1979 Dakar Rally also known as the 1979 Paris-Dakar Rally was the first running of the Dakar Rally

Dakar Rally

The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...

 event. The rally began on 26 December 1978 from Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 to Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

, Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

, interrupted by a transfer across the Mediterranean. The idea for the race originated when a racer Thierry Sabine

Thierry Sabine

Thierry Sabine was a French wrangler, motorcycle racer, and founder and main organizer of Paris Dakar....

 got lost in the desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

 and decided that it would be a good location for a regular rally.

170 competitors started the rally. Cyril Neveu won the motorcycle category on a Yamaha. The car category was won by Genestier and Terbiaut in a Range Rover.

Stages

Stage	Date	From	To	Total (km)
1	26 December 1978	Paris Paris Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...	Montlhéry Montlhéry Montlhéry is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris.Inhabitants of Montlhéry are known as Montlhériens.-History:...
2	27 December 1978	Montlhéry Montlhéry Montlhéry is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris.Inhabitants of Montlhéry are known as Montlhériens.-History:...	Marseille Marseille Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
	28–30 December 1978	Transportation to Africa
3	31 December 1978	Algiers Algiers ' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...	In Salah In Salah Historical weather records for In Salah: -External links:* *...	960
4	1 January 1979	In Salah	Reggane Reggane Reggane from berber argan is a town in the Adrar Province of central Algeria, in the Sahara Desert. It is the southernmost town of the Tuat....	270
5	2 January 1979	Reggane	Tamanrasset
6	3 January 1979	Tamanrasset	In Guezzam In Guezzam In Guezzam is a town in Algeria on the border with Niger in the Tamanrasset Province. It is coextensive with In Guezzam district. There is an airport there, which is, however, closed for public usage....	373
7	4 January 1979	Assamaka	Arlit Arlit Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr mountains. It is 200 km south by road from the border with Algeria...	230
8	5 January 1979	Arlit	Agadez Agadez -Sources:* Aboubacar Adamou. "Agadez et sa région. Contribution à l'étude du Sahel et du Sahara nigériens", Études nigériennes, n°44, , 358 p.* Julien Brachet. Migrations transsahariennes. Vers un désert cosmopolite et morcelé . Paris: Le Croquant, , 324 p. ISBN : 978-2-91496865-2.*. Saudi Aaramco...	231
9	6 January 1979	Agadez	Niamey Niamey -Population:While Niamey's population has grown steadily since independence, the droughts of the early 1970s and 1980s, along with the economic crisis of the early 1980s, have propelled an exodus of rural inhabitants to Niger's largest city...	920
10	7 January 1979	Niamey	Gao Gao Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....	448
	8 January 1979	Rest day in Gao
11	9 January 1979	Gao	Mopti Mopti Mopti is a city at the confluence of the Niger and the Bani in Mali, between Timbuktu and Ségou. The city lies on three islands linked by dykes: the New Town, the Old Town and Medina Coura. As a result it is sometimes known as the "Venice of Mali".-History:The city of Mopti derives its name from...	600
12	10 January 1979	Mopti	Bamako Bamako Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...	650
13	11 January 1979	Bamako	Nioro du Sahel Nioro du Sahel Nioro du Sahel often referred to as simply Nioro is a town and commune in the Kayes Region of western Mali, 241 km from the city of Kayes. It is located 275 miles north-west of the capital Bamako...	417
14	12 January 1979	Nioro du Sahel	Kayes Kayes Kayes is a city in western Mali on the Sénégal River, with a population of roughly 100,000 people. Kayes is the capital of the administrative region of the same name. The name "Kayes" comes from the Soninké word "karré", which describes a low humid place that floods in rainy season...	270
15	13 January 1979	Kayes	Bakel Bakel, Senegal Bakel is a town of approximately 15,000 inhabitants located in the eastern part of Senegal, West Africa. The town is located along the Sénégal River, from the Malian border and linked by canoe ferry to the town of Gouray, Mauritania. It is one of the three departmental capitals in the region of...	69
16	14 January 1979	Bakel	Dakar Dakar Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...	96

Winners

Year	Cars		Motorcycles		Route
	Driver Co-Driver	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1979	Alain Génestier   Joseph Terbiaut	Range Rover	Cyril Neveu	Yamaha XT500	Paris-Dakar