The Paris-Dakar Rally

The Paris-Dakar Rally is one of the most famous, and grueling, races in the world. This legendary three-week trek starts in Paris on New Year's Day and ends 5,000 miles, several busted transmissions and lots of salt tablets later. At least for those drivers who are lucky enough to make it all the way across some of Africa's harshest terrain and pass the finish line in the Senegalese capital of Dakar.

This year's race, the 23rd installment, begins at dawn on Jan. 1, 2001, departs from Parc Ferme in Paris, and runs through 20 stages until Jan. 21. It traverses France and Spain, and then racers, crew, groupies and media will be ferried to Morocco.

The route then zigzags across the El Djouf Desert of Mauritania and culminates in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, on the western coast of Africa. Created by Frenchman Thierry Sabine Thierry Sabine , the rally is tracked in French, Spanish and English on the Web site www.dakar.com. The rally also will be covered by the racing-oriented cable channel Speedvision.

Rallies like this can be jaw-droppingly expensive. Costs include entry fees, specially-reinforced vehicles, support teams and travel, and can quickly run into the high six figures. (Most of the entrants need to be sponsored, but if you have at least $10,000, a tough off-road vehicle, a best friend who's a mechanic, and a last will and testament, you can always sign up for next year's race.)

Rallying has a huge worldwide following and attracts many celebrity fans. Last year, for example, martial arts movie star Jackie Chan Jackie Chan was a guest of Mitsubishi during the Cairo stage of the race--Chan always drives Mitsubishis in his movies; the bad guys drive Hondas--and frequently shows up to watch world-class races.

If it's anything like the 2000 rally, the finishers of the 2001 race will arrive dusty, stubbly, and, er, piquant. And there will be no shortage of drama.

Consider first the absurd scale of the event. As of December 2000, registrants for this year's running numbered 130 motorcycles, 111 cars and 34 trucks, necessitating 78 support vehicles, 22 planes, eight helicopters, and millions of gallons of fuel--the race's primary sponsor is the African petroleum giant Total . Then reflect on the logistical demands presented by those numbers, especially in a crisis. In 2000, terrorist threats forced an impromptu airlift of the whole rally over the entire country of Niger.

The race is not only a logistical nightmare; it's a daunting physical endurance test as well.

At a demonstration for the press corps at last year's race, a reporter was strapped into the five-point safety harness in the co-pilot's seat of a modified Mitsubishi Pajero--seriously modified, at a cost of some $300,000. (Features: extra-stiff monocoque body, hand-milled magnesium wheels from France, huge Kevlar gas tank, compressed-air system that allows changing the tire pressure from inside the truck on the fly.)

At the wheel of this beast was Jean-Pierre Fontenoy Jean-Pierre Fontenoy , a Frenchman who took third place in his class in 2000. "Are you ready?" Fontenoy asked through the headset. And then he punched it: straight into ruts and over rocks, whipping around hills, gunning through the gears, copping several feet of air multiple times.

The car went 50 mph, 60 mph easy, on terrain that would cause any sensible person to slow down, turn tail and limp home. But Fontenoy, who drove this section with split-second timing and skill, endures that kind of abuse all day, day after day.

American driver Jimmy Smith Jimmy Smith , after a post-finish shower, put it this way: "I like to think of myself as an athlete." It's hard to argue that point. With man and machine stressed to the limit, this race makes NASCAR events look like Sunday drives to church. Which, of course, is what makes it so much fun to watch--and even more fun to drive.