CURRENTLY UNDERWAY in the never-ending sand dunes of Saudi Arabia, the 45th edition of the Dakar Rally has already endorsed the new era in world rallying: placing profit before purity, politics before sportsmanship.
Having collected $A70m from the Saudis to host the Dakar for five years, the promoting French-based Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) hoovered up an estimated $A15m annually in competitor and support crew fees – even charging the independent world media just to report from the Dakar bivouac (though the French caterers do run a half-decent buffet for some consolation).
These amounts are insignificant compared to the big bucks manufacturers cough up to support the event, simply to race loops around a kingdom that has ploughed $A1.5b into sport sponsorship over the past few years, including a round of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship.
It’s doubtful this is what founder Thierry Sabine envisaged when he experienced his near-death epiphany in the Sahara Desert. Shortly after which, 182 of Thierry’s mates became enthused by his vision and the Paris to Dakar Rally Raid
