While motorsport can be very serious and a long way from a circus, the Dakar Rally has the flavour of the ultimate competitive travelling show. The epic event challenges competitors, teams and crews to their maximum.
Motorsport News was offered a unique insight into the historic event. From its origins starting in Paris and heading to West Africa, the transformed contest has reinvented itself to move with modern time.
While the route and operation of the showdown is vastly different from the initial concept, there is one thing that remains as a constant: the miles and miles of treacherous stages tackled by some of the sport’s biggest stars.
On the road (again)
It’s day 12 of the 2024 Dakar Rally. We depart the city of Ha’il at 0653hrs, eight minutes before sunrise. Ahead of us is a five-hour, 11-minute journey taking us 285 miles west towards Al Ula in Saudi Arabia.
En route we overtake support trucks, camper vans and motorhomes driven by weary crew members. Passing desert plains, mountainous regions – and the odd camel – we are later overtaken by
