The famous Paris-Dakar rally gets underway tomorrow and runs until January 19th.
The event starts in Clermond-Ferrand in France and takes the crews over a mammoth route through Europe and North Africa, finishing in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.
Over thousands of kilometres of desert, anything can happen. In the past 25 years, drivers have been killed, injured, lost, abducted and suffered banditry all in pursuit of one of motorsports most elusive prizes. Among the most famous incidents was in 1982 when Mark Thatcher disappeared in the Sahara while on the rally. He was later spotted by a search plane and rescued.
The Dakar was conceived in 1978 as the brainchild of the late Frenchman Thierry Sabine. Mitsubishi is aiming for a record-breaking ninth victory and fourth consecutive win. It's the most successful car manufacturer in the history of the Dakar Rally and has taken eight wins to date.