Dakar Rally News

Chile The Dakar Rally A The Dakar Rally pits over 400 drivers against each other in a gruelling long-distance race.

With the African sun shining through a cloudless sky, Sir Mark Thatcher was on his best behaviour.

IN EXALTED COMPANY: South African Giniel de Villiers reached the final of the Race of Champions Beijing Challenge, where he lost to five-times Le Mans 24 Hour winner Emanuele Pirro.

A1GP racer and ex-Williams F1 test driver, Dong Hebin, has been crowned the inaugural ROC China champion on Monday, after defeating crowd favorite Han Han in the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest in Beijing.

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TOKYO: Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone Corp said Monday it would quit Formula One next year, dealing a further blow to the sport after the recent withdrawal of other high-profile firms due to the global downturn.

The October 29-31 event, to be held under the patronage of HRH Prince Feisal, chairman of the Motor Sport Executive Council, will be watched by officials representing auto sports in Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Syria.

THE SAHARA DESERT IS A BIG PLACE: Albert Hintenaus on the 2009 Pharaohs International Cross-Country rally.

A FORMER Oxford youth worker is set to tackle the world-famous Dakar Rally. Tamsin Jones will be the youngest British woman in the notoriously tough 14-day event.

Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah could mathematically clinch his sixth regional rally title in seven years this weekend in Jordan Dead Sea, Jordan: The Middle East's leading rally stars began their final preparations for the 2009 Jordan Rally, the penultimate round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship yesterday morning.

Giniel de Villiers, four-times South African Touring Car champion and winner of the 2009 Dakar Rally in South America in a VW Touareg, will compete in the annual Race of Champions over November 2-4 - this year at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing.

Call it the ultimate male-bonding road trip -- three high school buddies doing a 9,000-km Cannonball Run in the African desert.

Factbox on Jean Todt, Max Mosley's favoured candidate to replace him as president of the FIA, the governing body of motor sport.

I make no apology for this article being close to my heart, and personal to me. I thought long and hard about writing about this topic - before realising that life is nothing if people don't stick their neck out for something they believe in.

The government has earmarked six million dollars to the organization of the Dakar rally 2010 following publication in the Official Gazette, highlighting the "success and global impact" of the rally in 2009 and its importance to foster tourism in the country.

Ari Vatanen believes his election as FIA president would be a "mini-revolution" comparable to Jenson Button's surprising Formula One championship win.

I love this piece. First of all, the fact that Senegal's president is meeting with Iran's president to discuss Palestine highlights the absurdity of France and Germany meeting to discuss Palestine.

France told its nationals on Friday to leave Guinea as observers said tension was mounting with west African heads of state mulling sanctions against the junta after a bloody crackdown on the opposition.

Todt and Schumacher have been close for many years after their success together at Ferrari Michael Schumacher has backed Jean Todt in the forthcoming election to be president of the International Motorsport Federation .

The 2009 edition of the " Rallye du Maroc Shamrock " is starting next week as final race in the FIM 2009 schedule.