Dakar 2009

The sound of the engine comes from far away, behind a gentle hill in the road. Grave and deep, it announces its arrival much before you see it. Slowly, from the roof to the huge wheels, it appears from behind the hill. Motorbikes and cars have passed by all the morning, but this is different. Your blood freezes and you feel small when the 8 tons, 3 meters high thing passes you at full speed, just meters away. A bit later the engine drops down the revolutions and the big mass waves a little under the powerful braking, but not for long: a quick turn to right and it accelerates again to disappear in the distance. Welcome to the awesome spectacle of the Dakar's trucks...

After calling off the 2008 edition of the traditional raid París-Dakar due to terrorist threats in the African part of the route, the organizers (ASO) took a risky decision: to move the 2009 edition to South America. Organized together by Argentina and Chile, the Dakar 2009 went through the wonderful landscapes of both countries in a route that took it from Buenos Aires to the Patagonia, through the Andes and to the driest dessert in the world, and back to the departure point two weeks later. Two weeks that will stay in the history of the competition because the risk taken by ASO was rewarded with a resounding success, specially between the public: in a country where motorsport runs trough the veins of the majority, millions rushed to the roads to see the passing of motorbikes, cars and trucks. I was among them and this is a little sample from the last stage for you to enjoy.

You are warned, however: you can see, listen and read everything at your disposal, but nothing and nobody can transmit you nor prepare you for the power of a massive truck in full competition...

"A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind."

Thierry Sabine

(esta entrada en español)