Dakar racers reach finish line

After 12 days of driving across Morocco, Mauritania and Senegal, racers reached the finish line of the pink Lake Retba at Dakar. Veteran racer Jean Louis Schlesser is the car winner, while Spanish rider Juan Manuel Pellicer held his lead to win the motorcycle category. Warnings last year that armed attacks might take place in Mauritania forced the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar Rally. This year that race is being run in South America instead. However the inaugural Africa Race took place without incident. The Africa Race began with just 11 cars, 8 motorcycles and 4 trucks covering 7,490 kilometres over 12 stages. The organisers said the small entry list was due to global economic problems rather than a lack of interest, adding that a number of entrants had to withdraw at the end of 2008 because of lack of sponsorship.

• 2009-01-13T05:01:21+00:00
• Duration: 00:49

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