The Dakar could come to the Namib

AUGETTO GRAIG

The Namibia Motorsport Federation (NMSF) has been approached about the possibility of bringing the famously gruelling Dakar Rally back to Africa, and for at least a part of it to run through the varied landscapes of Namibia.

The president of the NMSF, Daniel Tjongarero, confirmed the contact which followed recent announcements by the Dakar organisers that a three-country race would be ideal and Southern Africa looks a likely destination for 2020.

“We have been approached with such initiative and a preliminary meeting was held with the NMSF and various relevant stakeholder ministries to ascertain the possibility of host the event in Namibia as part of the three-country contingent,” Tjongarero said this week.

“The Namibia Motorsport Federation (NMSF) would support such an initiative and would very much be interested in hosting such an event,” he said.

This year Peru was the sole host country for the 41st edition of the Dakar race from 6 to 17 January. Covering 359 km, the race again made a claim to fame as the toughest rally in the world, after ten punishing stages.

The finish in Lima brought victory for a heroic Toby Price in the bike race. Nasser Al-Attiyah won his third title in the car category thanks to his exemplary strategic poise, Nicolás Cavigliasso unprecedentedly dominated the quad category, Francisco ‘Chaleco’ López succeeded in his comeback and conversion after six years of absence with a win in the SxS race, while Eduard Nikolaev picked up his fourth title in the truck race.

Historic Dakar

The Dakar was not always at home in South America. According to the official website the adventure began back in 1977, when Thierry Sabine got lost on his motorbike in the Libyan Ténéré desert during the Abidjan-Nice Rally. Saved from the sands in extremis, he returned to France still in thrall to this landscape and promising himself he would share his fascination with as many people as possible. He proposed a route starting in Europe, continuing to Algiers and crossing Agadez before eventually finishing at Dakar. On 26 December 1978, 182 vehicles turned up in the Place du Trocadéro for a 10 000-kilometre journey into the unknown, destination Dakar.

By 1981 public interest had grown tremendously. In 1983 the rally went to the Ténéré desert for a first terrifying encounter where 40 drivers lost their bearings. In 1986 founder Thierry Sabine died in a helicopter crash, but the race went on. The year 1992 saw a special-edition Paris-to-Cape Town Rally which passed through ten countries on its way from the northern to the southern tip of Africa.

In 1995, for the first time, the race did not start in Paris but in Grenada in Spain. Jutta Kleinschmidt became the first woman to win the overall event in 2001. The 2008 edition was cancelled due to terrorist threats in Mauritania. The 31st edition of the Dakar in 2009 was the first held in Latin America.

Dakar Rally director Etienne Lavigne revealed in May 2018 that his team had started exploring the possibility of moving the legendary rally back to Africa for 2020. Difficulties in securing a satisfactory route for the 2019 edition led rally organisers ASO to begin talks with certain African nations about a possible return to the continent.

Last year countries like Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia failed to reach agreement with the organisers, leaving Peru as the sole host for 2019.

"Until 2016/17, there was a desire from the countries to host the event and today there are economic conditions in Argentina, Chile, Peru which make it difficult to know the intentions of the political leaders,” Lavigne told motorsport.com in a recent interview.

Namibia’s hopes

In 2018 he had said; “We have started work for several months to build contacts in other countries such as Algeria, Angola and Namibia.”

The last time the Dakar passed through Algeria was in 1993, while the previous year it had visited Angola and Namibia as part of an extended marathon running from Paris to Cape Town, South Africa.

Economic considerations would also be at the forefront of any Namibian decision regarding the hosting of the event.

“The costs related to hosting such an event are astronomical and without the relevant financial support, be it institutional, corporate or otherwise, it would pose a serious challenge to us,” Tjongarero said.

“At the moment a lot of consultations would have to take place with the ministries, such as environment and tourism and the ministry of finance for instance, to garner the necessary support and approvals for this event to take place,” he added.

Asked if, apart from the money, Namibia has what would be required to pull it off Tjongarero said, “Yes, Namibia does indeed.”

Other good news for Namibian rally enthusiasts is that the NMSF has reinstated national status on rallies in Namibia.

“This means that the competitors can from 2019 compete in a national championship and could ultimately be crowned national champions in this code. The first rally is to take place on 9 February 2019 at Gobabis,” Tjongarero said.