The race's history is entwined with tragedy. The helicopter crash which accounted for Sabine's death also led to the death of four others on board.

Just two years later, six people lost their lives, including a 10-year-old Malian girl struck by a competitor's car, and a mother and daughter killed when hit by a television crew's vehicle.

But for those who take part, the risks are part of the excitement.

Michel Merel, runner-up in the motorbike class in 1980, said fear was the biggest lure of the Dakar.

"The piste is like the ocean," he said. "It is wrong not to fear it. As for me, the piste makes me scared -- you don't mess around with it. You can't be an artist."

The race's most successful entrant is Stephane Peterhansel, a six-time winner of the motorcycle category who also has four car titles, including last year.

The Frenchman, 47, describes his Dakar years as "the most memorable of my life," reveling in the "complete emptiness, nothingness" of the desert tundra at night.

While Peterhansel will once again hope to make the headlines, Neathway is likely to be one of the unsung battlers just trying to make it home.

"I've always been a petrolhead and did motocross as a kid," he says. "Since recovering from my injuries, the Dakar has been the dream.

"Most people don't get to do that but I've got the chance. For me, the main thing is just to finish."