Preview: The 2010 Dakar in numbers

10 of a possible 13 stage victories were credited to Volkswagen in 2009.

14-day long stages are on the Dakar schedule between January 2 and 16.

80 people travel with 23 service vehicles through Argentina and Chile in the Volkswagen team.

100 times drier than Death Valley - this is the Atacama Desert through which four of the 14 daily stages are held. Several weather stations there have never recorded rain.

138 competitors are registered in the car category.

50 competitors are registered in the truck category

184 competitors are registered in the motorbikes and quads category

50 tonnes of material are required by the Volkswagen team for the Dakar.

600 kilometres is the longest competitive stage held on January 9

182 kilometers is the shortest competitive section on January 4

4,726 metres above sea level is the highest point along the rally route - the San Francisco Pass in the Andes.

5,000 single parts are required to assemble each of the five Volkswagen Race Touaregs.

9,030 kilometre is the overall distance of the 2010 Dakar.

4,810 kilometres is the overall competitive distance of the 2010 Dakar

There are 57 secure "public" spectator zones on the route's 14 stages.

25,000 police officers will be there to ensure the safety of the public.

15 vehicles and 30 people from the Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Vial (in Argentina) will be supervising the occasionally massive movements of the rally's aficionados who will be coming to the "public" zones.

100,000 flyers will be distributed by the organisers to promote spectator safety on the event.

6 vehicles manned by the race organisers will be in position in the "public" zones.

1 safety helicopter will be flying ahead of the competitors on each stage.

£50m (€57m) is the direct injection of cash from the event to the local areas it travels through in Argentina and Chile.
1,130 hours of Dakar television coverage was shown around the world in 2009.

2.2 billion is the cumulated audience on dedicated news and report television programs.