Dakar Rally to start from Lisbon for first time
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-24 10:43

PARIS, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The 2006 Dakar Rally will start from Lisbon for the first time next month with motorcycles subjected to new speed limits after two riders died in this year's event.

Organisers said 508 teams -- 240 motorcycles, 180 cars and 80 trucks -- will race from December 31 to January 15 with stages through Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Guinea before the finish in Senegal.

A limit of 150kph has been imposed on bikes and trucks to make the event fairer to all competitors and improve safety. All vehicles will be limited to 50 kph in villages.

"The emphasis is on a return to navigating, the founding principle of rally raids," said a statement on the rally website.

"GPS (global positioning system) functions are deliberately reduced, obliging drivers and co-drivers to navigate exclusively according to information given in the road book."

Some critics have said the rally has become more dangerous in recent years with riders and drivers forced to stick to a narrowly defined route -- meaning they cannot win through navigation skills and must compete mainly on speed.

Two times winner Fabrizio Meoni of Italy and Spanish amateur Jose Manuel Perez were killed this year.

Spain's former world rally champion Carlos Sainz will be one of the newcomers to the Dakar, driving a Volkswagen Touareg. Mitsubishi's French driver Stephane Peterhansel won the car category this year.

"The rally starts with a pair of long stages in Europe, which is better than the very short prologue held before because you get into a good rhythm from the word go," said Germany's 2001 winner Jutta Kleinschmidt.