While the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Safari Rally and the Monaco Grand Prix are often held up as some of the ultimate tests of skill, endurance and bravery – as well requiring the navigation of huge danger – there is one event which arguably bests all of them.
The Dakar Rally, which starts tomorrow, is a near-8,000km (4,850-mile) slog through the Saudi Arabian desert, pushing drivers and riders to the absolute limit in every department.
Legends are made and dreams crushed out in the sand dunes, as hulking prototype SUVs, racing trucks and motocross bikes weave in and out of each other’s path as all try to find a way through the desert – the full entry list totals 345 vehicles.
Below, we pick out the top runners for this year’s competition, and some key details for the event too.
Cars
Prodrive
Can Al-Attiyah take Prodrive to the top?
Red Bull
In the headline Cars class, Prodrive now arguably boasts the most eye-catching line-up. Long-time employee Sébastien Loeb is the World Rally Championship’s successful driver of all time with nine titles, but is yet win to win Dakar.
Prodrive has proved fast at Dakar in recent years, but is yet to win – can an all-star leading line-up and bumper supporting cast prevail in 2024?
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James Elson
He is now joined by one of the all-time off-road greats in Nasser Al-Attiyah, a man who has won the Dakar three times.
Prodrive has shown serious pace with its 400bhp, 3,5-litre twin turbo BRX Hunter since its 2021 debut, but reliability issues, navigation problems and plain old misfortune has tempered it challenge.
As team boss David Richards puts it: “Sébastien Loeb and Nasser Al-Attiyah in one team – that takes away all the excuses, doesn’t it?”
The team is also supporting five customer efforts, but you get the impression anything less than a win for one of its lead drivers will be disappointing for the Oxford outfit.
Audi
Big-money drivers and an experimental car – can Audi deliver?
DPPI
Audi made a big entrance into Dakar with its debut in 2022 but, similar to Prodrive, stage-winning pace has yet to produce an overall victory.
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Its electric-driven RS Q e-tron is a quirky concept even by Dakar’s prototype standards. Powered by two electric motor-generator units (MGUs), one at the front and one at the rear axle, the car also carries the marque’s old 2-litre, four cylinder DTM engine, which acts as a ‘range extender’ by charging a third MGU, which performs a generator role for the two other motor units.
The power output at Dakar is restricted to 392bhp (292kW) – the e-tron could pump out 680bhp (507kW) if it were allowed to run at full chat.
The design has shown pace, with Dakar legends Carlos Sainz, Stéphane Peterhansel and double DTM champ Mattias Ekström all winning stages in the avant-garde machine, but reliability issues and some spectacular crashes have stopped Audi troubling the overall classification.
The Neuberg board will be eager for progress this year.
Toyota
Seth Quintero gets to grips with his new Toyota
Red Bull
Toyota and its Hilux pick-up truck with Nasser Al-Attiyah at the wheel has been the combination to beat in recent years.
The GR DKR Hilux Evo has proved a pliable machine on the dunes: quick, easy to use and strong reliability through an in-built toughness.
However it’s Al-Attiyah who has done nearly all the running for the Japanese brand in recent years – can anyone from the 2024 line-up fill his shoes?
Seth Quintero steps up from the lightweight class to help spearhead the challenge, along with incumbent 2009 winner Giniel de Villiers.
Joining them are Lucas Moraes, Saood Variawa and Guy Botterill in a five-car assault on the rally.
Ford
Could M-Sport Ford conquer Dakar like it did WRC?
DPPI
Like Prodrive, M-Sport is a team which has won across multiple categories, with its primary success coming in the WRC.
However, Dakar is a mountain yet to be scaled by the Cumbrian squad, until Ford commissioned it to convert the Raptor RS for the sand dunes and rocky terrain of Saudi Arabia.
Taking on the rally for Ford will be Gareth Woolridge and double Dakar winner Nani Roma – the team is describing 2024 as an exploratory year with the aim of getting to the finish. Performance will be the focus in 2025.
Lightweight Vehicles
Cristina Gutierrez takes on the dfunes in the Dakar prologue
Red Bull
The two lightweight categories of challenger and SSV are often seen as a stepping stone to the car category in rally raid but, somewhat similar to LMP2 recently in the World Endurance Championship, often the best competitive action can be found in the second tier class.
2022 Extreme E champion – and part-time dentist – Cristina Gutierrez returns for Red Bull Team USA, along with team-mate and last year’s winner Austin Jones, who claimed victory without actually coming home first in a stage.
Former WRC star Kris Meeke will be driving for the GRallyteam, as well as Eryk Goczał who took honours in last year’s SSV class (Austin won in the quicker Light Prototype division).
Trucks
Van Kasteren is gunning for the win once more
Until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Dakar had been dominated in recent seasons by the Kamaz team, with the marque winning – apart from in 2012 and 2016 – every single year from 2009 to 2022.
With Russian teams such as Kamaz then banned from motor sport by the USA from early 2022 onwards, the Truck category had the potential to be blown wide open for 2023.
As it was, Iveco Powerstar swept the top four positions with Janus van Kasteren scooping the win, with team-mates Martin Macík and the van den Brink brothers filing in behind respectively.
The quartet are back again this year, with the nearest challenger looking to be Tatra’s Jaroslav Valtr, who rounded out the top five in 2023.
Bikes
Could Sam Sunderland win a third Dakar?
Red Bull
If the Dakar is treacherous for those on four wheels, it puts their two-wheeled colleagues under even greater stresses.
Injuries and even fatalities are not infrequent in the unforgiving Saudi desert, but the bike category shows no sign of wilting, with last year’s victor Kevin Benavides entered for KTM again.
His team-mate Toby Price and Honda’s Skyler Howes – last year’s second and third podium finishers respectively – return in what is a 147-strong bike class.
Britain’s Sam Sunderland, a two-time Dakar winner in 2017 and 2022, will be riding for Gas Gas.
Quads
Giroud won the Quads in 2023, and will hope for more of the same in ’24
DPPI
Just as gruelling as the bike class is the Quads category, another discipline not for the fainthearted.
Alexandre Giroud came home first in a 2023 edition and will return to defend his title, with runner-up Francisco Moreno Flores and fourth-placed Juraj Varga coming back this year too.
Stage 1 of the 2024 Dakar Rally starts on January 6, with the final leg completed on Friday January 19.
Where is the 2024 Dakar Rally?
The Dakar is currently held in the unforgiving deserts of Saudi Arabia. The first stage is in Al’-Ula in the Medina Province, with the event rounding off in Yanbu, in the West of the country.
How long is the 2024 Dakar Rally?
The rally comprises of 12 stages, run over 14 days. Entrants have to complete 7,891km (4,850 miles) with 4,727km (3000 miles) of these competitive timed stages.
