The Dakar rally-raid returns at the beginning of 2025. The turbo.fr editorial team offers you an overview of this 47th edition which is being held in Saudi Arabia: the dates, the route, the favorites, etc.
For the 6th time in a row in its history, the Dakar takes place in Saudi Arabia. And this year it is a three-way duel that we should witness in the car category with Carlos Sainz senior, the title holder and father of Formula 1 driver, Nasser Al-Ittiyah, multiple winner of the event and Sébastien Loeb, favorite of this edition at the wheel of his Dacia Sandrider.
Where and when?
As we said in the introduction to this article, the 2025 edition of the Dakar is being held in Saudi Arabia for the 6th in its history. The test lasts two weeks. It begins on Friday January 3 and ends on Friday January 17. The crews must travel 8000 km including 5000 km of specials. Note that the 48-hour event format is making a comeback this year after being inaugurated in 2024.
The 12 stages of the Dakar 2025
Friday January 3
- 79 km prologue around Bisha
Saturday January 4
- 1st step
- 500 km including 412 km of special
- Bisha -> Bisha
Sunday January 5 / Monday January 6
- 2nd stage 48 hours flat
- 1057 km including 965 special
- Bisha -> Bisha
Tuesday January 7
- 3rd step
- 845 km including 496 km of special
- Bisha -> Al Henakiyah
Wednesday January 8
- 4th step
- 588 km including 415 special
- Al Henakiyah -> Halula
Thursday January 9
- 5th step
- 491 km including 428 special
- Alula -> Hail
Friday January 10
Saturday January 11
- 6th step
- 829 km including 606 km of special
- Hail -> Al Duwadimi
Sunday January 12
- 7th step
- 745 km including 481 km of special
- Al Duwadimi -> Al Duwadimi
Monday January 13
- 8th step
- 733 km including 487 km of special
- Al Duwadimi -> Riyadh
Tuesday January 14
- 9th step
- 589 km including 357 special
- Riyadh -> Harrah
Wednesday January 15
- 10th step
- 638 km including 119 km of special
- Harad -> Shubaytah
Thursday January 16
- 11th step
- 506 km including 280 special
- Shubaytah -> Shubaytah
Friday January 17
- 12th step
- 205 km including 134 special
- Shubaytah -> Shubaytah
How to follow the Dakar 2025 on television?
In France, it is the TNT channel L’Équipe which covers the event. The channel promises 100 hours of programming during the two weeks of the rally. From 11:50 a.m., the channel will return to the day’s results in its live broadcasts before devoting two evening magazines with The Dakar Journal at 6:10 p.m. for the summaries, rankings and reactions of the pilots then at 8 p.m. with Dakar, the big summary. An animated broadcast live from the bivouac. Note that L’Équipe will be able to rely on two choice consultants this year: Luc Alphand, winner of the event in 2006, and Daniel Elena, historic co-driver of Sébastien Loeb who has participated in the event four times.
Sébastien Loeb, big favorite at the wheel of his Dacia
The star of this 2025 edition of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia is of course Sébastien Loeb. This will be his 8th participation this year. And more than a place on the podium, which he has already won four times, it is victory that is in his sights. And to achieve this, he is counting on the help of his co-driver, Fabian Luquin, and his Dacia Sandrider.
Fierce competition
Except that the path to victory will not be easy. There is of course the Saudi terrain which can hold many surprises for the drivers and their mechanics but also the competition. And this within his team, Dacia. Sébastien Loeb is in the same stable as Nasser Al-Ittiyah. The Qatari pilot counts five victories in the rally-raid ! Another competitor to follow this year: Carlos Sainz. Not the Formula 1 driver but his father, WRC world rally champion in the 90s and winner of four editions of the Dakar. The last one dating back to 2024 on an Audi car. This year, the Spaniard will be behind the wheel of a Ford.
Photo credit: ASO_C.Lopez.
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