MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Possible alternative 2008 “Dakar Rally” in central Europe

Dakar Rally organizers are considering a race through central Europe this spring to replace the event that was cancelled due to security concerns, the head of the Czech KM Racing Team said on Monday to French sources.

"According to the information I received from my friends and Hungarian colleagues, ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation), are considering organizing a competition in May to run through Hungary and Romania," said Pavel Kubicek. "It would be a nice gesture to those who sacrificed a year of their lives in preparation for the 2008 Dakar" said the KM Racing chief, who added that Hungarian Balazs Szalay, the representative of ASO for central Europe had been pushing for several years for Budapest to host the start of the Dakar one day. "In any case, it is impossible to compensate for the cancellation of the Dakar. It truly is a phenomenon, much more than just a rally". KM Racing boasts three motorbike riders, David Pabiska, Dusan Randysek and Ivan Figura and Josef Machacek, four-time Dakar winner in the quad bike category. The 2008 Dakar Rally had been due to start on Saturday in Lisbon, but the murder of four French tourists in Mauritania on December 24 led to the French government advising against any travel to the country and race organizers cancelling the 30th edition of the event. In Senegal the news media lamented the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar Rally as "a death sentence" for the grueling race through the deserts of western Africa. Dakar daily Le Soleil questioned whether the "terrorist threat" that resulted in the race being cancelled for the first time in its 30-year history would jeopardize future races. "The Dakar is an extraordinary platform on which to make a name" the newspaper said. "Certain small groups understand that and use and abuse it". The newspaper did not condemn the organizers' decision but laid the blame with "publicity-seeking movements" it accused of fomenting threats "by all channels open to them" "One can't help wondering what will happen next year if the race decides to return to Africa. Any terrorist threat could call everything into question" Le Soleil speculated. "What is certain is that perhaps a death sentence has been signed for the Dakar". The private newspaper Le Matin said "terrorism won the 30th Dakar" while for Le Quotidien the decision was "a real waste, an enormous financial loss".