Everything you need to know about the 2025 edition

Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Wednesday January 1, 2025 at 3:40 p.m.

Find all the information you need to know about the 2025 edition of the Dakar, which will start this Friday.

What are the dates of the test?

The 2025 edition of the Dakar will take place from January 3 to 17 in Saudi Arabia. A prologue will launch the event and will be followed by twelve stages contested over fourteen days. A day of rest will be organized on January 10 in Hail.

What is the route?

The organizers have planned no less than 8,000 kilometers to cover, of which more than 5,000 will be timed during special stages. In order to establish the starting order, a 29 kilometer prologue will take place on January 3 around Bisha. This same locality, located in the southwest of the country, will host the start and finish of the 1st stage contested over 413 kilometers. The next day, the serious things will begin with the “48H Chrono” stage. The entrants will have 947 kilometers to cover around Bisha but, at 5:00 p.m. on the first day, they will have to stop at the nearest rest area to spend the night with a tent and a survival ration as their only supplies. They will not be able to leave until the next day at sunrise. The Dakar caravan will then turn north to reach Al-Henakiyah with a 495-kilometer special on the program. The 4th stage will be the 415 kilometer “marathon” between Al-Henakiyah and AlUla, with minimal assistance at the finish.

The participants will then join Hail the next day at the end of a 428 kilometer long special, which will be followed by a day of rest. The race will resume on January 11 with a 604-kilometer special between Hail and Al-Duwadimi, the city which will host the start and finish of the 7th stage, 455 kilometers long. The Saudi capital Riyadh will be the finish location for the 8th stage, contested over 483 kilometers of special. The 9th stage will offer a route of 357 kilometers in the direction of Haradh before the “Empty Quarter” is announced the next day at the end of a special of only 115 kilometers arriving in Shubaytah, which promises to be intense. The grand finale of the Dakar 2025 will be organized entirely around this town of Shubaytah and in the dunes of the most inhospitable part of the Arabian Peninsula. The dunes will be a test over the 307 kilometers of the 11th stage. A terrain conducive to making differences before the 12th and final stage, which will be a real sprint with only 61 kilometers of timed sector.

Who are the main car manufacturers?

While Audi left the world of rally raids last year, Carlos Sainz will be there to defend his title. The Spanish driver joined the ambitious Ford team with the Raptor T1+ alongside Mattias Ekström, Nani Roma and Mitch Guthrie. Another new entrant in the discipline, Dacia placed its trust in Sébastien Loeb, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Cristina Gutierrez to lead its Sandrider to victory. Having already played the leading roles in the past, Yazeed Al-Rajhi, Guerlain Chicherit and Giniel de Villiers will try to play spoilsport on the Saudi sand.

Who are the main players in motorcycles?

Title holder, Ricky Brabec will once again be there with the desire to seek a third victory aboard his Honda. But the competition will also be there with Kevin Benavides who intends to take his revenge with KTM. Ross Branch, second last year, Pablo Quintanilla but also José Ignacio Cornejo Florimo will also have their say. On the French side, Adrien Van Beveren will try to do better than the third place acquired in 2024 aboard his Honda when Romain Dumontier will undoubtedly aim for the Top 10.

Who are the TV broadcasters?

As in 2024, the L’Equipe channel will dedicate more than 100 hours of air time to covering this 47th edition of the Dakar, with four dedicated meetings. “Le Grand Direct” will notably follow the arrival of the special stages at midday when the great moments in the history of the race will be revisited in “Dakar Vintage”. “The Dakar Journal” will offer a summary every day at 6:10 p.m. then “Dakar, the big summary” will look back over the entire day from the bivouac from 8:00 p.m. The group France Televisionsfor its part, will discuss the event every day in its magazines “Tout le Sport” and “Stade 2” on France 3.