Plymouth - Dakar Rally
Plymouth Dakar Rally
Since the inauguration in 2003 a motley crew take part in this low budget alternative rally, which passes through Spain as part of its official route. The rally took place around New Year and there was usually a regrouping at Hotel Los Camillions at Sotogrande. Most of the cars that take part will have been purchased for less than 100 GBP and will be given to a charity auction in the Gambia. The event is more of a gathering than a rally. It is totally unsupported and most of the cars do not start in Plymouth but anywhere in Europe and finished at Banjul in the Gambia rather than Dakar.
You can no longer find complete information regarding the rules for the Plymouth Dakar Rally, as well as the challenges faced by drivers, at the event's website. There was also full information about the charities that are benefited by this rally. The rally provided and excellent web interface where competitors text (SMS) their news and position which was then auto posted on a web page for others to follow. Rememer this was in the years before social media.
Andalucia.com supported a car alongside the rally in 2004. Starting from Sotogrande on January 2nd and reaching Dakar on January 10th. The car was a Mercedes 300 (1989) with a straight 6 cylinder diesel engine. This was relative luxury compared to most of the vehicles in the rally. With this extra power we were able to complete the journey in a much accelerated time.
A gallery of photographs of the Andalucia.com sponsored car alongside the 2004 event can be viewed by clicking on the links below.
Southern Morocco Photo gallery
Mauritania - Crossing the Sahara Photo gallery - Part 1
Mauritania - Crossing the Sahara Photo gallery - Part 2
Senegal - San Louis to Dakar Photo gallery
In January 2004 the Andalucia.com Rally car drove from Marbella to Dakar in Senegal.
In January 2005 the Andalucia.com Rally car drove from Marbella to Banjul in the Gambia.
In January 2006 the Andalucia.com Rally Car drove from Sotogrande to Timbucktu in Mali.
In 2007 Andalucia.com car drove from Marbella to Ghana.
Postscript
The last edition of the Plymouth - Dakar rally was run in 2007. After a break the 'Dakar Challenge' was relaunced in mid 2010s at https://www.dakarchallenge.co.uk