Dakar Rally Preview

The Dakar Rally kicks off this Saturday – New Year’s Day.

In its third outing in Saudi Arabia, the Dakar continues to explore new landscapes, with an even more substantial presence of sand in the specials. Whether on the tracks or surfing vast chains of dunes, the riders, drivers and crews will go head-to-head on all sorts of sandy terrain, knowing that the nuances of navigation in Saudi Arabia, where competitors have to avoid losing their bearings in a hodgepodge of tracks, are a real game-changer in the battle for the top honors.

Route

			DISTANCE
STAGE	DATE	START AND FINISH	Total \| Special
1A	Saturday, January 1, 2022	Jeddah > Hail	834 km \| 19 km
1B	Sunday, January 2, 2022	Ha’il > Hail	546 km \| 334 km
2	Monday, January 3, 2022	Hail > Al Artawiyah	585 km \| 339 km
3	Tuesday, January 4, 2022	Al Artawiyah > Al Qaysumah	554 km \| 368 km
4	Wednesday, January 5, 2022	Al Qaisumah > Riyadh	707 km \| 465 km
5	Thursday, January 6, 2022	Riyadh > Riyadh	563 km \| 348 km
6	Friday, January 7, 2022	Riyadh > Riyadh	635 km \| 421 km
–	Saturday, January 8, 2022	Riyadh
7	Sunday, January 9, 2022	Riyadh > Al Dawadimi	700 km \| 401 km
8	Monday, January 10, 2022	Al Dawadimi > Wadi Ad Dawasir	828 km \| 394 km
9	Tuesday, January 11, 2022	Wadi Ad Dawasir > Wadi Ad Dawasir	490 km \| 287 km
10	Wednesday, January 12, 2022	Wadi Ad Dawasir > Bisha	757 km \| 374 km
11	Thursday, January 13, 2022	Bisha > Bisha	500 km \| 345 km
12	Friday, January 14, 2022	Bisha > Jeddah	676 km \| 163 km

Classes

Car

This might be one of the most competitive Dakars in years – with new technology and old grudges as raw as desert sunburn, it will be a sight to behold. The new hybrid-electric Audi RS Q e-tron promises to be a harbinger of the future, while Toyota strikes back in an all-new Hilux (powered by their new factory-built twin-turbo/hybrid V6). On top of that, Prodrive and Mini return as well. It’s going to be epic!

Truck

Can the Russian dominance continue? Returning with the new Kamaz K5, 2021 champion Dmitry Sotnikov returns with his winning team. Big things are expected of the K5 team, but former champion Eduard Nikolaev is making his comeback… and he’s not used to losing.

Motorcycle

Returning favorites and impressive rookies fill the bill. There are (currently) 168 competitors that have qualified to compete, including returning bike champion Kevin Benavides.

Quad

The Dakar Quad class is dominated by South American competitors. Team Yamaha’s 2021 Dakar champion Manuel Andújar from Lobos, Argentina returns to defend his title.

SSV

The side-by-side class is rapidly growing into one of the more popular classes in the Dakar.

Light Prototype

The Light Prototype class is like the SSV on steroids. These vehicles have factory backing, and unique platforms – mixed with factory running gear. Our friend Camelia Liparoti will once again race for the X-Raid Team in a Yamaha-powered (XZ 1000R Rally Edition) side-by-side. Spain’s Xavier Blanco is her newest co-driver. We wish her luck!

Classic

This year marks the return of the Dakar “Classic” race. Vehicles from before the year 2000, that have (or could have) participated in Dakar can compete against each other. This is a separate class, and a slightly different race. They will take on many of the same routes as the main competitors, but not at the same time. This was a massively popular class last year, and there have been some rule changes made since.