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Thousands cheer Dakar start

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - The Dakar Rally roared out of Buenos Aires with a ceremonial parade of hundreds of vehicles from the city’s famed Obelisk on Saturday.

The 16-day trek will take drivers 9500km across northern Argentina, across the Andes mountains and Chile’s sky-high Atacama Desert and back to the Argentine capital.

The first leg was a 370km cruise north-west to the small town of Victoria, where competitors prepared for Sunday's first full day of flat-out racing. Defending champions Carlos Sainz in the cars category and Cyril Despres on a motorcycle are here to defend their 2010 titles.

RECORD ENTRY

Officials listed a record 430 official starters, up from the 362 of January, 2010. The actual number who cross the start line is always lower but is still expected to be a record. The largest increase is in the bike category with 183 registered to start - up from 151 the previous year.

This year's route goes north-west from Buenos Aires, with the racers crossing into Chile on Wednesday before heading north through the Atacama Desert to reach Arica in the far north of Chile, on the Peruvian border. The race will then turn south and back into Argentina on January. 12 before ending on January 16 in Buenos Aires.

Sainz, in a VW Touareg, may get his stiffest challenge from team mate Nasser Al Attiyah. Stephane Peterhansel, who led much of the race a year earlier in a rival BMW, was also a favourite among the car entries.

TOUGHEST CHALLENGES

Sainz, a double World Rally champion, said at the start: "I'd never underestimate the toughest race in the world but I'm motivated to win the thing."

Frenchman Despres expects his toughest challenges to come from Spaniard Marc Coma, the 2009 champion, and Chilean Francisco Lopez who was third in 2010 and should face pressure to win at home.

"Being able to finish third in the previous Dakar was a great reward but it doesn’t mean the pressure is on for this year's edition," Lopez said. "That said, those around me expect a lot from me."

Argentina’s tourism minister, Enrique Meyer, said he hoped soon to announce the event would return in 2012. He said his country was "80 percent" sure of getting the next race.

'MAXIMUM EXPOSURE'

The rally is run in the middle of the South American summer, a highlight for children on their school holidays. Temperatures on Saturday were around 30C with thousands lining the huge July 9th Avenue to watch the start.

"We can reach out to the world and show them our culture, population, traditions and landscapes," Enrique Meyer said. "The Dakar offers us maximum exposure which no other campaign could give us."

He estimated the race generated about $170 million during the month before and the two weeks of the event.
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