The 2010 Dakar (née Paris-Dakar) Rally is well under way. The race began on January 1st and is scheduled to end on the 16th. Thanks to security concerns, the Dakar Rally no longer runs, as its name once indicated, from Paris to Dakar. The event now takes place in Argentina and Chile, and while it’s nowhere near as epic as before, it’s still nothing to sneeze at — some stages encompass up to 550 miles of off-road travel and include everything from desert terrain to dense forest.
We thought we would just post some pretty cool pictures of the Dakar 2010 on Trickshift, but Im sure you can find many other pictures from the rally across the web.
Training is number one in any sport, and auto racing is no exception. Dutch firm Cruden has the bases covered when it comes to NASCAR, Formula 1, and WRC–they supply teams with their very own, and supposedly dead-accurate race car simulator. Only previously available to race drivers, Cruden has now made their machine available to the public for a cool $200k. You’ll need some space to go along with that hefty bill, as the machine comes in at 7.5 by 10 feet in diameter; though we don’t think that you’d be limited on space if you can afford that kind of bill.
Three plasma screens, 5.1 surround sound, seat belt tensioners and six massive hydraulic struts are employed to make it seem real as possible. Us? We’d take a GT3 cup car instead, thank you very much.
M-Sport and Ford Motor Company have announced their new collaborative rally machine, the Fiesta S2000. It’s their first global rally car, and as such will be able to compete in a whole bevy of international competitions ranging from IRC to the S2000 World Cup to Aatos and Aamu’s Finnish Tree Bash.
Features:
- 1998cc I4 Duratec S2000 engine
- 280 horsepower
- 192 lb-ft of twisting torque
- 8,000 rpm redline
- all-wheel drive with sequential manual transmission with an AP clutch
However, the best part about this new rally machine is that it only weighs 2,640 pounds (and thats including a roll cage). 
