The 2013 Dakar Rally will again be held in South America with event organizers announcing a new route for the 34th running of the off-road race. Now in its fifth year in Latin America, the 2013 edition of the Rally will feature a new route running from north to south, starting Jan. 5 in Lima, Peru, and ending Jan. 20 in Santiago, Chile.

The new route puts the desert portion of the course in the first few days of the Dakar Rally, the first time the event has ever started in a desert. The course follows the Pacific coast before turning inland, briefly traversing Chile before crossing the Andes into Argentina which offers a mix of terrain towards San Miguel de Tucumán for the midpoint of the Rally.

After a day of rest in San Miguel de Tucumán, the Dakar Rally continues south towards Córdoba before turning northwest and through the Andes again back to Chile before again following the Pacific coast southward towards the finish in Santiago. The entire course spans about 5000 miles of challenging terrain for the 459 entries registered for this year’s race. Continue Reading »