Racers ‘Rally’ Across South America's Toughest Terrain

By Michael Lopez

Forget NASCAR. If you want to see some real high-performance racing, head down to Argentina and Chile for the 2011 Dakar Rally, where hundreds of off-road competitors are racing bikes, cars and trucks through the Andes mountains and the Chilean desert as part of a 16-day competition that ends Sunday.

Drivers from all over the world are rallying across 5,900 miles of South America's toughest terrain, including mountains, deserts and wetlands. One racer died in a collision Thursday.

Launched in the 1970s, the Dakar Rally first blazed it trails through the Algiers desert. In the decades that followed, thrill-seekers have created Dakar routes through such places as Cape Town, South Africa; Cairo, Egypt; and Granada, Spain.

South America has been home to the Dakar Rally since 2009, in part because of its popularity there. And don't think the countries aren't capitalizing on the event. This year, Chile brought out a memorable artifact to entertain the crowds.

Have you ever tried off-road racing? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Argentina, Dakar Rally, Hot Stuff, Los 33, Racing, Sports