Budapest-Bamako

The Budapest-Bamako or Great African Run is a charity car race in Africa, and the largest amateur rally in the world. It is a low-budget version of the Dakar Rally, and goes from Budapest, Hungary to Bamako, Mali through the Sahara. It passes through Hungary, Austria or Slovenia, Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Mali. The Budapest-Bamako was inspired by the Paris-Dakar Rally. There are few entry restrictions: as long as a vehicle is street legal, it can join the event. The event also raises money and supplies for local communities and charities in Mali.

The event was the brainchild of Hungarian internet entrepreneur and former radio shock jock Andrew G. Szabo, who wanted to give rally fans an option to the more expensive and stricter Dakar rally. After first envisioning a direct drive through the Sahara in Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali he opted for a safer and more scenic route around the Western rim of Africa.

On 26 December 2005, forty-two teams lined up in Budapest's Hősök tere for the inaugural run of the Budapest-Bamako. Two weeks later all but two teams arrived in Bamako's Place des Heroes (both meaning Heroes' Square in English). In 2007, over a hundred teams entered the race. Only ten of them did not cross the finish line.

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