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Presentation Dakar 2011 in Eindhoven |
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Friday, 07 May 2010 |
French Dakar organiser ASO was in Eindhoven in The Netherlands to reveal the first details of Dakar 2011. It was the first meeting in a series of many wich ASO will give as part of a worldtour to inform competitors, press and partners. Host of the evening (together with his Belgium colleagues) was Henk Hellegers, who is now the sole representative for ASO in The Netherlands. ASO's assistent-director Frédéric Lequien was also present to state the main differences with the last edition and 2011. All ''elite'' riders are obliged to use a bike with a maximum of 450cc. Amateurs still can still opt for a bigger engine. For 2012 all riders will have to come to the start with a 450.
ASO herewith hopes to achieve to get more factories involved in the Dakar. New is the change in navigation. ASO has decided to minimise the waypoint radius from 3 kilometer to 400 meter. Competitors will have to approach each waypoint within 400 meter before the GPS will give the course to follow. Especially in the dunes this could cause difficulties. This adjustment in the regulation was received with different reactions. Amongst the visitors was also Gerard de Rooy, who responded to the announcement of ASO to do more about the illegal assistance provided during the rally. A team of 6 organisation 4x4's will see to that. Competitors who accept unpermitted asssistance can expect severe penalties or even disqualification.
  
Recently the new route for 2011 was reveiled in Paris. ASO states that some new areas have been found which will be included in the route, where there still is a lot of space to overtake and where competitors should have less problems with dust. The route heads further to the north of Chili, and practically touches the border with Peru. No detail are published yet about the lenght of the stages or the daily distances.
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