MOTORSPORT: New dawn for mighty Dakar

A new route but Dakar as tough as ever
Think of the world's great motor races and our Bathurst 1000, the Le Mans 24-hour sports car classic, the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 NASCAR race, the Monaco Grand Prix (if you aren't interested in overtaking) and the Belgian GP come quickly to mind, but can anything compare with the Dakar?

Each year it sneaks up on us at the end of the festive season, and so it has again this time.

And there's something very different about it this year.

The 15-day rally raid is still being called the Dakar, but instead of being from Europe through northern Africa to the capital of Senegal it's in South America -- in Argentina and Chile.

After all the anticipation last year the Dakar was cancelled at the very last minute because of fears of terrorism after the murder of four French citizens and three Mauritanian soldiers just days before the scheduled start.

The year's absence has only made the hearts of Dakar lovers grow fonder.

And, somewhat like has happened with the Tour de France bicycle race, the Dakar's band of Aussie fans has ballooned, thanks to the excellent TV coverage. This year it will feature heavily on Fox Sports and SBS.

Six Australians are among the 530 teams starting the gruelling new-look 31st Dakar in Buenos Aires this weekend.

There are 188 cars, 230 motos, 30 quads and 82 trucks representing 49 nationalities.

The Aussies are Bruce Garland and Hiroaki Suzuki in an Isuzu D-Max built at Windsor in western Sydney, David Schwarz and Christophe Barriere-Varju on KTM motorcycles and Simon Pavey on a BMW, and Richard Hayes in a Mercedes truck with Spaniard Jordi Comallonga.

We'll aim to provide updates a couple of times a week throughout the event, and will keep on eye out for the progress of the Aussies, but are sure enthusiasts will lap up the daily TV bulletins -- and there will be no end of internet coverage (the official site for the event is Dakar.com).

Competitors who complete the event will cover more than 9500 kilometres -- with 5656km of competition in 14 daily stages.

The route, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific and back again, includes the plains of Patagonia, the Atacama Desert and passageways through the Andes mountains, reaching altitudes of 3000 metres.

The first day will be the fastest section as competitors race across the rolling plains of Argentina's Pampas, heading for the resort of Puerto Madrine at the end of day two, before heading west over the dusty trails and over the Andes.

Saturday, January 10, will be a rest day at the Chilean port of Valparaiso, ahead of the second half of the event through the Atacama, back across the Andes and a stopover in Argentina's second biggest city, Cordoba, before returning to Buenos Aires.

Mitsubishi has dominated the Dakar, winning the past seven events with the Pajero/Montero Evolution, and this year debuts its 3-litre V6 two-stage turbocharged diesel four-wheel drive Racing Lancer as it chases its 13th success in the event.

The Lancer is based on a new multi-tubular steel frame with a longer wheelbase and the fuel tank positioned lower, bringing down its centre of gravity.

It won its maiden event, Portugal's Baja 500 in October, out of the box and the new diesel engine is more powerful (maximum 206kW) than its petrol predecessor and delivers 50 per cent more torque (peak 66.3kgfm or 650Nm).

Mitsubishi has retained the strong four-car driver line-up it has had since 2005, headed by Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel -- whose '07 victory was his seventh in the Dakar on two and four wheels.

The other pilots are fellow Frenchman Luc Alphand, Japan's Hiroshi Masuoka and Spaniard Joan "Nani" Roma.

The main threats to yet another Mitsubishi triumph are sure to come from the line-up of Volkswagen Touaregs; one of them again driven by Spain's former world rally champion Carlos Sainz.

Among the huge field is newly-crowned world touring car champion Yvan Muller, known to Australian fans from his Bathurst outings and who will drive a single-seater, Porsche-powered buggy conceived by Dakar legend Jean-Louis Schlesser.

Webber's new F1 car running late?
As if a broken leg hasn't been enough of a disruption to Mark Webber's preparation for the Formula 1 world championship starting at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne at the end of March, France's respected L'Equipe daily sports newspaper has reported that his Red Bull team will get only one pre-season test with its new car. 

Red Bull's Swiss, but French-based, test driver Sebastien Buemi let it be known that the car is behind schedule and won't roll out of the factory in Britain until a couple of weeks after the earlier expected mid-February.

Citing Buemi's information, L'Equipe said that would mean "only one test session" for the Adrian Newey-designed, Renault-engined car to prepare for Melbourne.

It will be the same story with the Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso sister team with which Buemi is tipped to land a race drive this year.

German wonderboy Sebastien Vettel has already switched from Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing, while there is speculation the other 2008 Toro Rosso driver, Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais, may return to American open-wheeler racing, where he won four Champ Car titles.

Bourdais is favourite to become Aussie Ryan Briscoe's teammate if Roger Penske decides a replacement is necessary because of the uncertainty over Brazilian Helio Castroneves, who faces a jail term if convicted in a tax avoidance case starting in March.

Prodrive back in driver's seat for Honda?
No confirmation yet on a buyer for Honda's F1 team.

We believed the deadline was either New Year's Eve or January 5, a month from the announcement of the Japanese manufacturer's withdrawal from F1, although we have read the pullout announcement again and note that no such timeframe was officially imposed.

Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim has denied he is the buyer after an Italian report that he had done a deal.

That surely leaves Prodrive's David Richards as favourite again, provided he can secure the financial backing from the Middle East -- most likely Kuwait -- or elsewhere.

Jenson Button's career is up in the air until the ownership is sorted, as are the futures of veteran Rubens Barrichello and rookie possibility Bruno Senna.

World champion Lewis Hamilton received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's New Year's honors list.

Rob Austin, a former teacher who established the Formula Schools design and technology competition to make engineering more popular and relevant to young people, also was given an MBE.

On the other side of the coin, Volkswagen is getting more active, supplying engines for six cars in the British Formula 3 Championship this year -- among them the Carlin Motorsport entry of Aussie rising star Daniel Ricciardo -- as well as others in the F3 Euroseries, including that of New Zealander Brendon Hartley, who recently tested a Red Bull F1 car in Mark Webber's absence.

Carlin Motorsport boss Trevor Carlin said 19-year-old Ricciardo, from Perth, had been "fantastic" in recent testing with the VW engine at Valencia in Spain.

"He's been quick, consistent and has gelled really well into the team," Carlin said of Australia's Formula Renault West European Cup champion and FR Euroseries runner-up.

"I'm delighted that Red Bull (junior driver program) have entrusted us with one of their most promising young drivers.

"I think we can expect some great performances from him."

Meanwhile Petty Enterprises, founded by Richard Petty's father Lee 60 years ago when NASCAR began and which became the most successful outfit in NASCAR history, winning 10 championships (seven by "The King') and 268 races, is being swallowed by Gillet Evernham Motorsports.

Reed Sorensen, former Ganassi teammate of Juan Pablo Montoya in NASCAR, will carry the No. 43 that Petty made famous as one of four drivers in the GEM stable, while the remaining 39 workers at Petty Enterprises will be laid off.

"The King" sold his majority interest in his team to private equity firm Boston Ventures a year ago.

The team has not won a race since the 1999 victory at Martinsville by John Andretti, also the winner of first Indy race at the Gold Coast in 1991.

The demise of Petty Enterprises is a big symbolic blow for NASCAR, which has already seen more than 1000 workers retrenched in the economic crisis.

Kawasaki's MotoGP withdrawal is expected to be officially announced next Monday, but riders John Hopkins and Marco Melandri and the crew have already been advised.

It follows not only Honda's F1 pullout but the exit of Japanese manufacturers Subaru and Suzuki from the world rally championship.