2006 Dakar to Start from Lisbon

Organisers have announced that, for the first time in its history, the race will not start from Spain or France. Instead, the event will kick off from the Portuguese city of Lisbon before heading to Africa.

The technical and administrative scrutineering will be held in Lisbon on the 28th, 29th and 30th of December and will be followed by the first special stage.

Once the Mediterranean Sea is crossed, the caravan will head to Dakar going through Morocco, Mauritania, Mali, Guinea - which hasn't been visited by the Dakar since 1986 - and finally Senegal.

Following the tragedies of the past few years the organisers have decided to adopt a series of new measures with a goal to improve the safety of the competitors and the populations of the countries travelled through.

In a radical move aimed at avoiding tragic accidents, as of 2006 the speed will be forbidden above 150km/h for both bikes and trucks.

Italy's Fabrizio Meoni, twice a winner of the rally, and Spanish amateur Jose Manuel Perez died this year in a race which has seen 22 competitors killed since its debut as the Paris-Dakar in 1978.

Organisers said they are also studying the possibility of limiting the cars' speed on all or some parts of the specials that could prove to have risks linked to high speeds.

In addition, the Iritrack positioning system that was tested during the 2005 rally will be mandatory for the drivers and teams in the race as well as on the assistance course.