1988 Dakar Rally also known as the 1988 Paris–Dakar Rally was the 10th running of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

event. 311 cars, 183 motorcycles, and 109 trucks started the rally. The rally was won by

Juha Kankkunen Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen (; born 2 April 1959) is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which we ...

, the motorcycle category was won by

Edi Orioli Edi Orioli (born 5 December 1962 in Udine) is an Italian rallying motorcycle racer. Many consider Orioli to be one of the best motorcyclists in rallying, with four victories in the Dakar Rally, and one victory in the Pharaoh Rally, and was conside ...

, and the truck category was won by Karel Loprais on a

Tatra 815 The Tatra 815 is a truck family, produced by Czech company Tatra. It uses the traditional Tatra concept of rigid backbone tube and swinging half-axles giving independent suspension. The vehicles are available in 4x4, 6x6, 8x8, 10x8, 10x10, 1 ...

. The event was marred by the death of six people, three participants, a mother and child killed in

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

when a camera car ran into a group of spectators, and a 10-year-old girl killed crossing the road in

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

. In addition, the rally leader Ari Vatanen's Peugeot 405 was allegedly stolen in

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

, and would only be returned if a ransom of 25 million francs CFA was paid. The car was eventually found, but it was too late to rejoin the race.

Final standings

Trucks

References

Dakar Rally by year

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

1988 in French motorsport 1988 in African sport Auto racing controversies {{motorsport-stub