The Dakar 2024 will take place this year in Saudi Arabia between January 5 and January 19. To know everything about the race, here is the complete guide to the 46th edition of the rally run for the first time in 1978.
[Mis à jour le 5 janvier à 12h04] The Dakar officially began on Friday with the usual prologue. The competitors set off for a 28 kilometer “sprint” around the bivouac in the town of Al-Ula, in Saudi Arabia. In cars, the Swede Mattias Ekström was the fastest, a good habit for him since he had already won the first round of the rally last year. The Audi driver was 23 seconds ahead of the young American Seth Quintero (Toyota) and 38 seconds ahead of the much more experienced Sébastien Loeb (Prodrive). Stéphane Péterhansel (Audi) – 14 times winner of the rally – was also placed in seventh place, 45 seconds behind the winner of the day.
The outgoing winner Nasser Al-Attiyah (Prodrive) was much more cautious and settled for 12th place, just over a minute behind Mattias Ekström. You should know that the results of this prologue are not taken into account for the general classification with regard to the car category as stipulated in the new FIA regulations. It will only make it possible to define the starting positions for the first stage which will take the competitors to Al Henakiyah on Saturday for a 414 kilometer special.
On the motorcycle side, the Spaniard Tosha Schareina set the tone by winning this prologue in just over 17 minutes. Riding his Honda, he beat all the big names, starting with Daniel Sanders (at 12″) and Ross Branch (at 19″), to achieve his first success on the Dakar. The Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren did not miss his debut by taking fourth place in Al-Ula (at 24″), just ahead of the big Argentine favorite Luciano Benavides (at 26″). Title holder, Kévin Benavides, Luciano’s older brother, placed ninth in this prologue (at 56″).
The 2024 Dakar route
- Friday January 5-Prologue: Al-Ula – Al-Ula → 128 km including 28km of special
- Saturday January 6-Stage 1: Alula – Al Henakiyah → 541km including 414km of special
- Sunday January 7-Stage 2: Al Henakiyah – Al Duwadimi → 655km including 463km of special
- Monday January 8-Stage 3: Al Duwadimi – Al Salamiya → 733km including 438km of special
- Tuesday January 9-Stage 4: Al Salamiya – Al-Hofuf → 631km including 299km of special
- Wednesday January 10-Stage 5: Al-Hofuf – Shubaytah → 645km including 118km of special
- Thursday 11 and Friday 12 January-Stage 6: Shubaytah – Shubaytah → 781km including 572km of special
- Saturday January 13: Rest
- Sunday January 14-Stage 7: Riyadh – Al Duwadimi → 873km including 483km of special
- Monday January 15-Stage 8: Al Duwadimi – Hail → 678km including 458km of special
- Tuesday January 16-Stage 9: Hail – Al Ula → 639km including 417km of special
- Wednesday January 17-Stage 10: Al Ula – Al Ula → 612km including 371km of special
- Thursday January 18-Stage 11: Al Ula – Yanbu → 587km including 480km of special
- Friday January 19-Stage 12: Yanbu-Yanbu → 328km including 175km special
The ranking of the prologue in the car category
1. Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi) in 16’30”
2. Quintero/Denz (Toyota) at 23″
3. Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) at 38″
4. Baumgart/Cincea (Prodrive Hunter) mt
5. Baumgart/Andreotti (Prodrive Hunter) at 44″
6. Holowczyc/Kurzeja (Mini) mt
7. Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi) at 45″
8. Baud/Baud (Toyota) at 47″
9. Prokop/Chytka (Ford) at 49″
10. Baragwanath/Cremer (Century) at 55″
The prologue ranking in the motorcycle category
1. Tosha Schareina (ESP/Honda) in 17’35”
2. Daniel Sanders (AUS/GASGAS) at 12″
3. Ross Branch (BWA/Hero) at 19″
4. Adrien Van Beveren (FRA/Honda) at 24″
5. Luciano Benavides (ARG/Husqvarna) at 26″
6. Sam Sunderland (GBR/GASGAS) at 28″
7. Pablo Quintanilla (CHI/Honda) at 47″
8. Toby Price (AUS/KTM) at 51″
9. Kévin Benavides (ARG/KTM) at 56”
10. Mason Klein (USA/Korr) at 58″
The main entrants in the car category
– Al Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) – n°200
– Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°201
– Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°202
– Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) – n°203
– Sainz/Cruz (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°204
– Yacopini/Oliveiras (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°205
– Moraes/Monleon (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°206
– Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – n°207
– De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°209
– Roma/Bravo (Ford Ranger) – n°210
– Chicherit/Winocq (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°211
– Quintero/Zenz (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – n°216
– De Mévius/Panseri (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – n°221
– Baumgart/Cincea (Prodrive Hunter) – n°247
The main entrants in the motorcycle category
– Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) – n°1
– Toby Price (KTM) – n°2
– Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) – n°4
– Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) – n°5
– Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) – n°7
– Ricky Brabec (Honda) – n°9
– Skyler Howes (Honda) – n°10
– Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Honda) – n°11
– Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) – n°16
– Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) – n°42
– Ross Branch (Hero) – n°46
– Kevin Benavides (KTM) – n°47
– Tosha Schareina (Honda) – n°73
– Joan Barredo (Hero) – n°88
On which channel to follow the Dakar 2024?
There are changes in 2024. A privileged partner of the rally from the start, France Télévisions will no longer be the main broadcaster of the race this year. Only the Journal du Dakar will be offered each evening to viewers of the public service channel around 8:50 p.m. This 46th edition marks the arrival of the Dakar on the L’Equipe Channel. Broadcast unencrypted on TNT, on channel 21, the channel of the major sports daily will cover the race in detail.
The big live show will allow you to see the arrival of the main competitors every day between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. with several journalists and consultants on site to collect the participants’ first reactions. It will also be possible to watch the channel’s Dakar Journal from 6:20 p.m. while the summary of each stage will be broadcast at 8 p.m. For those who were unable to watch, the best moments from each stage will be rebroadcast every day from 11 a.m. Note that the Eurosport group, via its channels 1 and 2, will still follow the race, with a summary of around fifty minutes each day at 8 p.m., 11:30 p.m. or the next morning at 8 a.m.