Another edition of the legendary Dakar Rally is finally underway in Argentina/Chile. In the media, we almost exclusively hear about the only remaining works teams, Volkswagen and BMW X-Raid. Moreover, Robby Gordon and his Hummer team are mentioned quite often, but that was it.

However, we were taking a look at the entire entry list to find out which other car makes are present at the Dakar in order to elect the real “King of Dakar”...

Uncontested winner and "King of the Dakar" with 32 entries is – I am not surprised – Toyota. This equals 25,8% of the entire starting field.

The 32 Toyotas split into following models: 
20 x Land Cruiser-series (80/105120/200)
6 x Hilux
4 x FJ Cruiser
1 x Tundra
1 x Tacoma 

Although they withdrew their official works team from the event, Mitsubishi is this year’s runner-up with 21 entries. Their model-split looks like this: 
9 x Pajero
5 x L200
5 x Racing Lancer
1 x Pajero Evo
1 x Pajero Sport 

Third place goes to Nissan with a total of 9 entries: 
3 x Pickup
2 x Pathfinder
1 x Proto Dessoude
1 x Patrol GR
1 x Terrano
1 x Navara Proto

Fourth place goes to a UK based firm which has specialised itself in building Rally Raid cars based on Land Rover Models - Bowler: 
5 x Bowler Wildcat 200
2 x Bowler Nemesis
1 x other 

With 7 entries, McRae comes in fifth.

Although participating at the Dakar with a works team, BMW only shows up 6 times on the entry list: 
4 x X3 CC
1 x X5
1 x BMW Desert Warrior

Similar to BMW, Volkswagen only shows up 6 times as well, thereby sharing the 6^th place with BMW: 
5 xVW Race Touareg
1 xVW Buggy 

Moreover, 3 Hummers (H3) entered the Dakar 2010. 

3 x SMG, 3 x Desert Warrior, 2 x Isuzu (D-Max), 2 x Subaru (Forrester), 2 x KIA (Sorento), 2 x Chery, 1x Great Wall, 1x Hyundai (Santa Fe), 1x Ford (F-150 Raptor), 1 x Troller, 1 x Mercedes (ML) and 13 others complete the starting field. 

By looking at the entry list, it becomes clear that most participants rely on Japanese material, foremost Toyota and Mitsubishi. However, those companies are not actively investing money in the event. Their products obviously speak for themselves and are used by professionals and amateurs alike. So Volkswagen & BMW, you may win the Dakar, but you will never win the hearts of overland travelers and 4x4 enthusiasts...but I know, that’s not your target group, you have achieved your goal if you can convince the ordinary man in the street how cool your products are ;-)  

With these words i wish you a Happy New Year and enjoy the Dakar 2010!! I personally hope we will see the Dakar back in Africa soon again!