Video PlayerClose

AREQUIPA, Jan. 12 -- Thirteen-time Dakar Rally champion Stephane Peterhansel expressed his hope on Saturday that the event will soon return to Africa, expressing nostalgia for the gruelling Sahara desert terrain.

The prestigious off-road race, whose original route was from Paris to Dakar, was shifted to South America in 2009 because of security concerns.

Peterhansel, who has won the Dakar seven times in a car and six times on a bike, said the event had lost some of its charm since its relocation.

"In Africa you started at one point and ended up at another. Here it's a bit more artificial because you start at one place and do loops. We arrive at a good dune site and we stay for two days," the 53-year-old Frenchman said during a rest day of the race's current edition in Peru.

"When you like adventure you want to cross a whole country. The biggest adventure I remember is when we started in Paris and ended up in Cape Town."

Peterhansel added: "When I was in Africa we never slept in a hotel. Sometimes a village would be set up in the middle of nowhere to sleep and do some repairs and then we continued the rally the next day."

However, Peterhansel stressed that if he had to pick a country to host the Dakar in South America, he would choose Peru because the dunes are the ones that most closely resemble the Sahara desert."

This year's event marks the first time the Dakar has been held in a single country since its inception in 1979.

【体坛英语资讯：Frances Peterhansel hoping for Dakar Africa return】相关文章：

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Lindsay Lohan to be caught on tape

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Julianne Moores valentine to charity

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Jet Li, Siqin Gaowa crowned at HK Film Awards

★ 体坛英语资讯：Croatia bullish, Germany relieved at Euro 2008

★ 体坛资讯：Bucks more confident after meeting with Yi

★ 娱乐英语资讯：Lohans ex bodyguard blames parents for her wild behaviour

★ 体坛英语资讯：Boston stays hot at home

★ 体坛英语资讯：CBA struggling to find TV audience

★ 体坛资讯：Tour reels from latest doping scandal

★ 体坛英语资讯：Istanbul confident of successful torch relay