10 things we didn't know about rallying

Friday 20th December 2024 10:45 PM

If you want to shine in society, a few days before the start of the 2025 Dakar Rally in which will obviously participate Sébastien Loeb et Carlos Sainzhere are some anecdotes about the race.

The Dakar represents the same distance as an entire WRC season

The Dakar is a marathon, not a sprint

The Dakar Rally is classified as a rally-raid, which means that it is a long-distance race that takes place over several days. With a total route of 7,759 km including 5,115 km of time trials, the Dakar remains the premier rally-raid event in the world. Since 2022, it has been part of the FIA World Rally Raid Championship (W2RC), which has five stages. In this series, the Dakar allows you to collect double the points, because it lasts a week longer than the other four rallies on the calendar. In addition to the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, the W2RC will take its convoy of off-road enthusiasts to the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Portugal and Morocco in 2025.

Don't let an injury slow you down

Toby Price goes on four wheels

Two-time Dakar motorcycle winner Toby Price is switching to four wheels for the 2025 Dakar. The Australian will be behind the wheel of a Toyota Hilux Overdrive, with his former KTM teammate Sam Sunderland as co-driver. However, Price's decade-long motorcycle exploits at the Dakar will not soon be forgotten. Price's second victory on two wheels came in 2019, and gave Red Bull KTM Factory Racing its 18th consecutive victory at the famous rally. But that's not even the craziest thing at the time. To win the race, Price had traveled 5,200 km with a broken bone! A few weeks before the rally, Price broke the scaphoid in his right wrist. He considered giving up the rally, but preferred to embark for Peru, and ultimately win the last Dakar organized in South America.

Assistance trucks are both help and competitors

Waiting for the support truck to arrive

The best factory teams have support trucks that transport vital equipment to each stage. They can be used in the event of an accident or mechanical problem. Although they are slower, these support trucks are huge and can cover terrain as well as cars. These big desert beasts also take on the rally's other support vehicles in their own category.

Carlos Sainz winner for the fourth time at the Dakar

The unusual characteristics of the Dakar make it an unrivaled laboratory for innovative technologies. The deserts of the Dakar have regularly served as a testing ground for improving speed and safety. The Dakar Future program has enabled hybrid cars to reach performance levels sufficient to participate in the rally. This was demonstrated by reigning Dakar champion Carlos Sainz, who won his title in 2024 at the wheel of an Audi RS Q e-tron equipped with an electric powertrain. Other avenues continue to open up for technological experiments likely to transform the rally-raid landscape in the years to come. The pioneering spirit of the Dakar is also at the heart of the Mission 1000 project, an initiative to use the rally to develop more sustainable fuel sources.

The rally was born because someone got lost in the desert

Getting lost is part of the Dakar

Thierry Sabine, French motorcycle driver, was participating in the 1977 Abidjan-Nice rally when he got lost. Realizing that navigating the sand dunes of a distant desert posed a real challenge, he organized the first Dakar Rally. The inaugural edition left Paris in December 1978. The rally takes its name from the capital of Senegal, where the finish line was originally located.

The Dakar will always be associated with pink

The final stage of the Dakar will be done via a mass start

The arrival of the Dakar used to be at Lac Rose, 30 km north of the Senegalese capital. Pink Lake owes its name to the bright pink color of the lake, due to a unique algae, dunaliella salina. The lake is so colorful that it can be observed from space, and the mere sight of it, after two weeks of mental and physical suffering, has once caused adult bikers to spontaneously burst into tears. The 47th edition of the rally, in 2025, will echo the Lac Rose arrivals of the Dakar. During the 12th and final stage, the convoy will participate in a mass start, as was the case when the Dakar took place on the African continent.

The 48h Chrono stage is a race within the race

Laia Sanz's Century CR6-T is packed with cutting-edge technologies

The original 48-hour Chrono format was introduced during the 2024 edition of the Dakar and, due to its popularity with fans and drivers, it returns in 2025. The concept at the heart of this two-day stage seems quite simple: find the right balance between performance and reliability. But let's not hide our faces, nothing is simple on the Dakar. On the morning of January 5, 2025, the Dakar convoy will leave the Bisha bivouac with more than 1000 km to cross over the next two days. On January 5 at 5 p.m., competitors will have to stop at the next rest area they find (six rest areas in total are distributed along the course). On the morning of January 6, competitors will have to complete the rest of the timed stage to the Bisha bivouac. Particular attention must be paid to the mechanics so as not to be left behind during this titanic stage.

Mechanics are busy during the Dakar

Lightweight categories train young talents

Since the Dakar moved to Saudi Arabia, the number of competitors entering the lightweight divisions of the rally like the Challenger has increased significantly. Challenger machines, the Taurus T3 Max for example, can accommodate a driver and a co-driver, and correspond to two thirds of the racing cars in the Ultimate category driven by Carlos Sainz, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Loeb and other legends. Competing in Challenger is considered the perfect way to get to the next level. This is what demonstrated Seth Quintero, Cristina Gutierrez, Mitch Guthrie Jr. et William of Meviusrecent graduates of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team, all of whom earned a factory drive in the Ultimate class at the 2025 Dakar after proving themselves in the Challenger category.

“Challengers are limited to a top speed of 135 km/h, while Ultimates can reach 170 km/h,” explains De Mevius, who finished second in his Ultimate category debut. “The body strength of the Ultimate is also a significant improvement, you can attack a lot more on rocks and jumps. You quickly find your limits in a Challenger, but an Ultimate car can take you anywhere.”

The landscapes are magnificent

Saudi Arabia's landscapes never fail to impress

After Africa, then South America, it is Saudi Arabia which hosts the Dakar. The Middle Eastern country amazed competitors with its desert terrain, making it an ideal host. Few things have impressed as much as Al-'Ula and the surrounding region. The kaleidoscope-like landscapes of history and mystery can be quite intimidating.

The Dakar returned several times to Al-'Ula after its first encounter with archaeological sites dating back to the dawn of time and the Nabataean temples scattered throughout the old city. It is in the canyons of Al-'Ula that Dakar competitors will be put to the test during the marathon stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally. According to the rules, drivers spend a night camping in the desert, separated from their mechanics, meaning any necessary repairs must be done solo.

The pilots do not have time to stop for…

Some drivers find it hard to cope with the idea of being in the car for a whole day. Some stages require 12 hours of driving and sometimes nature comes knocking. That's why some of them wear bags in their wetsuits so they can urinate when crossing rivers and rocks at 170 km/h. It's one of many sacrifices made in the name of safety (and trying to achieve victory).

To follow the departure, go to January 3. To find out more about the route of this 2025 edition, click ici.

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