In 32 years the rally has claimed the lives of 24 competitors, 16 of them bike riders, and 22 non-competitors, most of them African locals. There have been no spectator deaths in South America.
The rally had been run in Europe and northern Africa for 30 years, but in 2008, it was cancelled at the 11th hour after a terrorist threat.
The two-week rally was shifted to Argentina and Chile in 2009 but has kept the same name.
Since moving to South America, the number of track spectators has grown to a massive four million.
With 2.5 billion TV viewers it has become the largest sporting audience for an annual event and is screened for 18 hours over two weeks on SBS in Australia.
The 2011 rally from January 1-16 includes bikes, quad bikes, four-wheel-drive and two-wheel-drive cars and trucks.
Stephane Peterhansel is the most successful Dakar competitor and most successful bike competitor with six bike wins and three victories in a Mitsubishi car. Most successful car entrant is Ari Vatanen, of Finland, who has won the car category four times and Kamaz truck driver Vladimir Tchaguine has won the truck category five times.
Mitsubishi is the most triumphant car brand in the Dakar with 12 victories, followed by Citroen and Peugeot on four, Volkswagen three, Porsche, Range Rover and Schlesser on two, and one each for Mercedes and Renault.
Last year the event was won by Spaniard Carlos Sainz in a Volkswagen Touareg.
In the bike category, Yamaha and KTM have won the Dakar nine times, BMW six and Honda five.
However, KTM is not likely to win this year as the factory has pulled out after organisers restricted the engine capacity to 450cc for professional riders.
Last year's event was won by Frenchman Cyril Despres on a KTM 690 Rally.
Russian Vladimir Chagin won the truck section last year in a Kamaz, the brand's ninth Dakar victory. Tatra and Mercedes-Benz have each won it five times and Tatra four.
Quad bikes have only competed in the past two events in South America. They were both won by Yamahas.
