2007 Dakar Rally

The 2007 Dakar Rally was the 29th running of the event. It started in Lisbon, Portugal on 6 January and ran through Europe and Africa until 21 January 2007. It was the last time the event would take place in Africa, as the 2008 event since the ASO relocated the race to an all-Eastern Europe route in April because of terrorist attacks, and moved to South America from 2009.

Entries

Stage	Bikes	Cars	Trucks	Total
Start of Rally	245	181	85	511
Rest Day	173	128	66	367
End of Rally	132	109	59	300

Trucks

Manufacturer

Team

No.

Driver

Co-Drivers

nowrap|Kamaz-Masternowrap|

Route

The race began in Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Mali, and Senegal. The total race distance was, of which was timed special stage. There was a rest day in Atar, Mauritania on 13 January.
*

Stages

[Image:DakarRally2007PL.jpg|right|270px|thumb|Rally stages map]
''Note: The timed section of stage 7 was shortened to due to adverse weather conditions.''

Final standings

A total of 132 bikes, 109 cars, and 60 trucks finished the race.

Incidents

The 2007 event was marred by the deaths of two competitors, both in the motorcycle division. The first was South African motorcyclist Elmer Symons, who was competing in the rally for the first time, on the fourth stage between Er Rachidia and Ouarzazate. He was the 47th competitor to die taking part in the Dakar. The second death occurred on the 14th and penultimate stage; French motorcyclist Eric Aubijoux was found dead from the finish line in Dakar. Initial reports indicated he had suffered a fatal heart attack. Later investigations indicated he had been involved earlier in an accident with another vehicle.