Competitors of Dakar Rally-99 arrive in Morocco

Competitors of the rally of Dakar-99 arrived Friday in Rabat coming from Grenada, Southern Spain, wherein the bad weather forced organizers to replace the 115 kms first timed stage with a five kms stage held as the prologue.

German KTM rider Dirk Von Zitzewitz and Spanish Miguel Prieto driving a Mitsubishi dominated the prologue in respectively the bike and car categories.

While in Morocco, the competitors will go trough several Moroccan cities before heading for Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal.

Over 350 competitors -- on bike, 4x4 cars and trucks from about 32 countries -- are taking part in the world most prestigious rally covered by 17 foreign tv channels.

The 9002 km-long event features 16 challenging phases testing the endurance of the pilots to turn-off engines in Dakar January 17.