BOLIVIA: MOTOR RALLY: Dakar organizers present plans for the famed race to go through Bolivia

Record ID: 213938

  • Title: BOLIVIA: MOTOR RALLY: Dakar organizers present plans for the famed race to go through Bolivia
  • Date: 16th April 2013
  • Summary: LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (APRIL 16, 2013) (REUTERS) ( * BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) EXTERIOR OF HOTEL RADISSON DANCERS PERFORMING THE TRADITIONAL ANDEAN DANCE OF THE DEVILS WITH THE DAKAR LOGO IN THE BACKGROUND GENERAL VIEW OF OFFICIALS GATHERED FOR ANNOUNCEMENT VARIOUS OF DANCERS PERFORMING THE ANDEAN TINKU DANCE BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT EVO MORALES AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE AMAURY SPORT ORGANIZATION, ETIENNE LAVIGNE, LISTENING TO PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENTS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE AMAURY SPORT ORGANIZATION, ETIENNE LAVIGNE, SAYING: "The Dakar Rally will have the honour of a Bolivian leg with motor bikes and quad bikes which will be able to enjoy the beauty of the Uyuni salt flats and Potosi. The motor race that your country will host is the mythical Dakar competition." THREE PROMOTIONAL GIRLS LISTENING TO ANNOUNCEMENTS DRESSED IN TRADITIONAL CLOTHING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRESIDENT OF THE AMAURY SPORT ORGANIZATION, ETIENNE LAVIGNE, SAYING: "It is the most dangerous extreme competition in the world and also the most admired." SALAR DE UYUNI, BOLIVIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) THE MASSIVE SALT FLATS IN SOUTHERN BOLIVIA RALLY CARS DRIVING ON THE SALT FLATS VARIOUS OF THE ISLA DEL PESCADO, A HILLY AND ROCKY PIECE OF LAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SALT FLATS RALLY CARS DRIVING ON THE DAKAR ROUTE CLOSE-UP OF A QUINOA PLANT AT SUNSET LA PAZ, BOLIVIA (APRIL 16, 2013) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT EVO MORALES, SAYING: "Just imagine that the Dakar rally is going to follow the quinoa route and the Bolivian salt flats. This is not only good for the local communities, the department of Potosi, but for Bolivia. Bolivians, instead of going to Chile, Peru or Argentina to follow the competition, they can do it in Bolivia." VARIOUS OF DANCERS PERFORMING THE TRADITIONAL ANDEAN DANCE OF THE DEVILS
  • Embargoed: 1st May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bolivia, Plurinational State Of
  • Country: Bolivia
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA21FKVZAK40EOW8QGWNGM9CI7U
  • Story Text: Dakar organizers present plans for rally motorbike and quad bike competitors to pass through Bolivia's desert salt flats in the sixth South American edition of the race.

    Organizers of the extreme Dakar Rally met with Bolivian officials in La Paz Tuesday (April 16) to present plans for the race to pass through the South American country next January.
    The 2014 Dakar rally will be the sixth edition in South America and the first time the famously dangerous and gruelling race will pass through Bolivia.
    Motorbike and quad bike competitors will go north from Argentina through the Salar de Uyuni in the southwest Bolivian departments of Oruro and Potosi.
    The president of the Amaury Sport Organization, the French group that organizes the annual event, Etienne Lavigne, said the group was excited to bring the race to the desert flats of the picturesque landlocked country.
    "The Dakar Rally will have the honour of a Bolivian leg with motorbikes and quad bikes which will be able to enjoy the beauty of the Uyuni salt flats and Potosi. The motor race that your country will host is the mythical Dakar competition," Lavigne said.
    "It is the most dangerous extreme completion in the world and also the most admired," added Lavigne.
    Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometres (4,086 square miles).
    It is located in the Potosi and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes where half of the world's known reserves of lithium are found.
    It is more than 4,000 metres (13,123 feet) above sea level.
    Bolivian President Evo Morales said hosting the rally will not only allow the country to show off some of its spectacular landscape, but will also allow Bolivian spectators the chance to see the race close up in their own country.
    "Just imagine that the Dakar Rally is going to follow the quinoa route and the Bolivian salt flats. This is not only good for the local communities, the department of Potosi, but for Bolivia. Bolivians, instead of going to Chile, Peru or Argentina to follow the competition, they can do it in Bolivia," Morales said.
    The 2014 Dakar Rally will kick off in Rosario, Argentina on January 4 and 5.
    Competitors are expected to cross into Bolivia on January 12 before reaching the finish line in Valparaiso, Chile on January 18.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register