2009 Dakar moved to South America

The 2009 Dakar Rally will be staged in South America after this year's event was cancelled due to security concerns in Africa, organisers said on Monday

Feb 11, 2008, 4:27 PM

The event for cars, trucks and motorcycles will take place in Argentina and Chile from January 3 to 18, a spokesman for the French organisers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) said.

The organisers did not say whether the event's name would be changed.

The new event will kick off from Buenos Aires on 3 January and, after 9,000 km, will return to the Argentinean capital on 18 January. 6,000 km will be timed.

"There will be sand, because that's typical of the Dakar, but there will also be new terrains the rally has never been on before," said the rally's director Etienne Lavigne.

The Dakar Rally, originally known as the Paris-Dakar, had always been staged entirely or mostly in Africa in its 30-year history.

It was cancelled for the first time last month due to security concerns in Mauritania where four French tourists were killed by suspected al Qaeda rebels in December.

Organisers had been warned against a "terrorist risk" in Mauritania by the French government.