Dakar Rally Quizi: Moto Rider Knowledge Test

Off-road rally raid: A summary

The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation, which is open to amateur and professional entries.
Originally, the rally ran from Paris, France to Dakar, Senegal, but due to security threats in Mauritania, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America, and since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia.
The terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher than that used in conventional rallying, and the vehicles used are typically true off-road vehicles and motorcycles, rather than modified on-road vehicles.
The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day.
The event originated in December 1977, a year after Thierry Sabine got lost in the Ténéré desert while competing in the 1975 "Cote-Cote" Abidjan-Nice rally and decided that the desert would be a good location for a regular rally.
The first event in 1978 saw 182 vehicles take the start in Paris, with 74 surviving the 10,000-kilometre (6,200 mi) trip to the Senegalese capital of Dakar.
The privateer spirit of early racers tackling the event with limited resources encouraged such entrants as Thierry de Montcorgé in a Rolls-Royce and Formula 1 driver Jacky Ickx with actor Claude Brasseur in a Citroën CX, in the 1981 race won by two-time winner Hubert Auriol.
The event rapidly grew in popularity, with 216 vehicles taking the start in 1980 and 291 in 1981.
In 1987, French manufacturer Peugeot arrived and won the event with former World Rally champion Ari Vatanen and this marked the start of an era of increased official factory participation in the car category.
In 1992, the finish line moved to Cape Town, South Africa in a bid to combat a declining number of competitors, where GPS technology was used for the first time.
The 2008 event, due to start in Lisbon, was cancelled on 4 January 2008 amid fears of attacks in Mauritania following the 2007 killing of four French tourists.
The 2015 event saw Peugeot return with an all-new, diesel-powered, two-wheel drive contender, but failed to make an impact as X-raid's Minis once more dominated.
The rally has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020 and has been the season-opening round of the World Rally-Raid Championship jointly sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme since 2022.Overview of the Dakar Rally and its different vehicle categories: motorcycles, quads, cars, UTVs, and trucks.

Details about the regulations for motorbikes, including engine displacement limits and rider groups.

Information about the "Original by Motul" category, which allows motorbikes and quads to compete without any assistance.

Details about the different subgroups of quads, including two-wheel and four-wheel drive options.

Information about the different categories within the car class, including "Improved Cross-Country Vehicles", "Cross-Country Series Production Vehicles", and "Light Vehicles".

Details about the Truck class, which includes "Series Production" and "Modified" trucks, as well as rally support trucks.

Information about the UTV category, which was introduced in 2017 and has since been further subdivided.

Details about the new Dakar Classic class for cars and trucks manufactured before 2000.

A list of past winners in each category.

Information about the television coverage of the rally, which is broadcast in over 190 countries.

Details about notable incidents throughout the history of the Dakar Rally, including accidents and cancellations.Criticism and Controversies of Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally is an annual off-road endurance race.
The race was moved to South America in 2009 due to security threats in Africa.
The rally returned to Saudi Arabia in 2020, with criticism concerning the country's human rights record and the position of women.
The Dakar Rally has a high fatality rate, with 76 deaths, including 31 competitors.
The race has faced criticism for its impact on African countries and inhabitants, with complaints about limited benefits and environmental damage.
The race has also been criticized for hitting and killing livestock and occasional injuries or deaths of people.
The environmental impact of the race has also been an area of criticism.
The race was criticized before 2000 for crossing through the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
The Vatican City newspaper L'Osservatore Romano called the race a "vulgar display of power and wealth in places where men continue to die from hunger and thirst."
The move to Saudi Arabia for the 2020 Dakar Rally was under heavy criticism because of the situation of human rights in Saudi Arabia and the position of women in that country.
Despite criticism, the Dakar Rally was organized in Saudi Arabia for another consecutive year, with the organizers defending their decision.
The criticism of the race is the topic of the song "500 connards sur la ligne de départ" ("500 Arseholes at the Starting Line"), on the 1991 album Marchand de cailloux by French singer Renaud.