The organizers of the Dakar, which will still take place in Saudi Arabia, have unveiled the contours of the route and some particularities of the 2024 edition.
It is traditionally the first major event on the sporting calendar, and 2024 will be no exception. From January 5 to 19, the 46th edition of the Dakar will take place, and the organizers unveiled some outlines this Saturday at the Château de Lastours, in Aude. As has been the case since 2020, the most famous rally-raid in the world will be held in Saudi Arabia, more precisely between AlUl, an oasis of 32,000 inhabitants (notably co-sponsor of the Australian cycling team Jayco since this season ) and Yanbu, a city of 300,000 inhabitants located on the shores of the Red Sea, passing through the famous Empty Quarter, this vast sand desert of 650,000 m2. Twelve stages will be on the program, over fourteen days, for around 5,000 kilometers of specials.
The novelty “48 hours chrono”
In addition to the route, which will be 60% new, the organizers have decided to bring something new from a regulatory point of view, with the creation of the “48 hour stopwatch” stage. This stage, which will be held in the Empty Quarter, will be contested over two days, with mutual assistance between competitors authorized during the evening.
“When the clocks show 4:00 p.m., all vehicles will be required to stop at the next campsite they encounter. Without connection and therefore without visibility on the performances achieved by their rivals, the pilots will camp and then resume their journey the next day at 7 a.m. to complete the part of the route that remains to be covered. The counters will then be read after around 600 kilometers of special., specifies the press release of the organization. For this stage, the motorbikes and quads will ride on one course, and the cars and trucks on another, so that the cars will not be able to benefit from the tracks of the two-wheelers and will have to rely on their navigation skills. Registration is now open to take part in this 46th Dakar, where Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota) in cars and Argentinian Kevin Benavides (KTM) in motorbikes are expected to put their titles on the line. The detailed route will be unveiled in the coming month.
