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30th Dakar Rally Canceled |
The 30th Dakar was canceled Friday, the day before the race was to begin, due to security concerns.
Over the Holidays in Mauritania four French tourists were killed and a fifth injured by a group linked to al-Qaida. Three days later gunmen killed three soldiers in the remote northern part of the country.
The attacks concerned organizers of the Dakar Rally and when threats to the event were made by "terrorist organizations," the Dakar was canceled. This is the first time in the event's 30 year history it has been canceled. Stages have been canceled before due to safety concerns, but nothing ever to this extent.
Jonah
Street commented, "It's unfortunate that so many people's livelihoods are
affected by a few people's attitudes. I was looking forward to the race
this year, and my whole team and I are extremely disappointed. This
would have been a great race for us".
Charlie
Rauseo, team manager "It is a huge blow to our team. This is the race
we look forward to and spend all year preparing for."
After
having spent many months training and preparing for this rally, the
team regrets not having the chance to prove itself on this
international stage. It is unfortunate that the race was not run at
least in Morocco so that sponsors could receive some of the exposure
from this great race, and supporters and fans could cheer on Jonah as
he raced for the win.
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