The Dakar is on its eighth day of its second year in South America. It's simultaneously the most interesting race in the world, yet the hardest to cover. Luckily, we've got an amazing set of images straight from Argentina.

These photos come from Red Bull, which supports its sponsorship of several race teams by sending a fleet of photographers along to make sure we're able to show you exciting images of their logo jumping over sand dunes and the like. Pictured are the Volkswagen Race Touareg 2, which is powered by a 280 HP turbo diesel engine and the KAMAZ Master truck from Russia. KAMAZ has races in the Dakar for the last 20 years and won it 7 times.

The location of many of these photos is the Atacama Desert in Chile, which you probably remember from the Top Gear South America Special.

Live results are available on the Dakar's website, there's daily videos on YouTube and if you get VS. from your cable provider, there's occasional brief recaps there too.

Photography credit: Marcelo Maragni/Andre Chaco/Gustavo Cherro/Red Bull Photofiles