Mandalgovi (Mongolia) (AFP)
Large dusty steppes, vast meadows with grazing horses and sheep: for its 9th edition, the Silk Way rally (Silk Road) crosses for the first time Mongolia.
This rally-raid, which has existed since 2009, came back to life in 2016 after two years of absence. The event, originally contested mainly in Russia, had then changed dimension, with a route through Kazakhstan and China, from Moscow to Beijing.
This year, the 181 competitors of the motorcycle, car and truck categories, got off the ground in Irkoustk, Russian Eastern Siberia, on July 6, not far from Lake Baikal.
After 10 stages and over 5000 km of racing, they must arrive in Dunhuang, China, in the heart of the Gobi Desert.
The Qatari Nasser al-Attiyah, winner in January of his 3rd Dakar, dominates for the moment the classification cars. On the bike, it's the Spaniard Oriol Mena leading the race.
© 2019 AFP