Dakar stars such as Jean-Louis Schlesser and Stephane Peterhansel take to Hungary and Romania on Saturday for the Central Europe Rally.

The event was hastily organised following the Dakar's cancellation over security concerns, and immediately attracted the big names' interest.

The seven-day event takes the 217-strong field from Budapest to Lake Balaton via a large loop through some of Transylvania's toughest terrain.

However, the route has already been curtailed due to inclement weather. Heavy snow in the Sovata region means the field will instead race a circle around Baia Mare.

NOTABLE COMPETITORS - CARS

Jean-Louis Schlesser

Stephane Peterhnsel

Luc Alphand

Nani Roma

Carlos Sainz

Giniel De Villiers

Robby Gordon

Bruno Saby

Guerlain Chicherit

Nasser Al-Attiyah

BIKES

Cyril Despres

Marc Coma

David Casteu

Francisco Lopez

David Fretigne

TRUCKS

Hans Stacey

The action gets under way on April 20th, and you can follow it all the way on Eurosport TV and eurosport.yahoo.co.uk.

Eurosport is available on Sky 410 and Virgin Media 521; Eurosport 2 is available on Sky 411 and Virgin Media 525

Alex Chick / Eurosport