This year’s Dakar Rally, an international off-road race in its 35th year, started in Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, on Jan. 5 and ends in Valparaiso, Chile, on Jan. 18 after 13 thrilling competition stages.
This is the sixth time the infamously dangerous rally has been held in South America, and this year, there are 174 motorcycles, 40 quad ATVs, 147 cars and 70 trucks competing in the grueling rally.
This year is also special because a man named Jaremias Gonzalez Ferioli, 18, will be the youngest participant in the rally’s history. He will be riding a quad during the rally. Interestingly, more than 80% of the participants are typically amateurs and the distance of each stage can be as much as 900 kilometres a day.
UPDATE: A new report out of the Associated Press says Belgian motorcycle competitor Eric Palante, 50, has died during the fifth stage of the Dakar rally. Organizers say they found his body along the route of the fifth stage after a truck went out looking for him. In addition to Palante, two people following the racers died after they crashed just before the end of the fifth stage. Argentinian police said Agustin Ignacio Mina, 19, was covering the rally for a magazine. He and Daniel Eduardo Ambrosio, 51, were going over rough terrain when their vehicle crashed.
