The route for the 2017 Dakar Rally has been announced. Riders will connect three capital cities in South America and journey into Paraguay for the first time in Dakar history.
With Toby Price’s 2016 Dakar Rally victory still very fresh in everyone’s minds, race organisers have released details of the proposed route for the 2017 event.
For the first time in the event’s history, the South American country of Paraguay will host the start of the Dakar Rally from the capital city – Asunción. Paraguay will be the 29th country the Dakar Rally has visited in its history, the fifth on the South American continent.
A single opening stage in Paraguay will kick the event off before the field of international competitors detour through Argentina and into Bolivia for five stages, passing through the capital La Paz, the world’s highest altitude capital city, situated at 3,500 meters.
Following the rest day in La Paz, the rally will journey through Argentina where the capital city of Buenos Aires will host the finish of the rally for the fifth time.
“In 2017, the exploration in South America continues with a route that will feature a majority of new roads and tracks for the competitors to discover,” Said Race Director Étienne Lavigne.
“The event will now head to its 29th different country, Paraguay, for a stay in the capital city, Asunción. The visit to Bolivia will take on a new dimension on this 39th edition, with five stages in total for jaunts along the shores of Lake Titicaca and a rest day in the highest capital city in the world, La Paz. The money time will finally
come for the title contenders on a diagonal drawn on the map of Argentina towards the loyal Buenos Aires.”
All up the rally will have 12 Stages covering more than 8000km of terrain,
The rally is scheduled to start January 2 and run through to January 14.