2024 Dakar Rally
| 2024 Dakar Rally | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Dakar Rally
| |||
| Host country | Saudi Arabia | ||
| Dates run | 6 January 2024–19 January 2024 | ||
| Start | Al-'Ula | ||
| Finish | Yanbu | ||
| Stages | 12 | ||
| Stage surface | Sand, rocks, gravel, tarmac | ||
The 2024 Dakar Rally is a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia. It is the 46th edition of the Dakar Rally, organized by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), and the 5th time Saudi Arabia has hosted the event.
The event takes place between 5 and 19 January 2024. For the third year running, the event is also the first round of the 2024 World Rally-Raid Championship.
The outline of the race route was presented on 3 June 2023. This year the route will start at Al-'Ula, cross the Empty Quarter, and will finish in Yanbu. Race format consists of a prologue and 12 stages, including a 48-hour marathon stage. The new format marathon stage will include time limit for stopping at 4pm, and setting off the next day at 7am. More route details will be revealed in November.[1]
Timeline
- 3 June – 20 October 2023: Registrations[2]
- End of November 2023: Press conference
- 1 December 2023: Scrutineering and vehicle loading in Barcelona
- 1 January 2024: Offloading vehicles in Yanbu
- 5 January 2024: Starting podium and the Prologue Stage
- 6 January 2024: Race start
- 19 January 2024: Race finish and finish podium
Stages
The 2024 Dakar route was revealed on 20 November 2023, totaling 7,891 km (4,903 mi), and consisting of 4,727 km (2,937 mi) special stages. The race features a new two-day marathon stage, where all participants will need to stop at the nearest bivouac after 4pm. There will be 8 bivouacs setup, with drivers having no contact with their teams, but allowed to work on other vehicles.[3]
| Stage | Date | Start | Finish | Total/Special | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Friday | January 5, 2024 | Al-'Ula | Al-'Ula | 158 km / 28 km |
| 1 | Saturday | January 6, 2024 | Al-'Ula | Al Henakiyah | 532 km / 405 km |
| 2 | Sunday | January 7, 2024 | Al Henakiyah | Ad Dawadimi | 662 km / 470 km |
| 3 | Monday | January 8, 2024 | Ad Dawadimi | Al Salamiya | 733 km / 440 km |
| 4 | Tuesday | January 9, 2024 | Al Salamiya | Al-Hofuf | 631 km / 299 km |
| 5 | Wednesday | January 10, 2024 | Al-Hofuf | Shaybah | 727 km / 118 km |
| 6 (Marathon) | Thursday-Friday | January 11-12, 2024 | Shaybah | Shaybah | 766 km / 532 km |
| - | Saturday | January 13, 2024 | Riyadh | Rest day | |
| 7 | Sunday | January 14, 2024 | Riyadh | Ad Dawadimi | 873 km / 483 km |
| 8 | Monday | January 15, 2024 | Ad Dawadimi | Ha'il | 678 km / 458 km |
| 9 | Tuesday | January 16, 2024 | Ha'il | Al-'Ula | 639 km / 417 km |
| 10 | Wednesday | January 17, 2024 | Al-'Ula | Al-'Ula | 609 km / 371 km |
| 11 | Thursday | January 18, 2024 | Al-'Ula | Yanbu | 587 km / 480 km |
| 12 | Friday | January 19, 2024 | Yanbu | Yanbu | 328 km / 175 km |
Participants
Cars
- Audi renewed its three drivers Mattias Ekström, Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz.[4]
- Ford has announced to enter a factory team at the rally for the first time with a Ford Ranger T1+ in partnership with M-Sport.[5]
- The Toyota Gazoo Racing factory team will have drivers Seth Quintero and Lucas Moraes. TGR South Africa will have Giniel de Villiers, Guy Botterill and Saood Variawa, whereas TGR Baltics will have Benediktas Vanagas and Vladas Jurkevičius[6][7][8]
- Prodrive signed Nasser Al-Attiyah, who had won the 2023 edition with Toyota.[9]
- Laia Sanz and Patricia Pita will drive for Astara.[10]
References
- ^ "2024 Route: A new step towards the future". Dakar.com. 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ https://competitors.dakar.com/en/calendar
- ^ https://enduro21.com/en/racing/latest/rally/2024-dakar-rally-route-confirmed-new-48hr-chrono-stage-in-the-empty-quarter
- ^ "Spain as an important stage for Audi on the way to the 2024 Dakar Rally". audi-mediacenter.com. 2023-07-19. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ "Ford announces maiden Dakar participation". Dakar.com. 2023-06-16. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
- ^ "Seth Quintero, Lucas Moraes to race for Toyota Gazoo Racing at 2024 Dakar Rally". The Checkered Flag. 2023-11-09.
- ^ "Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa bringing three Hiluxes to 2024 Dakar Rally". The Checkered Flag. 2023-11-11.
- ^ "Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics reveals 2024 Dakar Rally programme". The Checkered Flag. 2023-11-22.
- ^ "Al-Attiyah joins Prodrive as team-mate to Loeb". DirtFish. 2023-10-23.
- ^ "Laia Sanz y Patricia Pita enseñan los 'secretos' de Astara para el Dakar 2024". SoyMotor. 2023-10-20.