The Dakar Rally warms up
The Dakar Rally 2025 is about to begin. The 47th edition of the world's toughest motor racing event will take place from 3 to 17 January.
The new 2025 edition will once again feature a very demanding route through Saudi Arabian territory and will push the world's most experienced drivers to the limit in the various categories of cars, motorbikes, trucks and quads.
On its sixth foray into Saudi Arabia, the level of difficulty between Bisha and Shubaytah will be maintained, with almost 8,000 kilometres of the race, including 5,000 kilometres of special stages.
The organisers have prepared a challenging route with a ‘very tough format’, as the organisers themselves have indicated.
Everything will start on the Bisha stage, which will host a tough 48-hour test, a marathon stage, the outcome of which is likely to be decisive.
After that, there will be a succession of stages in important places such as Al-Henakiyah, Al-Ula, Hail, Al-Duwadimi, Riyadh and Haradh.
During the second week, the focus will be on Shubaytah, the major milestone to be reached after leaving behind the sea of dunes of the Empty Quarter.
The organisation's attention to detail has led it to split the special stages (over 45% of the total distance), a formula designed both to improve the comfort and safety of the drivers and to make navigation more difficult for the cars.
It should be noted that the race will also be decided in the bivouacs themselves, which will be the stage for the start, finish and final podium on 17 January in Shubaytah.
Rendezvous in Bisha
The installation of an XXL bivouac capable of bringing together all the event's teams in one place in the days leading up to the race was a big hit on the shores of the Red Sea in 2023, as it was a year later, in 2024, in the imposing setting of Al-Ula.
And there is no doubt that the same will be true in Bisha, a town of 200,000 inhabitants in the south-west of Saudi Arabia, where the vast majority of competitors will disembark after retrieving their vehicles from the port of Jeddah. The reunions will continue with the arrival of the New Year, which will start with the end of the technical and administrative checks, as well as the final preparations.
David Castera, director of the Dakar, warned about the toughness of the event: ‘The general philosophy was to do a bit of the same, the same difficulties as the previous edition, because I think the Dakar 2024 was difficult. I can say that it is the best route we have done in these six years because we will have balance and difficulties everywhere and novelties’.
Favourites
This 47th edition of the rally will focus more on endurance than on speed, which will be demonstrated by the imposing 48-hour stage in Bisha.
The Dakar Rally 2025, in which Spaniard Carlos Sainz and American Ricky Brabec will defend the car and bike titles respectively, starts on 3 January in Bisha with a 29-kilometre prologue, has a rest day in Hail (10 January) and will finish after twelve stages and 5,000 kilometres of timed special stages on 17 January in Shubaytah.
The 62-year old Spanish veteran will once again be put to the test in the harsh Saudi territory between dunes and rough terrain that will bring out the best in each driver.
Argentinean Manuel Andújar will defend his title in the quad category and Czech Martin Macík in the truck category.
