrow for its 35th edition a north-south trajectory which has guided it for a long time on other shores, but that remains unpublished since the arrival of test in South America in 2009. This new departure is accompanied by a returned sports innovation made possible by the geography of Peru: the pilots and crews will meet dunes from the first days of running. The first sequence of desert will continue in Chile, then after the crossing of the Andes Cordillera, the resistance of the rivals will be tested on Argentinian stages. San Miguel de Tucuman will rest after a week of running and will start the longest stage of the rally, just before a sandy triptych in the dunes of Fiambala and from Copiapo. 

The trophies to be raised on the catwalk of arrival are installed in front of the Palace of Moneda concern only a minority among the459 pilots waited at first, representing a record number from 53 different nations. But the list of the candidates has indeed enlarged in all categories since last January. In motorbike, the supremacy of the duet of Cyril Despres and Mark Coma to KTM could be overpassed by the Honda team, which drafted Helder Rodrigues, the third during two last editions. Ambition is also very high on the side of to Husqvarna, with the Spanish Joan Barreda and Jordi Viladoms, linked to Paulo Gonçalves. And Yamaha, who attracted Frans Verhoeven besides Olivier Bread and of David Casteu, is also delighted with the return of his historical captain, David Frétigné.

It is however for the autos to establish a delicate pronostoc. If the team X - Raid, that reached success with the Mini of Stephane Peterhansel last year, always lines a powerhouse up with Nani Roma and Krzysztof Holowczyc, changes can occur. No one knows if a distance of performance remains for example with the promising Toyota of Giniel De Villiers and of Lucio Alvarez, respectively the third and fifth in 2012.

Mystery is even more opaque on the potential of the buggy conceived in the United States by and for Nasser Al Attiyah, who banks on upon a double element of surprise by inviting Carlos Sainz, his enemy brother from the epoch Volkswagen, to join it in his team. On the side of revenants, Guerlain Chicherit sets up in a BUGGY SMG and counts also to mingle with battle.

The honour places will be disputed also with the participation of Guilherme Spinelli (Mitsubishi), Christian Lavieille (Unsolders) or Matthias Kahle (Proto Mercedes).En lorry, the Iveco from the Team De Rooy inflicted in Kamaz first back since 2007, and well intend to capitalise on their success, with the titleholder Gerard De Rooy, his cousin grunts Stacey or even the Italian Miki Biasion. Ales Loprais could play the referees if he puts an end to a long series of abandonment in the steering wheel of his Tatra, capable in discontinuous manner of outstripping Eduard Nikolaev and his Russian team members. In quad running, the Patronelli family doesn't have more than a card, that of Marcos, to struggle against 38 other hired pilots. The second record already beaten by Dakar 2013!