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This year, for the second time, the Dakar Rally is taking place in Argentina and Chile. It is known as one of the world’s most prominent and dangerous rallies. The 32^nd edition attracted almost 362 vehicles falling under the categories of bike, quad, and car and truck.

The Dakar Rally is an off-road endurance race where competitors struggle through dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, and other rugged terrain. This year the route in the ATV category is 8,937 kilometers (5,553 miles) long and divided into 14 stages.

The route starts and ends in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first days of the rally are fairly easy. The course takes drivers through rocky Calamuchita Valley. Later the route becomes more challenging as the earth changes to sand and the first dunes appear along the way. After crossing the Andes Cordillera (at an altitude reaching over 4,000 meters/ 13,000 feet) the rally continues through the driest dessert in the world – the Atacama Desert, complete with gigantic dunes. After reaching the city of Iquique, Chile, the route takes riders back to Buenos Aires. Dutch biker Mirjam Pol assesses the Argentina-Chile rally as very diverse. “I noticed that in Argentina and in Chile, the stages are very varied. In the same day, you can see sand, stones, sea and mountains…”

The Dakar requires not only top-notch riding skills, but also endurance, determination, and a lot of preparation. In 2009, only 13 out of 25 quad riders finished the rally. This year also, 25 ATV riders have entered the competition, 10 of whom chose to ride the Canadian Can-Am Renegade 800. The second most popular choice was Yamaha (8) and third was Polaris (4).

Last year the best ATV rider was Josef Machacek on a Yamaha. Machacek planned to tie the motorcycle champion Stephane Peterhansel and truck ace Karel Loprais with six victories in the same category this year. Unfortunately the Czech rider has already withdrawn due to a shoulder injury he sustained in the 2nd stage of the race. It now seems that the victory may fall to Marcos Petronelli, riding the Yamaha Raptor 700, who came in second last year. The winner of this year’s competition will be known on the 16^th of January, when the last stage is scheduled to end.

The post was contributed by PennySaverUSA.com. Visit us online to find ATVs for sale.