The Dakar Rally is set for South America

2009 Dakar Rally have planed the new-look event, which will take place in South America.

The loop course will start and finish in Argentina.

Starting on 3 January, competitors will race south to Patagonia, into the Andes mountains and then Chile's Atacama desert, before the finale on the 18th.

This year's rally did not take place after four French tourists were murdered in Mauritania in December.

The exact route of the 2009 event has not been finalised.