Dakar: Sainz heads into unknown

Winner of a record 26 World Rally Championship events before retiring this year, Sainz leaves Lisbon on Saturday with 187 other drivers on a 9,043 kms race across seven countries to the finish in Senegal on January 15.

Driving a Volkswagen Touareg prototype, he is the high-profile newcomer in a race some consider the most dangerous and toughest event in motorsport.

Two bike riders, including twice winner Fabrizio Meoni of Italy, died in crashes last January and motorcycles have had tougher speed limits imposed to improve safety and make the event fairer to all competitors.

"Carlos will go very well," Sainz's former team mate Colin McRae, who has twice entered the Dakar, told Autosport magazine this week.

"He's still fresh from the world championship, he'll be plenty quick enough and I don't see why he can't win the event even though it's new to him."

Gun Men

"I'm not thinking about the possibility that I might have to stop the car and then sleep through the night in the middle of the desert," Sainz told Autosport.

"If I have to do that, then okay. I'll get on with it. Of course I know the stories about the men with guns but it's best not to think about them -- and then hope we don't see any of them."

In 2004, two stages of the rally in Mali were cancelled because of fears of an attack by Islamic militants.

Four years before, organisers cancelled four stages after warnings that Algerian Islamic guerrillas were planning an ambush in Niger.

Volkswagen are entering five works cars, with former winner Jutta Kleinschmidt of Germany starting her 15th Dakar and France's Bruno Saby another strong contender.

This year's winner Stephane Peterhansel of France and compatriot Luc Alphand, the former downhill skier, lead the Mitsubishi challenge.

Peterhansel is looking for a treble in the car category after six wins as a motorcycle rider.

In the bikes category, with 240 riders entered, title holder Cyril Despres of France returns on a KTM with Spanish riders Marc Coma, Isidre Esteve Pujol and Jordi Duran on similar machinery.

Eighty trucks and 240 assistance vehicles complete the Dakar caravan.

New navigational rules have been imposed to reduce the use of GPS (global positioning system) and encourage a return to traditional road book reading skills.

Some critics have said the rally has become more dangerous in recent years with riders and drivers forced to stick to a narrowly defined route meaning they cannot win through navigation skills and must compete mainly on speed.

The Dakar starts with a 370 kms stage from Lisbon to Portimao before reaching Malaga in Spain on Sunday night and arriving in Morocco on Monday. From there it crosses Mauritania, Mali and Guinea to end in Senegal.