Dakar Rally to be awarded to Bolivia on November 24

The Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) will officially give the 2016 Dakar Rally to Bolivia on November 24, said the country's Minister of Culture and Tourism Marko Machicao.

"On November 24, the official announcement of the Dakar will happen in the country, days after the first announcement takes place in Paris on November 18. We will hold a grand celebration as this time, the competition will pass us in all its forms," Xinhua quoted Machicao as saying on Thursday.

The Dakar Rally will "complete" in Bolivia as all its types of vehicles, trucks, cars, motorcycles and quads, will pass through the country, which will represent between 1,200 and 1,500 vehicles, including support crews.

The race will go through Bolivia and Argentina, after Peru dropped out, and the inclusion of a new country was ruled out.

The three stages of the Dakar to take place in Bolivia will be "quick stages", where vehicles can be taken up to their top speeds, as opposed to the more challenging stages to be found in Argentina.

The Dakar 2016 will begin on January 3 in Buenos Aires and finish in Rosario, Argentina, on January 16 after passing through Bolivia.

The first stage to be in Bolivia will start in Jujuy, Argentina, before crossing the border to Uyuni. The second day has been labelled Uyuni-Uyuni, as it will start and finish in the same town. The third day will see the drivers and riders roar out of Uyuni and reach Salta, just on the other side of the Argentinean border.

The main camp for the competitors will be set up in the Uyuni military base, as it was for the last two years, but the government has announced it will make it bigger due to the number of visitors being expected along the route.