Organizers of the world´s largest amateur rally, the Budapest-Bamako announced the start date and the route of the 2011 run in Budapest. The Great African Run will start in Budapest on January 15, 2011. The total distance of next year´s race will be 8540 kilometers. Competitors will have 16 days to complete the most grueling route to-date.
“For the sake of greater security the adventure category and the touring category teams will travel along the same route this year”, said the rally´s founder Andrew G. Szabo. “In previous years we had to break up the competitors into two groups because of border difficulties on the Moroccan-Mauritanian border.
This year things improved greatly at the only border crossing between the two Saharan nations.” The first African stage will end in the town of Khenifra in Morocco. From here teams have to negotiate the treacherous mountain roads of the Atlas before making their way across the Jebel Sarhro and entering the Sahara.
The Budapest-Bamako will pass through some entirely new sections of Morocco, where the rally had not gone before. There will be some old Dakar “pistes” along the route in 2011. “It´s amazing that some of the road marking sand piles, that the Dakar bulldozers made for the 1994-95 rally are still here”, added the Mr. Szabo. The rally will spend only two and a half days in Mauritania instead of the usual five, but the golden dunes and the fast salt flats will compensate the teams. “The local authorities have already issued our permits for 2011 and have assured us of the highest level of security”, said Mr. Szabo.
Terror threats in Mauritania lead to the cancelation of the 2008 Dakar Rally and made the Budapest-Bamako organizers change the route in 2010. The Bamako will travel on the western seaboard of the country which is said to be much safer than the eastern parts of Mauritania. For the first time in the history of the Budapest-Bamako the 160 teams will pass through Senegal. Drivers will have to complete the sandy sections around Lac Rose outside of Dakar. This iconic lake has been the grand finale of previous Dakar Rallies.
From here four nerve-wrecking days will await the teams as they tackle herds of elephants and hippos in the Niokolo Koba National Park, must cross the Senegal river and navigate the dusty savannah roads of Mali. So far 100 teams from 35 countries have entered this prestigious low-budget rally, which is now the largest trans-Saharan motorsport event.Teams have entered from as far as Hawaii and New Zealand. The rally is not a timed event. Cars, motorcycles and trucks must finish daily stages on time and they must complete navigational challenges along the way. For navigation and stage completion points are awarded.
More info:BudapestBamako.org
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