Dakar 2024: Short guide to follow the race

A 46th edition with an unprecedented flavor

With a total distance of 7891 kilometers, including 4727 kilometers of special stages, from Alula to Yanbu on the shores of the Red Sea, the route of this Dakar 2024 promises to be challenging from start to finish.

After a prologue of just under 30 kilometers around the starting city, the competitors will head east with three special stages of over 400 kilometers to Al Henakiyah, Al Duwadimi, and Al Salamiya. These stages will feature volcanoes, canyons, and will traverse rocky and even rugged tracks, according to the organizers.

Next up is a marathon stage between Al Salamiya and Al-Hofuf to close out this first part of the rally, before the big novelty of this edition. After a special stage of about a hundred kilometers until Shubaytah, the competitors will discover the format of the 48-hour challenge. It will be a big loop of more than 818 kilometers (584 of which will be a special stage) in the Empty Quarter, contested over two days, on January 11th and 12th.

At the end of the first day, the competitors will be notified of the end of the stage and will have to stop their efforts, only to resume the next day at sunrise after a night under the stars. Six resting areas will be spread along the stage. The teams will have a tent, a sleeping bag, and a food ration. They will not be allowed to receive any external assistance or communicate with their teams. The organization wanted to recreate the adventurous spirit of the early Dakar here.

Then return to Shubaytah for a plane transfer to Riyadh for a day of rest. The second week will take place in the west of the country with a return to Alula via Ha’il, then a descent towards Yanbu where the finish of this 46th edition of Dakar will take place, after some final stages that will focus on navigation.

👇 The official route of Dakar 2024!
🚩 AlUla – Yanbu 🏁
📏 7,891 km (4,727 km of SS)

➡️ #Dakar2024 #DakarInSaudi pic.twitter.com/HKXnFp6Dt2

— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) November 20, 2023

Focus on the main competitors in the T1 car category

The T1 category is the one that brings together the main favorites. Composed of vehicles that reproduce the silhouette of existing models (Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger) or of a prototype specially designed for the race (Audi RS Q e-tron, Prodrive Hunter), it is considered the top category of rally-raid.

The T1 is available in two or four-wheel drive with petrol, diesel, or hybrid engines. Focus here on the 4 main manufacturers who are expected to compete for the ultimate victory.

– Team Audi Sport

Before focusing its efforts on Formula 1, where its arrival is planned for 2026, the brand with the four rings has one last chance to establish its hybrid prototype in the Dakar. Since the start of its involvement in 2022, Audi has experienced several setbacks on the Saudi Arabian tracks. With a few stage victories in two editions, the German brand has nevertheless shown that the RS Q e-tron has a good top speed and, without any misfortune, could contend for the final podium.

For the 2024 edition, Audi will field the same three crews as in the last two years, namely Stéphane Peterhansel/Edouard Boulanger, Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz and Mattias Ekström/Emil Bergkvist.

With these three prestigious duos, combining speed, experience, and maturity, Audi aims to become the first manufacturer to win the Dakar with a hybrid-powered vehicle. This vehicle has two electric motors from Formula E (Audi competed in FE for 8 seasons, winning both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, note from the editor) combined with a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder petrol engine.

The British manufacturer will make its debut on the Dakar with seven Hunters. Among these crews who will try to win the race, two stand out and not the least. The team founded by David Richards has indeed managed to bring together Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al-Attiyah in the same team.

The French and Qatari, who will both drive for Dacia starting in 2025, are counting on their car, still powered by a Ford-origin V6 turbo 3.5-liter engine, to win the race. This would be a first for the duo Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin, while the team Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel will try to secure a third consecutive victory.

Like Prodrive, the Japanese manufacturer is arriving in force for the Dakar 2024. No less than five GR DKR Hilux EVO T1U, the evolution of the victorious GR DKR Hilux T1+ from the last two editions, will start in Alula.

With the departure of star driver Nasser Al-Attiyah, the official Toyota team has decided to focus on youth with the arrivals of Lucas Moraes/Armand Monleon and Seth Quintero/Dennis Zenz. These two promising pairs will be supervised by the highly experienced Giniel de Villiers, who will team up for the second consecutive year with Dennis Murphy.

Note that the new Hilux models will showcase the new color schemes that Toyota is deploying on its vehicles engaged in motorsport, whether in WEC, WRC, or rally-raid, with a predominantly black livery.

Legendary team of the WRC, M-Sport is committed to the Dakar with a firm intention to shake up the hierarchy. To achieve this, the British team, supported by the American automotive giant, has enlisted the services of the duo Nani Roma/Alex Haro Bravo, whose extensive experience in the desert needs no further demonstration.

The Spanish duo will have the mission of racing with their Ranger T1+, developing the foundations of a future Ford prototype that will hit the track after the Dakar 2024, and supporting the South African novices Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer, who will form the other team engaged by M-Sport.

Among the outsiders of this Dakar 2024, we can first mention two duos from Overdrive Racing team: Yazeed Al Rajhi/Timo Gottschalk and Guerlain Chicherit/Alex Winocq. Stage winners during the 2023 edition, they will once again have a chance to make a mark behind the wheel of their Toyota Hilux T1+.

Other 100% French crews will also be closely followed, including Mathieu Serradori/Loïc Minaudier and Romain Dumas/Max Delfino.

The first mentioned duo is a regular on the podium in the stage rankings behind the wheel of their two-wheel drive Century CR6-T. A versatile driver, Romain Dumas will have another opportunity to show that he can be just as comfortable in the dunes as on the circuits of the World Endurance Championship.

List of the main favorites for victory at the Dakar 2024