On January 5, the famous Dakar Rally will start, which will be held for the 46th time, and for the fifth time the super marathon course will run through the territory of Saudi Arabia.
In 2024, the race route, which is also the first stage of the World Cross-Country Rally Championship, will include a long stage through the vast sandy desert of the Rub al-Khali, located on the Arabian Peninsula.
The so-called ‘Prologue’ takes place on January 5 and 6 and the Dakar ends on January 19. Participants in the rally raid must conquer 12 stages and spend 14 days on the road. This year the competition promises to be even more difficult and tiring, partly because the stage through the Rub al-Khali desert will last 48 hours – this has never happened before in the history of rally raids.
But after this stage, which will be the sixth and will take place on January 11 and 12 (the distance is 781 km, of which 572 km are special stages), a rest day is planned in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
The total distance of the rally raid in 2024 is almost 7900 km, of which 4727 km are fast special stages. Moreover, 60% of the distance is a completely new route.
The Dakar will feature 425 cars and motorcycles, and riders will compete in eight different classes, including the M1000 category, which includes hydrogen-powered vehicles, and the Classic category, which includes vehicles built before 1999.
We can say that the favorites are the same this year. First of all, it concerns the five-time Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, who is competing for the British team Prodrive for the first time this year, and his partner, nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who has not yet managed to win this rally attack.
This number naturally also includes eminent racers such as Stéphane Peterhansel, record holder for the number of victories in the Dakar, and Carlos Sainz, who won this marathon three times. They perform on Audi RS e-tron electric off-road vehicles with hybrid drivetrains.
The Audi Sport factory team suffered a setback last year when the cars of Peterhansel and Sainz collided on stage 9 due to a strange turn of events, but they are certainly looking to make a comeback this year.
Of course, other classes also have their favorites. It is also worth mentioning that a Russian duo has been registered in the Ultimate category: racer Denis Krotov and his co-driver Konstantin Zhiltsov. They are part of the Overdrive Racing team, racing #215 Toyota Hilux Overdrive in the most powerful T1+ category.
F1News.ru will follow the events on the rally raid route and tell about the main results and the most interesting news.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
