We love the Dakar Rally , we really do . The fastest riders on the fastest bikes taking on some of the toughest desert stages in the world . It ’ s a stunning spectacle that we hungrily tune in for every January . Yet , despite the name , it has nothing to do with its Paris-Dakar roots of old . But … the oddly named Africa Eco Race very much does . The inaugural race was in 2009 and conceived as a rally true to the Paris-Dakar legacy after the Dakar Rally moved to South America . The Africa Eco Race uses the original tracks from the 2008 Paris-Dakar rally , which was cancelled and subsequently left African shores . Starting in Monaco ( in the sovereign city state of Monte Carlo ) on the French Riviera , the race runs through Morocco and Mauritania taking on the dunes and tracks of the Sahara Desert and finishes on the shores of Lac Rose , on the outskirts of Dakar city , Senegal . You might be wondering why it ’ s called the ‘ Eco ’ race when fossil fuel burning vehicles