The Dakar Series continues this year with the new Silk Road Rally that will pass through Kazakhstan in early September, Kazinform reported. The Rally will start in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan (part of the Russian Federation), cross Zhanaozen in Kazakhstan and end in Ashkhabad, the capital of Turkmenistan. The circuit is the historic trade route between Europe and Asia known as the Silk Road and is over 4000-KM in length. Representatives of 31 countries will participate, including racers from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, USA, Brazil, Chile and Great Britain.
The Rally will be the largest off-road rally in Eurasia since the main Dakar route moved to South America in 2009 - and will be for cars and trucks only.
Volkswagen and BMW teams have confirmed their participation; in Truck Class applications have already been received from the KAMAZ-Master Team, the MAN Rally Team (winners of last year's Trans Orientale Rally), TATRA and Team DeRooy.
The Silk Road Rally is similar to Dakar, and although it is only half the Dakar Rally's length experts believe that it will be ideal practice for participants prior to the even more arduous Dakar Rally 2010 - which kicks off in January 2010 in Buenos Aires.
The Silk Road Rally will be inaugurated on September 5 with a lavish parade of vintage cars, a race across a special 2-KM route, a concert and an elaborate firework display. Participants, organizers, country representatives and fans - will all convene in Tatarstan, along with TV crews from Eurosport, Supersport, LBCI, Reuters etc - which are planning to broadcast 600 hours of dedicated coverage in over 180 countries. Reporters from 40 specialist magazines will cover the event.
The Silk Road Rally 2009 has been included in the official calendar of the International Automobile Federation (Federation Internationale de 'Automobile, FIA) and supported by the governments and transport federations of Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
The event is coordinated by 'Dakar' organiser A.S.O. (Amaury Sport Organisation, France), the press service of the Kazakh Embassy in Israel informs.