The event started in Lima, Peru, on January.

Photo: Lithuanian riders are enjoying the competition's opening ceremony

This year routes pass through Peru, Argentina, and Bolivia. The total distance is about 9 thousand km.

Photo: The Polish team is overcoming the sand dune.

Racers face a great number of difficulties. The natural conditions of South America sometimes seem to be insurmountable: red-hot deserts, dangerous serpentine paths, and bumpy forest roads. In general, drivers have to overcome 14 stages of competition, including one marathon and three circular trials.

At the moment, 75 drivers are already out of contention.

Photo: The broken Peugeot, French team.

Accidents have different degrees of severity. The car driven by Alicia Rein caught fire during Stage 3. The crew, fortunately, was not injured, but had to stop their participation.

The British racer was taken to a hospital after his motorcycle crashed into a sand dune.

Initially, the race was known as Paris-Dakar, but the race has not started in Paris for a long time. Since 2009, the event has been held in Dakar, the capital of Senegal (with the exception of 1992 and 2003). The tenth season of the rally has started in South America. But the popularity of the endurance contest is not affected in any way.

Instead, the competition gained many new fans. It is noteworthy that not only professionals can take part in the contest, but also amateurs.

Having become an international event, the rally gathers participants of more than 50 different nationalities. Dakar 2018 features an array of cross-country vehicles to race in five categories – cars, bikes, trucks, quads, and SxS (off-road buggies).

The racers will finish in Córdoba, Argentina, on January 20 after 14 stages of competition.