As the novelty of the new year begins to wear off, motorsport begins to come back with a vengeance. Weekends once again feature top class racing, rallying and much more. This particular weekend saw the finale of the first major international motorsport event of 2009, with the Dakar Rally.

After the cancellation of the 2008 event due to terrorist threats, the whole Dakar road show moved to Latin America for the first time. The rally began on the 3rd January in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and celebrated it's finale in the same city on the 17th. With some 6,000 kilometres of stage distance, the event was as gruelling as ever for all involved. The event was as eventful as ever, with numerous setbacks for many competitors. Former World Rally Champion, Carlos Sainz, crashed out whilst leading the Car class. He was in a strong position at the head of the field, and would have been confident that he could have sealed the victory. Instead it was Giniel De Villiers who took the honour in that class, with Marc Coma winning in the Bikes. Josef Machacek took the Quad class, and Firdaus Kabirov in the Truck class. The event was marred by the death of Bike class competitor, Pascal Terry. I'm sure everyone's thoughts and wishes are with those he left behind.

The middle of the week sees the Monte Carlo Rally, this season featuring in the Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC). It begins on Wednesday, and finishes on Friday. Weather forecasters have predicted significant amounts of snow and ice for this year's Monte. Extensive coverage of the the challenging event can be seen on Eurosport.

Results

  Rallying

    Dakar

      Car Class (Top 10)
        1. DE VILLIERS / VON ZITZEWITZ
        2. MILLER / PITCHFORD
        3. GORDON / GRIDE
        4. TOLLEFSEN / EVANS
        5. HOLOWCZYC / FORTIN
        6. DEPPING / GOTTSCHALK
        7. ZAPLETA / OUREDNICEK
        8. NOVITSKIY / TYUPENKIN
        9. CHICHERIT / BAUMEL
       10. ROMA / CRUZ SENRA

      Truck Class (Top 10)
        1. KABIROV / BELYAEV / MOKEEV
        2. CHAGIN / SAVOSTIN / NIKOLAEV
        3. DE ROOY / COLSOUL / VAN MELIS
        4. MARDEEV / MIZYUKAEV / MARDEEV
        5. ECHTER / RUF / KLEIN
        6. DE AZEVEDO / JUSTO / MARTINEC
        7. VILA ROCA / TORRELLARDONA  / BUSOMS
        8. VAN GINKEL / TIJSTERMAN / DE ROOY
        9. JUVANTENY / CRIADO / ROMAN
       10. SZALLER / POCSIK / CSITARI

      Bike Class (Top 10)
        1. COMA
        2. DESPRES
        3. FRETIGNE
        4. CASTEU
        5. RODRIGUES
        6. ULLEVALSETER
        7. VILADOMS
        8. VERHOEVEN
        9. KNUIMAN
       10. GONCALVES

      Quad Class (Top 10)
        1. MACHACEK
        2. PATRONELLI
        3. SONIK
        4. DELTRIEU
        5. BRAZINA
        6. AVENDANO
        7. CARLINI
        8. KRAFT
        9. POTTIER
       10. PENA