France-based Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), in charge of the 6,000 km rally, said in a statement they had been advised by the French government to cancel the race. They said direct threats had also been made against the event by ”terrorist organizations“. A total of 570 teams from 50 countries would have raced in the Dakar this year, up from 510 in 2007.
On the other side, the Romanian pilot, Gabriel Nicolae, who was supposed to take part at the Dakar Rally, at the auto category, announced that ASO wanted to settle a ”consolation“ rally, which is meant to cross Romania too. The first phase of the Dakar Series (the new name of the rally), beginning on April 11th, will be staged in Budapest, then in the rest of Hungary and Rumania. Then, in September, the second stage will begin in Portugal and then it will be raced through Spain. In January 2009, it will reach Buenos Aires for the last stage, moving on to Chile, to return then to its starting point for the end of the competition.
