The 47th edition of the Dakar has set a date for the world's rally-raiders in Saudi Arabia from 3 to 17 January. More information: https://www.dakar.com https://www.facebook.com/Dakar https://www.twitter.com/Dakar https://www.instagram.com/DakarRally #Dakar2025 © Amaury Sport Organisation - https://www.aso.fr
The 46th edition of the Dakar, the 5th to be organised in Saudi Arabia, has finished after more than 4,700 kilometres of specials and a total distance of almost 8,000 kilometres, which tested the riders, drivers, co-pilots and crews, from the ancient city of AlUla to the shores of the Red Sea, passing through the oceans of dunes in the Empty Quarter. The major winners of the 2024 edition have each, in their own way, taken advantage of teams capable of building success based on their collective strength. Among the favourites in the Monster Energy Honda clan, American Ricky Brabec won a second title following his triumph in 2020, by resisting Ross Branch on his Hero, the first Indian bike to grace the Dakar podium, onto which Adrien Van Beveren climbed for the first time in his career, with third place, also riding a Honda. In the car category, there was an unexpected consecration for the hybrid Audi driven by Carlos Sainz. In his duel with Sébastien Loeb, who in the end finished 3rd, the Spaniard picked up his fourth title thanks partially to the back-up provided by his team-mates Stéphane Peterhansel and Mattias Ekström, as El Matador finished with a lead of 1 hour and 20 minutes over Belgian Guillaume de Mevius. On the final stage, the battle in the Challenger class was turned on its head, to the detriment of Mitch Guthrie and in favour of Cristina Gutiérrez, who became the first female driver to win a Dakar title since Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2001. In the SSV category, Xavier de Soultrait also won by the narrowest of margins, having failed to win in his career on a motorbike but taking victory in a Polaris driving for the Sébastien Loeb Racing team, which will be a small consolation for the man from Alsace. Lastly, thanks to Martin Macík, the truck category witnessed the Czech Republic’s grand return to the summit of the rally, 23 years after the country’s last triumph was earned by Karel Loprais, whose nephew Aleš Loprais finished as runner-up to Macík. In total, 239 vehicles (versus 340 that took starter’s orders) reached Yanbu, including 96 bikes (vs 132), 7 quads (vs 10), 55 Ultimate class cars (vs 70), 3 Stock class cars (vs 3), 29 Challenger class cars (vs 42), 28 SSVs (vs 36) and 21 trucks (vs 47). Among them, the riders, drivers and crews of 182 vehicles were able to climb onto the final podium to receive a finisher’s medal, with the remainder not having completed the entirety of the route. Finally, the 4th edition of the Dakar Classic, which brought together 78 vehicles, finished with 71 crews. Spaniard Carlos Santaolalla Milla won the race for regularity. The Mission 1000 terrains challenge enabled 10 vehicles powered by innovative alternative engine technologies to tackle the of the Dakar and look ahead to the future.
"We took it upon ourselves to make the fifth edition of Saudi Arabia the toughest one since the race came to the Middle East", warned the director of the rally, David Castera, when unveiling the details of the 46th edition, which will start in AlUla on 5 January and finish in Yanbu, on the shores of the Red Sea, after a 7,891 km trek on roads, tracks and dunes, including 4,727 km of specials. Ø One of the challenges introduces a new paradigm for exploring the Empty Quarter desert: “48h chrono” held over two days in which the competitors, scattered among eight bivouacs, will be basically left to their own devices. The riders, drivers and co-drivers of 354 vehicles are preparing to face this formidable route, which will also set the scene for the inaugural round of the third season of the World Rally-Raid Championships (W2RC): 137 motorbikes and 10 quads in the FIM race and —as per the FIA's newly introduced terminology— 72 Ultimate cars (T1 and T2), 42 Challenger cars (T3), 36 SSVs (T4) and 46 Trucks (T5). The fourth edition of the Dakar Classic, a regularity race for 20th-century vehicles, will take place over a distance of 7,366 km, including 3,586 km of timed sections.