Central European Rally of "Dakar Series"
By TMX Archives on 6th Feb 08
KTM factory riders and other privateers onboard KTM machines who were "Ready to Race" in the ill-fated Dakar 2008 have now had the edge taken off their disappointment with the announcement of the first of the new "Dakar": the Central Europe Rally.
Riders now have the opportunity to regain some valuable competition time ontheir machines in this new event run by the Dakar organizers, the Amaury SportOrganisation (ASO). Set for April 20-24, 2008 the rally will offer free entry toany rider registered for the Dakar 2008 and will challenge them over some ofcentral Europe's most varied and demanding terrain. Competitors will tackle over3000 km of varied terrain with nearly half the total distance to be run inspecial stages.
Brand new rally challenge for KTM riders and machines
KTM welcomes this initiative and the prospect of other rallies under thelabel "Dakar Series". The company is pleased that ASO has pushed forward theirplans to start this new series, which was already in the pipeline before thecancellation of the 2008 Dakar. ASO had originally planned to launch the "DakarSeries" in 2009. Now the Central European Rally 2008 becomes its inaugural eventand KTM sees it as another positive milestone in the development of rally sport.
Manufacturers and organisers meet to plan replacement events
"The main manufacturers who compete in the Dakar have had meetings in Germanyand in Paris together with the organisers. All riders who were registered forthe Dakar 2008 will be allowed to enter the Central European Rally free ofcharge so this is some compensation for missing the big race," said KTM'sOffroad Motor Sports Consultant Heinz Kinigadner. At the same time Kinigadnersaid efforts were being made to obtain a high standard of media coverage so thatthe Central European Rally would also be rewarding to the sponsors.
Cancelation of Dakar the right decision, Kinigadner underlines
The former world champion also underlined that it had been the right decisionto cancel the Dakar in January because of terrorist threats. "It was 100% theright decision. After all, we have 2500 people involved in that race."
Kinigadner said various options were under consideration for a replacementvenue for Dakar 2009 and although there was no official announcement yet, theone most likely would be South America. "In that case, the rally would start inArgentina and finish in Chile," he said. "It is important to retain the Januarydate on the racing calendar and this would be one of our few options for anothervenue for the Dakar."
Future Qualifier
In another interesting development Kinigadner reported that a second race inthe Dakar Series was under consideration for Spain and Portugal in September. Inthe future, he said, the series is likely to be used as a qualifier for the mainDakar event in January.
The Central European Rally starts in the Hungarian capital Budapest, forgesinto the centre of neighbouring Romania and then returns to finish at thebeautiful landscape of Hungary's Lake Balaton.