This year Dakar will have a substantial change in the route. In 2012, the Dakar will be including Peru in the route instead of just Argentina and Chile. This new route will be more than 9,000 kilometres in length with the new ending point will be in Lima, Peru. In total the 2012 Dakar rally will include 14 days of racing divided among the three countries. Argentina and Chile will both have 5 stages, while Peru will have 4 stages.
The 2012 Dakar rally route is shown on the following map:
2012 Dakar Rally Route
The entry period opened on May 16 for the 2012 Dakar rally. This year all of the motorcycle entries will be limited to 450cc to complete the transition to smaller engines that began last year. I’m not sure if Volkswagen will be back in a big way to Dakar in 2012, as they have recently announced a new World Rally Championship program.
The Dakar rally is a tough event and is always nice to follow for those of us who are usually stuck in snow at that time of year.
