The 2008 Central Europe Rally was a rally raid endurance race held in Romania and Hungary that legally served as the 30th running of the Dakar Rally.Central Europe Rally 2008: 2008 Edition > The Route
The Amaury Sport Organisation, which organises the Dakar Rally, created this event as a temporary event after the 2007 killing of French tourists in Mauritania less than two weeks before the originally scheduled start of the Dakar Rally.Central Europe Rally 2008: 2008 Edition > Sporting Aspects All Dakar entries were deferred to this event, and for logistical and legal reasons by the ASO's moves, allowed this event to serve as the 30th running of the Dakar Rally.
In the Cars category, Carlos Sainz Sr. won the rally by 2:01 over Stéphane Peterhansel.
In the Trucks division, Hans Stacey was the rally winner.
In the Bikes division, David Casteu was the rally winner.
Route The event began in Budapest on April 19 and finished at Lake Balaton in Hungary on April 26, 2008.
Below is a table with the locations of the start and finish points of each stage of the Rally, as well as each stage's distance.
Date Stage Start Finish Special Stage (km) Road Section (km) Total (km) Stage winners Bikes Quads Cars Trucks 20 April 1 Budapest Baia Mare 63 468 531 M. Coma L. Szabo C. Sainz H. Stacey 21 April 2 Baia Mare Baia Mare 152 140 292 D. Casteu R. Irimescu S. Peterhansel H. Stacey 22 April 3 Baia Mare Debrecen 152 285 437 J. Katriňák R. Irimescu G. de Villiers A. Loprais 23 April 4 Debrecen Veszprém 150 430 580 C. Despres H. Deltrieu C. Sainz H. Stacey 24 April 5 Veszprém Veszprém 210 107 317 D. Casteu N. Nemeth C. Sainz H. Stacey 25 April 6 Veszprém Veszprém 210 107 317 C. Despres H. Deltrieu C. Sainz H. Stacey 26 April 7 Veszprém Balatonfüred 155 42 197 J. Katriňák C. Declerck C. Sainz H. Stacey Total (km) 1,092 1,579 2,671
Results Motorcycles 1. David Casteu (KTM) 12:21:14Central Europe Rally – Victory for Sainz and Casteu - Yahoo! Eurosport UK 2. Francisco López (KTM) +2:58 3. Alain Duclos (KTM) +19:39 4. José Manuel Pellicer (Yamaha) +21:20 5. Cyril Despres (KTM) +22:50
Cars 1. Carlos Sainz/Michel Périn, Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, 11h18m08s 2. Stéphane Peterhansel/Jean-Paul Cottret, Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, + 2.01m 3. Dieter Depping/Timo Gottschalk, Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, + 6.34m 4. Luc Alphand/Gilles Picard, Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution, + 7.28m 5. Carlos Sousa/Andreas Schulz, Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, + 33.45m 6. Bruno Saby/Alain Guehennec, BMW X3 CC, + 46.30m 7. Robert Baldwin/Kevin Heath, Hummer H3, + 56.02m 8. Philippe Gache/François Flick, SMG, + 1h07m08s 9. Miroslav Zapletal/Valdimir Nemajer, Mitsubishi L200, + 1h12m19s 10. Robby Gordon/Andy Grider, Hummer H3, + 1h25m38s
Trucks 1. Hans Stacey, Eddy Chevaillier, Bernard der Kinderen, MAN TGA, 11:43:20 2. Wulfer van Ginkel, Daniël Bruinsma, Richard de Rooy, GINAF X2222, +0:33:43 3. Aleš Loprais, Ladislav Lála, Milan Holáň, Tatra T815-2, +0:53:18 4. Marek Spáčil, Jiří Žák, Zdeněk Němec, LIAZ 151154, +1:27:42 5. Marco Dono, Andrea Bettiga, Angelo Fumagalli, Iveco, +1:28:27
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