Dakar 2010 will take place in Argentina and Chile again in January this year. The long stay in the Atacama desert will be the high point of a 9,000 kilometres loop through the continent. But the global balance of the course with varied difficulties force all to be consistent and careful to the end. The days are already promised to be long and not only in the road sections. On already very demanding specials, the most skillful competitors will find an opportunity to build on a position from which they will be able to capitalize. The hard soil will be favourable to technical exploits however will have to rapidly switch talents to take on the first little dunes of white sand that the competitors will meet close to Fiambala. Those who have already been in Atacama in the Paso San Francisco in 2009 will go there using the opposite direction this year. The road heading there, known as one of the most beautiful in the world will serve as a break before taking on a detailed exploration of the Atacama Desert. The driest part of the world that the competitors will this time discover all the way to the city of Iquique, is the kingdom of dune crossings. During five stages, cut by a rest day at Antofagasta, the riders and crews will head to the north of Chile where off-road mileage will be considerable. It will be without doubt the toughest part of the rally, with reduced road sections: the stop watch will never stop. A change of landscape will occur every day from then on. While there is only one word to talk about sand, all types of soil will, on the other hand, be experienced on the return trip to Buenos Aires, from dunes to flat portions as well as sandy paths that go up the hills of the Mendoza Province. Added to the terrain the visual contrasts will be stunning for the competitors as they leave the contours of the Andes Cordillera. On this last part, two stages are long and demanding enough to provoke significant gaps. At a time when bodies and machines will be tiring which should have an impact, the final positions will be hard to predict!

For further information please visit www.dakar.com