The Trans-oriental Rally was a motor rally which started in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

on June 12, 2008 and ended next to the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...

near Beijing on June 28, 2008.

Overview

It was an alternative to the Lisboa

2008 Dakar Rally The 2008 Dakar Rally would have been the 30th running of the annual off-road race. The rally was to start in Lisbon, Portugal on 5 January 2008, running through Europe and Africa until the finish in Dakar, Senegal on 20 January. The event was can ...

which was cancelled due to fears of terrorism. Among the drivers on the race was

François Delecour François Delecour (born 30 August 1962) is a French rally driver. Biography Career in World Rally Championship François Delecour began rallying in 1981, in the French national championship. He entered his first major event, the Monte Carlo R ...

, two-time winner of the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

. There were 16 legs planned:

Fatalities

To date there have been two fatalities on the race: * Chinese driver Xu Lang, June 17 (from injuries sustained a day earlier) * French motorcyclist Philippe Tonin, June 17 The latter fatality led the Russian Kamaz team to withdraw.Kamaz pulls out of the Transorientale , Motors TV

References

Motorsport.com article

External links

*
Weblog focusing on the performance of motorcycle participant Patricia Watson-Miller
Rally raid races {{sport-event-stub