With 10 stages comprising of extreme terrain, this year's edition of the Dakar rally promises to be the most exciting yet.
The race kicks off in Lima as the 331km combined road and special section en route to Pisco gives drivers a taste of what's to come.
Gruelling to the end
Things get much tougher after the first stage as a number of marathon stages and a new dune area put both man and machine to the test.
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Drivers will get a chance to rest and do some damage control if any in Arequipa. Normal order of business resumes in stage 6 with a large road section followed by a 323km special section in San Juan de Marcona in stage 7.
Stage 8 features a 361km special section to pisco which is then followed by a mass start in stage 9. The final stage sees drivers making the journey back to Lima on a large road section.
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