Dakar dust set to fly

The clock is counting down to the start of the 2016 Dakar Rally, with the gruelling test of man and machine set to commence on January 2.

Alongside the bikes, cars and quads, the 2016 Dakar will see no fewer than 58 trucks tackle the torturous route through Argentina and Bolivia, with the ultimate winner to be crowned in the Argentine city of Rosario on January 16.

The winners of the last three Dakars in the truck category, Andrey Karginov, Eduard Nikolaev and Ayrat Mardeev, will be the overwhelming favourites in 2016. All three will once again be representing Russian truck manufacturer Kamaz, but Iveco's Gerard De Rooy will also be well and truly in the hunt, having conscripted former rival, Ales Loprais, into his crack squad.

The Kamaz threat is considerable. Drivers of the Russian trucks have won 12 times from a possible 15 in the 21st century. On South American soil, they have taken more than 75 per cent of podium places, and they took out a clean sweep of the top three slots in 2015.

However, De Rooy proved in 2012 that defeating Kamaz is possible, and he'll be looking to take his Iveco to victory again next year.

Meanwhile Team Veka MAN will run 2007 winner, Hans Stacey – who has come over from the De Rooy Group – and Peter Versluis, while the Czech Republic's Martin Kolomy will look to improve on his fifth place in 2013 and power his Tatra into the top three.

This is also the objective of Martin Van den Brink, who is used to flirting with the Top 10 and who will count on the technical progress of his Renault truck to mount a serious assault. His victory in the recent Rally of Morocco is proof of that progress, but then – as every competitor knows – anything is possible in the Dakar.

To whet your appetite, check out the clip below for some truck highlights from the 2015 Dakar Rally…