Were as I agree this sucks, you can't blame the French for the actions they took. If this article is correct and they were pretty much told by the terrorist themselves that if the race was held they would preform some kind of terrorist act aka blow something up, kidnap someone, etc. they really had no choice. I highly doubt any government in the world thinks the the Dakar Rally is imporant enough to deploy the kind of counter terrorist measures to assure the safety of everyone involved in this event. Remember most of this race takes place out in the desert away from the public eye. You would almost have to have some form of security travel along with each indivdual race car and motorcycle.