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The Dakar: Luis Belaustegui

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-971044.mp3

Kansas City, Mo. – Every New Year's Day, the 15-day Dakar race begins. The first race took place in 1979 and went from Paris to Dakar, Senegal. Today, it winds through 6000 miles of mostly deserts in Argentina, Chile and Peru, and it involves motorcycles, cars and trucks.

The DAKAR is world's longest, and, some would say, most dangerous cross country race. Drivers get lost, vehicles break down, and racers can get hurt or even killed. Susan Wilson recently spoke with motorcycle racer Luis Belaustegui who hails from Argentina. He raced the 2011 Dakar representing Kansas City. He says that, despite the competition, the intense conditions of the race cause drivers to observe a strict code of conduct to help each other out.
photos: courtesy of Luis Belaustegui

Luis Belaustegui is UMKC's Language Resource Center Director. He plans to race again in the 2012 Dakar Race.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
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