Apparently the Dakar Rally started this month...and it's nearly complete

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Fellow Gearheads - while we've been spending our time getting all misty-eyed and excited over the latest automotive creations and concepts to grace the stands at this year's Detroit Auto Show, it seems we haven't been paying attention to what could be considered as one of the automotive world's most grueling, challenging and incredible displays of man and machine taking on nature's harshest environments - the infamous Dakar Rally.

The Dakar Rally, simply put, is the most grueling, challenging, unforgiving, relentless, terrifying and infamous races ever put on in the motorsport world. For weeks, many competitors ranging from professional racers, to journalists and even those simply willing to just take on the challenge, test the limits of both their vehicles and themselves as they foray through 12 grueling stages, and just over 5,500 miles of extreme competitive driving, fighting through the most grueling elements of nature all in hopes of claiming the right to be among the elite who have conquered the infamous race. Ask anyone who has participated, and they'll more than likely tell you that the fact that they even crossed the line alive is a feat in it of itself, which clues you into just how much of a test the Dakar really is, even for the best of the best in motorsport/ And though the race is held in South America today, this hasn't always been the case.

When the Dakar Rally was first founded in 1977, it was the idea of Thierry Sabine, who'd found the inspiration after he'd gotten lost in the Libyan desert during the Abidjan Rally, where he became infatuated with the environment around him and the adventure he went on as he made his way to France, where he decided he would share his experience with as many people as possible. It was here that the inspiration for the Dakar came about; and the rest, as they say, is history. From then on the Dakar quickly gained reputation and popularity, and Thierry Sabine was there to carry on the tradition every year, until a helicopter crash took his life in 1986, in what became known as "The Black Year".

The race carried on it's usual route, from Paris, France to the Sengalese capital of Dakar, until the murder of 4 French tourists by Al-Qaeda in 2008 forced the race's cancellation on the eve before it was scheduled to start. In 2009, the race would be relocated to South America, where it has been held since.

To sum it up nicely, the Dakar Rally is a legend. A win here, or even a finish for that matter, is  equivalent in the motorsport world to a climber reaching the highest peak of Mount Everest, or a diver exploring the never before seen depths of the ocean. It's a humble display of man and machine working together to overcome torturous conditions and unlikely odds, and although the ones that have been fortunate enough to win the rally are heralded as legends in the motorsport world, finishing the race at all is considered a highly honorable achievement, and the competitors that are able to conquer the infamous race command a respect not seen anywhere else in motorsport, and this year, the race is as spectacular as ever.

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Fast forward to 2015, and the Dakar is as competitive as it ever has been. There have been many close calls, saves, wins, losses, and of course plenty of accidents. This video shot during this year's rally during one of the stages shows just how quickly things can change in the midst of competition, and shows just the kind of risks that these drivers take on the road to the finish line:

Check out the website here, where you'll find everything from the Dakar's history, to highlight videos and galleries. Click here to see the latest rankings.