More than 500 teams are currently speeding across the deserts of Argentina, Chile, and Peru, racing more than 8,300 km (5,150 mi) in the 33rd annual Dakar Rally. Competitors pit themselves against the elements, driving specialized off-road cars, trucks, motorcycles, and quadbikes through challenging terrain for two weeks. One rider, Argentine Jorge Martinez Boero, has already died this year in a crash. The 2012 Dakar Rally began in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on January 1, and racers reached the finish line in Lima, Peru, on Sunday, January 15.
The 2012 Dakar Rally
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Read moreStefan Svitko rides his KTM during the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally 2012, from Iquique to Arica, Chile, on January 11, 2012. #
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Read moreAll the motorbike riders pose for a group photo during preparations for the 2012 Dakar Rally in Mar del Plata, Argentina, on December 31, 2011. #
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Read moreHummer's driver Robby Gordon and co-driver Johnny Campbell from the U.S. jump across the podium during the symbolic start of the 2012 Dakar Rally in Mar del Plata on December 31, 2011. #
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Read moreA biker competes in the 11th stage of the Dakar Rally 2012 from Arica to Arequipa, Peru, on January 12, 2012. #
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Read moreFrench motorcyclist Cyril Despres rides his KTM during the stage 10 of the Dakar 2012 between Iquique and Arica, Chile, on January 11, 2012. Spain's Joan Barreda won stage 10. #
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Read moreChristophe Blondeau of France naps during a break in the 10th stage of the 2012 Argentina-Chile-Peru Dakar Rally in Chile, on January 11, 2012. #
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Read moreMechanics work into the night during the rest day of the 2012 Dakar Rally in Copiapo, Chile on January 8, 2012. #
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Read moreArgentina's Marcos Patronelli races his Yamaha quad as a helicopter flies over during the seventh stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally through Copiapo, Chile, on January 7, 2012. #
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Read moreMini's driver Stephane Peterhansel and co-driver Jean Paul Cottret, both from France, compete in the 11th stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally between Arica, Chile and Arequipa, Peru, on January 12, 2012. #
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Read moreFrance's Stephane Peterhansel and co-pilot Jean-Paul Cottret drive their Mini Monster during the eighth stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally from Copiapo to Antofagasta, on January 9, 2012. #
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Read moreMini Monster pilot France's Stephane Peterhansel arrives for the start of the 10th stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally, on January 11, 2012. #
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Read moreFrance's Christophe Blondeau kicks up sand on his Yamaha during the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally in Copiapo, Chile, on January 7, 2012. #
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Read moreCyril Despres, of France, races his KTM in the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally on January 11, 2012. #
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Read moreSenkalayci Sakir of Turkey rides down a sand dune during stage five of the 2012 Dakar Rally from Chilechito to Fiambala, Argentina, on January 5, 2012. #
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Read moreA race official tends to Mauricio Javier Gomez of Argentina and the Paco Gomez Team after he crashed his Yamaha motorbike in a sand dune during stage five of the 2012 Dakar Rally in Fiambala, Argentina, on January 5, 2012. #
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Read moreJoan Pedrero, of Spain, races his KTM in the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally between Iquique and Arica, Chile, on January 11, 2012. #
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Read morePeruvian Felipe Rios rides his KTM right after the start of the Stage 9 of the 2012 Dakar Rally between Copiapo and Antofagasta in Chile, on January 9, 2012. #
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Read moreSMG pilot Alister McRae of Scotland gets a massage on the eve of the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally in Copiapo, Chile, on January 8, 2012. #
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Read moreMini driver Ricardo Leal Dos Santos and co-driver Paulo Fiuza, both from Portugal, compete in the 11th stage of the Dakar Rally between Arica, Chile and Arequipa, Peru, on January 12, 2012. #
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Read moreThe burning car of Alfie Cox of South Africa and co-driver Jurgen Schroder sits in the sand dunes during stage one of the 2012 Dakar Rally on January 1, 2012 in Santa Rosa de la Pampa, Argentina. #
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Read moreThe burning Polaris of Jose Antonio Blangino of Argentina sits in the sand dunes during stage one of the 2012 Dakar Rally on January 1, 2012 in Santa Rosa de la Pampa, Argentina. #
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Read moreBernard Errandonea of France drives his SMG in stage eight of the 2012 Dakar Rally from Copiapo to Antofagasta, Chile on January 9, 2012. #
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Read moreFrance's Stephane Peterhansel and co-pilot Jean-Paul Cottret drive their Mini Monster as they arrive in Copiapo after the cancelled sixth stage of the Dakar Rally, on January 6, 2012. #
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Read moreA motorbike rider crosses the Chile-Peru border before the start of the 2012 Dakar Rally Stage 11, in Tacna, Peru on January 12, 2012. #
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Read moreJo Adua of France drives his Iveco truck over a sand dune during stage seven of the 2012 Dakar Rally on January 7, 2012 in Copiapo, Chile. #
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Read moreFrance's Cyril Despres cleans his mud-encrusted KTM bike during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally, on January 9, 2012. #
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Read moreStephane Peterhansel of France drives his Mini towards the stage finish on stage nine of the 2012 Dakar Rally from Antofagasta to Iquique, Chile, on January 10, 2012. #
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Read moreCyril Despres, of France, races his KTM in the 10th stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally between Iquique and Arica, Chile, on January 11, 2012. #
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Read moreInjured biker Xavier Pizzolito, from Argentina, is carried to a helicopter during the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally in Chile's Atacama desert, on January 9, 2012. #
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Read moreSpain's Joan Barreda Bort rides his Huqsvarna in the tenth stage of the Dakar Rally from Iquique to Arica, on January 11, 2012. #
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Read moreMechanics prepare the Man truck of France's Raphael Gimbre on the eve of the eighth stage of the Dakar Rally in Copiapo, Chile, on January 8, 2012. #
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Read moreSpain's Gerard Farres Guell rides his KTM during the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally in Copiapo, Chile on January 7, 2012. #
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Read moreThe Netherlands' Frans Verhoeven rides his Sherco in the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally from San Juan to Chilecito, on January 4, 2012. #
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Read moreJacek Czachor of Poland and the Orlen Team crosses a river during stage eleven of the 2012 Dakar Rally from Arica to Arequipa, Peru, on January 12, 2012. #
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Read moreFrance's Camelia Liparoti waits on her Yamaha quad for the start of the 11th stage of the Dakar Rally from Arica to Arequipa, on January 12, 2012. #
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Read moreKamaz driver Andrey Karginov and co-driver Andrey Mokeev, both from Russia, compete in the truck category in the third stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally between San Rafael and San Juan, Argentina, on January 3, 2012. #
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Read moreFans gather on a sand dune to watch the start of stage twelve of the Dakar Rally from Arequipa to Nasca, on January 13, 2012 in Nasca, Peru. #
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Read moreErik Wevers, Dutch co-driver of the Mitsubishi driven by Fabian Lurquin, from Belgium, walks along the desert after their car got stuck in the sand during the 12th stage of the Dakar Rally between Arequipa and Nazca in Peru, on January 13, 2012. #
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Read moreArgentinian Lucio Ezequiel drives in the 2012 Dakar Rally Stage 13 Nasca-Pisco, in Peru, on January 14, 2012. #
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Read moreToyota's driver Giniel De Villiers from South Africa and co-driver Dirk Von Zitzewitz from Germany, compete in the 12th stage of the 2012 Dakar Rally, on Friday January 13, 2012. #
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Read moreMini driver Stephane Peterhansel, of France, center, sprays a bottle of sparkling wine over team members at the 2012 Argentina-Chile-Peru Dakar Rally podium ceremony in Lima, Peru, Sunday January 15, 2012. The 46-year-old Peterhansel has won Dakar six times on motorbikes, and now four times in the car category. #
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