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The final, much-anticipated presentation on the rally route by Course Director Patrick Zaniroli caused a minor stir among participants. The race will cover just 5431 km of Special Stages within a total distance of 8956 km traversing only five countries: Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Senegal. Despite the decreased distance, the complex and intricate route mapped out through Mauritania hints at a course offering numerous challenges.
 As already announced, the Rally will kick off from Barcelona, Spain. The official prologue races on 29 and 30 December will be followed by a 4 km gallery stage, known as the Super Special stage, through the suburbs of Barcelona. This pre-start stage was established in the early 1990s and determines the rankings for the SS start on 2 January. The Grand Start in Barcelona will kick off at 10 a.m. on 1 January (with motorcycles). This day will be a liaison (transfer) stage only of 919km leading to Granada. On the 2nd a 10km SS will be run within the army base facility in the city of Granada (the same location as when Granada hosted the start previously). The T4 class/ category will start in the order determined by the 31 December results and the T2 category will start in reverse order based on those results. This will lead into a 507km liaison stage to Gibraltar. Competitors will cross the Mediterranean on a midnight ferry, landing at Rabat in Morocco. After a short rest, competitors embark on the long-awaited African stage on the 3rd.
The first day of the African stage consists of a 123km Special Stage, crossing the Atlas Mountains to Agadir. While this is a familiar mountain course to entrants the ever-present risk of dropping over cliffs requires extra care. On 5 January the course heads for Smara in the Western Sahara and the following day leads to Zouerat from where the event enters its main stage in Mauritania. All the bivouac areas for this event have been used in the past. In places like Mauritania there are very few stages where the choice is limited to only one road and by shifting the route several hundred meters the level of difficulty can be changed considerably from easily-traversed flat slopes to soft sandy hills. The normal routine is for the sponsor to regulate course difficulty through setting check points (CP) and in Mauritania there is no room whatsoever for loss of concentration. The stage to the Tichit bivouac on the 6th is the first marathon stage with no assistance team, which means that the competiion vehicles must quickly be sequestered in the parc ferme upon arrival. This special stage leads into the Tichit bivouac and starts again the following day without an intervening liaison stage. Repairs will therefore have to be carried out during the SS. Any damage sustained by vehicles during this 660km SS stage to Tichit, the longest in the race, has the potential to greatly affect rankings, a factor that is likely to be pivotal in determining success or failure in this event.
The mid-point rest day will be taken at Atar on 9 January. Surrounded by black, table-topped, rocky mountains, Atar has been used as a rest location in the past. The first day of the second half of the race on the 10th follows a loop branching out from Atar. As the surrounding countryside is a mixture of sand and rocks, some drivers predict that this will be one of the most challenging stages. The race arrives in Bamako, the capital of Mali, on 12 January which will be another marathon stage. There will be a parc ferme here but at this point the final positions should virtually be known. After Mali there are no sand dunes and the single road is a test of endurance. The rally reaches Senegal on 14 January and then Dakar on the following day. The race is effectively over on the 15th. On the 16th there remains only a short ceremonial special stage along the salt lake Lac Rose outside Dakar after which competitors cross the traditional finish line.
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On 17 November Dakar Rally sponsor, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) chose the Pabellon Armenonville restaurant in the Bois du Bologne, Paris to present an overview of the forthcoming 2005 Telefonica Dakar Rally. Official 4WD vehicles flanking the entrance, and a display of competitor vehicles inside the venue created a colorful Dakar Rally ambience in the 15 meter square reception hall which was also home to this event last year. The presentation started at ten a.m. midst a lively atmosphere generated by some 500 attendees representing entrants, media representatives and sponsors.
Works team entrants and drivers on the ‘priority list’ (excluding motorcycles) must select only one type of tire for the duration of the race. The 2005 race has attracted a record 695 entries including vehicles in the assistance class. The motorcycle class proved as popular as ever with all places booked out by August. The previous record of 603 entries was set in 1988 but at the time the majority of mechanics traveled by air. As the figures for this race include 227 assistance vehicles and trucks, in real terms, the 1988 rally did have a higher number of competitors. Mr Lavigne has previous experience in managing rally logistics and is a familiar face to event regulars. He is the fifth race organizer since the rally was founded by Thierrry Sabine.
