Tour of Takalamankan set to roar off in May

The Tour of Takalamankan Desert will be held from May 28 to June 8, the organizers - the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region sports bureau, the Federation of Automobile Sports of China and the China Motor Sports Association, announced on Monday in Urumqi.

The 12-day event will cover 4,000 kilometers with eight special stages amounting to 2,000km. To increase the difficulty of the tour, racing on sand will be raised by 20 per cent. The final route will be announced after a reconnaissance of the area next month.

Besides the traditional car and motorbike categories, this year's competition has added truck and international groups to raise the field to an estimated 200 racing cars, bikes and trucks and about 400 drivers and riders.