🤔 What is the Dakar? How does it work? Who is competing? What's new on the 2025 edition? If you're wondering why this race is THAT legendary, all you need to do is watch this video 👀
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00:00The Dakar is more than just a race, and represents the ultimate human and sporting adventure.
00:06Taking place over a period of 10 to 15 days each year, through several thousand kilometers
00:11of some of the most difficult, hostile and majestic terrain on the planet, the event
00:16brings together both amateur and professional competitors in a test of human endurance and
00:21spirit.
00:22It's not just a race, it's an adventure.
00:25It's man, machine and nature against each other in an epic challenge.
00:29Where just getting across the finish line is a huge achievement.
00:34The history of the Dakar dates back to 1977, when the adventure began.
00:40Motorcycle racer Thierry Sabine found himself lost in the Libyan desert during the Abidjan
00:45Nice rally.
00:46Saved from the sands, he returned to France still in third gear.
00:51He proceeded to come up with a route starting in Europe, continuing to Algiers and crossing
00:55Agadez before eventually finishing at Dakar.
00:59The founder coined a motto for his inspiration.
01:02A challenge for those who go, a dream for those who stay behind.
01:07Courtesy of his great-grandfather, Thierry Sabine, the Dakar was a great adventure.
01:14A challenge for those who go, a dream for those who stay behind.
01:19Courtesy of his great conviction and that modicum of madness peculiar to all great ideas,
01:24the dream quickly became a reality.
01:27On the 26th of December 1978, 182 vehicles turned up in the Place du Trocadéro in Paris
01:34for a 10,000 km journey into the unknown for the inaugural race.
01:39Among the 74 trailblazers who made it to the Senegalese capital, Cyril Neveu, at the
01:44handlebars of a Yamaha 500 XT, wrote the opening entry on the honours list of the greatest
01:50rally in the world.
01:52Since then, the race has continued to adapt, going beyond what's been done before, winning
01:57over the public with stories of ordinary adventurers defying the wilderness with limited resources.
02:04Sadly, in 1986, the race lost its founder and inspiration Thierry Sabine, who died as
02:10he lived, chasing adventure in the Sahara desert.
02:13During the running of that year's race, his helicopter crashed into dunes during a sandstorm,
02:18whilst out searching for vehicles.
02:21His legacy lived on, however, and the race that he inspired has grown into the biggest
02:26annual rally raid event in the world.
02:28A race that has taken place every year since its inception, except for 2008 when it was
02:34cancelled due to security concerns.
02:36With each year's edition of the race, new pages have been written into the history of
02:41this remarkable event, with each telling a story of extraordinary feats of human endeavour
02:47and featuring some names in legend.
02:49Names such as Stéphane Petit-Rancel, who has won the race an incredible 14 times with
02:54victories in both the motorcycle and car classes.
02:57Ari Vitanen, who went on to win the category four times, from 1987 to 1991.
03:04As well as Jutta Kleinschmidt, who in 1998 became the first female to win a stage in
03:09Dakar, later going on to do even better when in 2001, behind the wheel of a Mitsubishi,
03:15she became the first woman to win the overall event.
03:18Looking back, it is a history that, to date, can be divided into three distinct chapters,
03:24shaped by the lands through which it has journeyed and the people it has touched.
03:28From its early and inspired beginnings journeying out of Europe and into the harsh yet beautiful
03:33conditions of the African continent, the race grew in legend and stature, spanning 24 countries
03:39in Europe and Africa and winning over fans and competitors alike, all bound by a spirit
03:44of adventure and willingness to journey into the unknown.
03:47The success of the event and its growing worldwide popularity, however, also brought with it
03:52growing security concerns.
03:54This culminated in 2008, when the dark shadow of terrorism cast itself over what would have
03:59been the 30th consecutive edition of the race, forcing its cancellation that year.
04:03However, the spirit of Dakar, which had its origins on the African continent, was to live
04:08on elsewhere.
04:122009 saw the Dakar rise from the ashes, reborn on the South American continent and lovingly
04:18embraced by the millions of loyal and passionate motorsport fans that lived there.
04:23It was a chapter that lasted a decade, in which time the race crossed the continent
04:27from the Pacific to the Atlantic, spanning Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay.
04:33Each year, legions of fans, about 4 million, lined the roads of Dakar to watch competitors
04:39battle the unique and challenging conditions of the South American landscape.
04:45From vast deserts to amazing highlands, sold flats and floods, the land and the people
04:51of South America firmly etched their place in the history of the Dakar.
04:55In 2020, the Dakar Rally entered a new era as it shifted to Saudi Arabia, marking the
05:00start of an exciting chapter in the race's history.
05:03The country's majestic and diverse landscape has proven to be a perfect natural home for
05:08this gruelling event, offering a challenging terrain that tests the limits of both drivers
05:13and machines.
05:14Saudi Arabia's geography is a striking blend of vast deserts, rocky plateaus, coastal plains
05:20and rugged mountains, each offering its own unique set of challenges.
05:25This chapter has also seen the introduction of the Dakar Future Programme, an ambitious
05:29initiative designed to modernise and sustain the Dakar Rally in the face of new global
05:34challenges, with the ultimate goal of leaving a positive social and environmental legacy.
05:41Although the race takes place over two weeks, with one rest day in between, the Dakar actually
05:45begins well before the starting podium and represents a huge logistical and technical
05:50challenge.
05:51One month prior to the event, many of the vehicles competing in Dakar, including those
05:55of the race organisers, are shipped together from Europe to the start in the host country.
06:01About a week prior to the start, competitors and organisers arrive in Saudi Arabia.
06:05This is followed by what's known as scrutineering.
06:08Taking place over two days prior to the event, it involves both an administrative and technical
06:13component.
06:15The administrative requires all competitors submit to a whole host of regulatory obligations,
06:20such as checking of licences and medical forms, whilst technical scrutineering involves the
06:26reviewing of competitors' vehicles, such as navigation and safety equipment.
06:32The scrutineering phase also enables competitors to make any last-minute adjustments, such
06:36as fine-tune the settings, double-check all the nuts and bolts, and finish welding the
06:41subframes.
06:42Once scrutineering is finished, competitors must attend a big race briefing, where they
06:46receive important race information.
06:48After all this done, then, and only then, can competitors finally get ready to the starting
06:53podium and tackle the prologue.
06:57The most intense and challenging two weeks of their lives await the competitors.
07:02This is because, despite changing places, the central pillar of the Dakar Rally is,
07:08and always has been, endurance.
07:11The challenge of overcoming thousands of kilometres of some of the most difficult terrain on the
07:15planet, and battling the many physical, mental and mechanical challenges along the way, is
07:20what makes the Dakar so unique.
07:23In fact, so difficult is the challenge, that it is not uncommon for at least 50% of the
07:28field to fail to complete the journey.
07:31Another unique thing about Dakar is that everyone can potentially enter.
07:35You don't need to be a Rally Raid champion to take part.
07:38In fact, the vast majority of its competitors are amateurs.
07:41The only condition is to be at least 18 years of age, and possess a FIA international licence
07:46for cars and trucks, or a FIM international licence for bikes.
07:51The motorbikes, however, are subject to a special selection process.
07:54You can find out more about it by watching our dedicated video.
07:57The openness of Dakar means that, each year, it attracts a diverse range of competitors
08:02spanning the broad spectrum of humanity.
08:04Whether they be amateurs, professionals, and even celebrities, all share a common desire
08:09to compete in the race, and are bound by the spirit of Dakar, and the brotherhood it brings.
08:15In fact, although they are ultimately competing against each other, camaraderie is essential.
08:20It is a common feature of the race for competitors to stop and help each other out when encountering difficulty.
08:26This camaraderie finds expression each night at the end of each day's racing, in the bivouac sites.
08:32The bivouac is the place where participants camp for the night, and appears to be like
08:36a travelling village following the race.
08:38There are between 2,500 and 3,000 people in a bivouac, including competitors,
08:44mechanics, team staff, rally officials, medical staff, and media representatives.
08:49Every race day in the Dakar Rally starts and ends at a bivouac,
08:53and is made up of two different sections, known as the Special and the Liaison.
08:57The Special stages are the most exciting parts of the Dakar.
09:00These are the competitive timed sections, often off-road, across hostile terrain,
09:04in which competitors try to achieve the fastest time possible,
09:08while trying desperately not to crash out completely.
09:12The time set in the Special stage, to which are added possible penalties,
09:16determines the overall positions in the classification standings.
09:19The sections before and after the Specials are referred to as Liaison sections.
09:24For safety and security reasons, it is not always possible to begin and end the Special stage at the bivouac sites.
09:30In this case, race vehicles must proceed from the bivouac site to the Special stage start point.
09:34Crucial to success in the Special stages is navigation,
09:38as the Dakar is, in a sense, an orienteering race.
09:41Competitors must find their way through over and around the many obstacles of the course as quickly as possible.
09:47However, they must do so in a way that preserves both man and machine.
09:51The goal is to not make any navigational mistakes that could result in a crash, penalties, poor performances, or getting lost.
09:59Speed is important, but not as important as safety and attention to detail.
10:05To aid competitors in their quest, they are provided with a digital roadbook.
10:09The roadbook is the key navigation element.
10:12It describes all the necessary information to navigate between the many waypoints and checkpoints during each stage.
10:18The roadbook is provided by the organizers and is distributed every morning, 5 minutes before the start of the stage.
10:24The rally route remains a secret until the delivery of the roadbook to the competitors.
10:29But even then, the roadbook only provides step-by-step instructions on how to navigate the course.
10:36An overall map remains elusive.
10:38It is only through following the instructions in the roadbook,
10:41and then validating the checkpoints and waypoints during the race,
10:44that the overall route of the course is discovered.
10:47The roadbook is divided into three columns and is read from left to right.
10:52On the left, the large number is the total number of kilometers into the section.
10:56The smaller number in the bottom corner is the number of kilometers from one item to the next.
11:01Notification of start and ending of speed control zones as well as checkpoint and waypoints will also appear in this box.
11:08In the middle is the tulip, which is a drawing showing the trail, terrain and landmarks at that particular kilometer.
11:14You enter each tulip drawing from the bottom of the drawing.
11:18On the right is an observation giving more information about that tulip,
11:22such as its cap or compass headings.
11:25The relevant speed for speed control zones and whether or not there is waypoint marker in that section.
11:30The observations use a lexicon of symbols established by race organizers, which also must be learnt.
11:37So, as much as the race is a physical challenge for riders, drivers and navigators,
11:42it is equally a mental challenge to stay focused, alert and prepared over the two weeks in order to face all difficulties.
11:52Navigation is facilitated by an all-in-one device.
11:56The digital tablet provides all the information necessary to successfully navigate the special stages of each day's course.
12:03The tablet includes the roadbook, a resettable digital odometer and speedometer that keeps track of distance travelled,
12:11a compass to provide CAP headings, an alert system known as Sentinel that alerts competitors to the presence of other vehicles.
12:20It facilitates overtaking between them but also increases the safety in case of opposite directions.
12:26A GPS system that gives location data and is set up to guide competitors to waypoints once they reach a certain radius,
12:34validating them once reached.
12:36Additionally to the tablet, the competitors also have a safety tracking instrument and beacon called eRetrack.
12:43Indeed, despite the solitude of competing in the Dakar, competitors are never completely alone.
12:49During the race, real-time data is transmitted back to the race headquarters, known as the PCO, located in Paris but also on-site in Saudi Arabia.
12:59This enables the PCO to monitor positions and track competitors, taking action if there is a potential problem.
13:05For instance, if a competitor suddenly stops, the PCO uses the tracking system to contact him.
13:10The Dakar features four categories of vehicles, teamed by one to three competitors,
13:15not counting support crew for the larger professional teams.
13:18These categories are the motorcycles, cars, trucks and the lightweight cross-country vehicles, also known as side-by-side vehicles.
13:27Whilst these categories do feature professional teams with backing from large auto constructors,
13:33who see the Dakar as the ideal testing ground for their vehicles and prototypes,
13:38the majority of the field comes from the amateur ranks or privateers.
13:42However, whether it be factory cars officially entered by constructors,
13:47to buggy prototypes assembled in a garage by an enthusiastic amateur,
13:52the Dakar has always been, for those that compete, more than just a race.
13:57It is and remains an adventure into the unknown and a journey of self-quest,
14:03transforming participants from inside out and thrilling generations of fans for over 40 years.
14:12Transcribed by ESO, translated by —