VOL. 53 ISSUE 3 JANUARY 26, 2016 P63
K
R R A L L Y I N P H O T O S
I
t was a year of firsts at the 2016
Dakar Rally – the first-ever
victory for Toby Price, the first
time an Australian won, and 2016
also marked the first time five-time
Dakar Champion Marc Coma,
who now serves as the event's
Sporting Director, laid out the
route. He probably couldn't have
picked a worse year to do so, as
El Niño seemed to ravage every
step of the two-week-long 5600-
mile race. Severe weather from
hail and thunderstorms to searing
temperatures of 113° F, racers faced
the full gambit of extremes. After
Stage 1 was canceled outright,
most of the remaining 12 stages
were shortened due to continuing
harsh weather—rising river levels
and lightning storms causing safety
issues for racers.
Still, the show must (and did)
go on. Despite the weather
complications, altered routes and
canceled sections, the tough
endured, and the strongest made
history. Enjoy some of the amazing
photography from this year's Dakar
Rally, and the moments of high-
drama, heartbreak and victory that
unfolded in "the toughest race
in the world."
To revisit the daily in-depth reports
from the 2016 Dakar Rally, visit the
Dakar Rally page on the Cycle News
website. http://www.cyclenews.
com/series/dakar-rally/
PHOTOGRAPHY BY HRC, RED BULL CONTENT POOL, YAMAHA, HUSQVARNA
MOTORCYCLES (BARNI C.) AND KTM (BARNI C., BAUER E. / RALLYZONE, KIN M.)
