2008 Dakar Rally changed to Central Europe Rally

After much disappointment from the participants and fans of this years Dakar Rally cancellation, Amaury Sport Organization, which runs the Dakar Rally, has found an alternate event which will be held in Central Europe.

The Central Europe Rally is scheduled to run from the 20th to the 26th of April 2008.

It will be staged in Romania and Hungary which is a complete new terrain for the participants and fans. It will be an interesting change of scenery from the sandy dunes of Sahara that we are accustomed to seeing.

Press Release

Amaury Sport Organisation announces the creation of the Central Europe Rally. This new rally organised under the « Dakar Series » certification will take place from April 20th to the 26th in Hungary and Romania. Scrutineering and administrative checks will take place on 19th of April in Budapest.

The Central Europe Rally, between Budapest and Lake Balaton in Hungary, crossing Romania, will consist of an extremely varied and technical route. Nearly half of the total distance, 3000kms, will be run in special stages. The opening of entries is planned on 11th of February. A.S.O has already received the support of all the major teams. BMW, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Schlesser and KTM have already shown a great interest for this new event, image of the development that A.S.O. wishes to bring to the sport.

The Central Europe Rally will be the first event to be run under the "Dakar Series" certification. This certification will be given to other races that offer the same high organisation and safety standards, strong participation and media attention as the legendary Dakar. With the Central Europe Rally (*), the aim of A.S.O. is to enable the competitors of the Dakar, which was cancelled on 2008, to enter a new rally with some extremely advantageous conditions and offer their sponsors exposure in a major international event.

The "Dakar Series", which was planned to start in 2009, is a project that A.S.O. has been working on for a long time. It will begin one year ahead of schedule. This first Central Europe Rally is a milestone of a series of new events intended to expand besides the Dakar Rally. The 2009 Dakar edition will be announced in the weeks to come.

(*) Due to terrorist threats, the 2008 Dakar edition was cancelled. Unfortunately last Friday a new terrorist attack happened again in Nouakchott (Mauritania)