Dakar Cancelled

The prestigious Paris-Dakar Rally has been cancelled amid terrorist threats. The event was due to begin in the first week of January from Lisbon.

It isn’t the first time that the rally, one of the toughest off-road events has come under threat from forces in North Africa. The biggest question is whether the event can recover from the cancellation. The organizers have announced that the rally will return next year but one has to question if it is nothing but hopes and dreams. The event has to take into account the financial loss from it’s cancellation along with the prospect of such issues arising again in the future. Political stability isn’t something we are likely to see happen in Africa anytime soon and now that the terrorists know it is possible to ‘win’ against the rally I see no reason why they cannot do this again next year.

In it’s current format it’s likely we have seen the last of the Paris-Dakar. If it is to return I would forsee changes to ensure that such threats won’t grind the rally to a halt in the future.