Japanese driver Hiroshi Masuoka (R), French driver Stephane Perterhansel (L) and Italian biker Fabrizio Meoni (C) pose for the photographers before the Paris-Dakar Rally technical check in Marseille, southern France, December 31, 2002. [The 25th Paris-Dakar Rally, with 342 competitors in auto, motorcycle, and truck categories, leaves Marseille on New Year's day, follows a route through Spain and three African countries - Tunisia, Lybia and Egypt - for a total of 8,552 kilometers, with an arrival in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt on January 19, 2003.]