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WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT THE DAKAR RALLY 2025? HERE'S SOME COOL INFO FOR NEWBIES.

Published: 2025-01-03 15:54:27 Last Updated: 2025-01-03 16:15:13

The Dakar Rally, one of motorsport’s most gruelling and iconic events is a story of innovation, resilience, and adaptation, tracing its roots from Europe to Africa and now in recent times - to the deserts of the Middle East. It’s a proper long-running event that’s changed a lot since it started way back in 1978. The epic race was founded by French motorcycle racer Thierry Sabine who, as the story goes, once got lost in the Libyan desert during the 1977 Abidjan-Nice Rally. He saw the beauty of the area and the challenges the terrain would offer up for cars and bikes and the rest, as they say, is history. The inaugural rally kicked off on December 26, 1978, competitors started in Paris and had to race over 10,000 km through France, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), and Senegal, ending in Dakar. For nearly three decades, the Paris-Dakar route was used, but thanks to security concerns in some African parts of the race in the early 2000s, the route underwent a massive change - as did the name. The 2008 event was cancelled thanks to threats from terrorist groups in Mauritania, where several stages were planned. This led to the event being relocated to South America in 2009. There was similar terrain through places like the Andes mountains and the Atacama Desert. The event was held here for the next decade, but in 2020, it moved again, this time to Saudi Arabia. The Middle East offered a more stable environment compared to parts of Africa and Saudi Arabia’s deserts, rocky landscapes, and extreme conditions were perfect for the style of racing. Dakar was originally for cars and bikes, but now you can see loads of things in action including trucks, quads, and side-by-side vehicles. These days there are also hybrids and alternative-energy vehicles making up the field.

It’s a bit easier nowadays, competitors needed to use physical maps and compasses to navigate the route, but as you’d expect it’s all GPS-based electronics now. That doesn’t mean it’s foolproof, competitors can still get lost. To date, there have been a total of 46 Dakar events across the various countries, and some competitors have done better than others. One competitor has had such a good Dakar career that he’s now known as Mr Dakar. Frenchman Stéphane Peterhansel holds the record for the most Dakar wins, racking up a total of 14 victories. If you’ve ever seen any Dakar coverage or any interviews with competitors, you’ll understand just why that is a record that will stand the test of time. To make it even more impressive, Peterhansel managed to snatch that first spot six times while riding a motorbike, and then took another eight wins in cars. This 2025 Dakar is the 6th to be held in Saudi Arabia and it stretches over nearly 8,000 km from Bisha to Shubaytah. It kicks off on the 3rd January and runs until the 17th. What makes it really cool is that the event has great coverage with absolutely stunning visuals that are free to watch on the official Dakar YouTube channel. Over and above the daily coverage, the content posted also covers facts about the classes, team, competitors, cars, country and more. If you’re not interested in this epic race, the YouTube channel is likely enough to get you hooked. It worked for me. On that note, the following video is brilliant, and it’s a must-watch if you haven’t watched any Dakar stuff before. It’s been aptly named: The Dakar for Newbies. We love these educational videos, and the commentary and scripts are great too.

Take a look at the YouTube video from the new range of educational videos over on the original Dakar channel. They're a great way to learn and understand what's going on in the race, and how everything works. Even if you're not into this rally raid style of racing, it's done so well that you might actually get hooked : The Dakar for Newbies - Educational Video - Dakar 2025 | Dakar

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