The World’s Toughest Rally

The Dakar Rally relocated from South America to Saudi Arabia in 2020, marking the beginning of a new era for the world’s most demanding off-road endurance race. The Kingdom’s vast desert terrain — spanning the Empty Quarter, the Hejaz Mountains, and the Nefud Desert — provides a natural arena for the 14-day competition that tests cars, trucks, motorcycles, and UTVs across thousands of kilometers of sand, rock, and dune. This section tracks stage results, route design, competitor entries, vehicle technology, safety protocols, and the logistical infrastructure that makes the Saudi Dakar possible.

Saudi Arabia as the Dakar’s Permanent Home

The Dakar Rally’s relocation from South America to Saudi Arabia was driven by a combination of factors: ASO’s (Amaury Sport Organisation) deteriorating relationships with South American governments, Saudi Arabia’s ability to provide vast and varied desert terrain across its 2.15-million-square-kilometer landmass, the Kingdom’s willingness to commit significant financial resources to hosting, and the strategic alignment between the Dakar’s brand and Vision 2030’s sports tourism objectives. Saudi Arabia became the first Asian country to host the Dakar Rally. The ten-year hosting agreement signed with A.S.O., the French event organizer, provides long-term certainty through 2029.

Each edition of the Saudi Dakar has explored different regions of the Kingdom’s geography. Routes have traversed the Empty Quarter (Rub’ al Khali, the largest continuous sand desert in the world), the Hejaz Mountains, the Nefud Desert, and the rocky landscapes of the northwest, coastal sections along the Red Sea, and volcanic terrain in the Harrat region. This diversity provides rally competitors with terrain types that few countries in the world can match. The two-week competition typically covers 7,500 to 8,500 kilometers total, with 4,000 to 5,000 kilometers of timed special stages across 12-13 stages plus a prologue.

Complete Saudi Dakar Results (2020-2026)

2020 (42nd Edition): Jeddah to Al-Qiddiya, January 5-17, 12 stages, 351 entries, 557 competitors from 53 nationalities. Cars: Carlos Sainz Sr. (Mini JCW X-Raid Buggy), his 4th Dakar title. Motorcycles: Ricky Brabec (Honda), first North American to win any Dakar class, first Honda win since 1989, ending KTM’s 18 consecutive wins. Trucks: Andrey Karginov (Kamaz), his 2nd title, Kamaz’s 17th manufacturer win.

2021 (43rd Edition): Jeddah to Jeddah, January 3-15, 7,600 km route crossing 10 towns, approximately 500 competitors. Cars: Stephane Peterhansel (Mini JCW Buggy) with co-driver Edouard Boulanger, his record-extending 14th Dakar title, winning by 14:51 despite only 1 stage win through exceptional consistency. Motorcycles: Kevin Benavides (Honda), first South American rider to win the Dakar, with Honda securing a 1-2 finish (Ricky Brabec second). Notable: Nasser Al-Attiyah won 5 stages plus Prologue but finished 2nd in cars. Carlos Sainz finished 3rd.

2022 (44th Edition): Ha’il to Jeddah, January 1-14, prologue plus 12 stages, total distance 8,375 km (4,258 km timed), 578 vehicles, 750 participants from 70 nationalities, 209 rookies, 60 women. Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Hilux) with co-driver Matthieu Baumel, his 4th career Dakar title (2011, 2015, 2019, 2022), won stages 1 and 4, led from start to finish, winning by 27m46s. Motorcycles: Sam Sunderland (GasGas), his 2nd Dakar title, first for GasGas, closest margin since 1994 at 3m27s over Quintanilla. Notable: Carlos Sainz scored the first-ever victory for a hybrid vehicle (Audi RS Q e-tron) on Stage 3. Danilo Petrucci became the first MotoGP rider to win a Dakar stage. Kamaz and MAZ trucks did not enter due to the Ukraine conflict.

2023 (45th Edition): Total distance 8,549 km (4,706 km timed), 14 stages, 70% new tracks. Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah (Toyota Hilux T1+) with co-driver Mathieu Baumel, his 5th Dakar title, Toyota dominated with 4 cars in top 5. Motorcycles: Kevin Benavides (KTM), his 2nd Dakar title, the closest motorcycle finish in Dakar history — only 43 seconds separated Benavides from teammate Toby Price after 5,000 km and 43+ hours of racing. T3: Austin Jones (Can-Am), Can-Am’s 6th straight T3 win. T4: Eryk Goczal, youngest Dakar winner at 18 years old. Notable: Peterhansel crashed landing flat off a dune on Stage 6, rendered unconscious, co-driver hospitalized. Carlos Sainz also destroyed suspension on same dune and retired. Race featured Empty Quarter stages including marathon stage.

2024 (46th Edition): AlUla to Yanbu. Cars: Carlos Sainz Sr. (Audi RS Q e-tron) with co-driver Lucas Cruz, the first electric/hybrid car to win the Dakar overall, Sainz aged 62 defying age. Motorcycles: Ricky Brabec (Honda CRF450), his 2nd Dakar victory. Quads: Manuel Andujar (Argentine). T3: Cristina Gutierrez, first woman to win the T3 Challenger category. Notable: Route covered Saudi Arabia’s most challenging terrain from AlUla to Yanbu.

2025 (47th Edition): Bisha (southwest) to Shubaytah (Empty Quarter), January 3-17, 12 stages, 14 racing days, 800+ participants from 70 nationalities. Notable: Rally culminated in the Empty Quarter (Rub’ al Khali), the largest continuous sand desert in the world.

2026 (48th Edition): Yanbu to Yanbu, January 3-17, prologue plus 13 stages, 14 racing days, 812 competitors from 69 nationalities, 39 women competitors, 433 vehicles entered, 317 started, 247 finished. Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah, his 6th Dakar victory. Motorcycles: Luciano Benavides (Argentine). Notable: Most dramatic finish in Dakar history — just 2 seconds separated 1st from 2nd in the motorcycle category after nearly 8,000 km. Route through Ha’il, Al-Qassim, Riyadh (rest day), then west to new regions: Al-Bahah, Aseer, Jizan. Skipped the Empty Quarter.

Economic and Media Impact

Each Dakar Rally edition generates an estimated $130 million in direct economic impact and over $300 million in international media value, based on comparable figures from the 2019 Peru edition which generated $130 million in economic impact and $300 million in media value. The rally brings competitors, support teams, organizers, media, and spectators to the Kingdom. The event’s global television and digital reach provides sustained international exposure across the rally’s two-week duration.

The Dakar creates lasting infrastructure benefits: service roads, desert camps, communication networks, and logistical frameworks developed for the rally support broader tourism and development objectives in remote areas. The rally showcases largely unexplored natural landscapes, boosting domestic tourism. The event has been described as soft power that enhances Saudi Arabia’s international profile by showcasing culture and heritage to millions of viewers worldwide. Job creation spans local employment in event logistics, hospitality, and infrastructure.

The rally’s economic significance within the Vision 2030 framework positions it as a key contributor to the sports sector’s target of $22.4 billion by 2030 and the tourism development objectives that underpin economic diversification.

What This Section Covers

Each page in this section delivers detailed analysis covering stage results and classification data, route design and terrain analysis, competitor entries and vehicle specifications, safety protocols and medical infrastructure, logistical operations and support networks, economic impact assessment, and the Dakar’s role within Saudi Arabia’s broader sports tourism and entertainment strategy.

Vehicle Categories and Competition

The Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia features competition across multiple vehicle categories, each with distinct technical regulations and competitive dynamics:

Cars (T1+): Prototype rally-raid vehicles including the Toyota Hilux (dominant with Al-Attiyah), BRX Hunter, and Dacia Sandrider. The T1+ category has produced the closest overall battles and the most consistent winners across Saudi editions.

Cars (T1U): Electric and alternative-powered prototypes including the Audi RS Q e-tron, which made history when Carlos Sainz scored the first hybrid stage win in 2022 and the first overall victory in 2024.

Motorcycles: Factory-supported entries from KTM, Honda, Hero, and Husqvarna alongside privateer competitors. The motorcycle category has produced the most dramatic finishes, including the 43-second margin in 2023 and the 2-second margin in 2026.

Trucks: Massive Kamaz, Iveco, and MAN machines. Kamaz dominated historically with 17 manufacturer wins, though Russian teams did not enter in 2022 due to the Ukraine conflict.

T3 (Lightweight Prototypes): The Challenger category, dominated by Can-Am with six consecutive wins through 2023. Cristina Gutierrez became the first woman to win T3 in 2024.

T4 (SSV/Side-by-Side): Production side-by-sides, where Eryk Goczal became the youngest Dakar winner at 18 years old in 2023.

Dakar Classics: Heritage vehicles racing a separate classification.

Logistics and Infrastructure

Staging the Dakar Rally across Saudi Arabia requires a logistical operation of extraordinary scale. A.S.O. deploys a rolling bivouac that relocates approximately 3,000 people — competitors, support teams, organizers, media, and medical personnel — across the Kingdom over two weeks. The bivouac infrastructure includes temporary fuel stations, tire service, food and accommodation facilities, medical centers, helicopter landing zones, and communication systems that must function in remote desert locations hundreds of kilometers from permanent infrastructure.

The Saudi government provides substantial logistical support including military and civil defense coordination, road access, airspace management, environmental monitoring, and security operations. The infrastructure developed for each Dakar edition — including service roads, communication towers, and emergency access routes — creates lasting capabilities that benefit remote communities and support tourism development in previously inaccessible areas.

Safety and Medical Operations

The Dakar Rally is one of the most dangerous events in motorsport, with fatalities occurring in multiple editions throughout its history. The Saudi editions have prioritized safety improvements including GPS-based competitor tracking, automated speed monitoring in sensitive zones, enhanced medical helicopter coverage, improved digital roadbook navigation systems (replacing paper roadbooks), and mandatory safety equipment requirements. The medical infrastructure deploys trauma-capable medical teams at strategic positions along each stage, with helicopter evacuation capability and coordination with Saudi hospital networks.

Safety incidents during the Saudi editions include Stephane Peterhansel’s Stage 6 crash in 2023, where he was rendered unconscious after landing flat off a dune, with his co-driver hospitalized. Carlos Sainz also destroyed his suspension on the same dune and retired from that edition. These incidents underscore the inherent danger of racing across unmarked desert terrain at high speeds.

Saudi Arabia’s Terrain Advantage

Saudi Arabia’s 2.15-million-square-kilometer landmass offers rally route planners a diversity of terrain types that few countries in the world can match. The Empty Quarter — the largest contiguous sand desert on Earth — provides soft sand dunes, vast flat plains, and navigational challenges. The Hejaz Mountains offer rocky terrain, technical mountain passes, and dramatic elevation changes. The Nefud Desert delivers different sand composition and dune structure. Coastal sections along the Red Sea provide hard-packed surfaces. Volcanic landscapes of the Harrat region offer unique geological terrain unlike any found in previous host countries.

This diversity allows A.S.O. to design routes that vary significantly year to year, maintaining competitive freshness. Seven editions have covered routes that differ substantially, visiting new regions in each edition. The Kingdom’s vast uninhabited areas provide the space needed to route stages through genuinely remote terrain without impacting populated areas.

National Competitors and Development

The Dakar Rally’s presence in Saudi Arabia has catalyzed development of domestic rally-raid competitors. Saudi drivers and co-drivers have entered recent editions, supported by SAMF and private sponsors, gaining experience at the highest level. The development pathway from grassroots desert driving to national championships to Dakar entries represents a long-term investment in building domestic capability that will sustain Saudi Arabia’s engagement with the Dakar beyond the hosting agreement.

Controversies

The Dakar Rally’s move to Saudi Arabia was heavily criticized by human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, described as a sportswashing attempt to distract from human rights abuses. Women’s position in Saudi society was a major criticism point at the time of the 2020 inaugural edition. Organizers defend the event as bringing positive attention and contributing to social and economic development. Despite these criticisms, the competitive quality and terrain diversity of the Saudi editions have earned praise from competitors and rally enthusiasts.

Key Data — Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia

The Dakar’s Legacy in Saudi Arabia

Seven editions of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia have established the Kingdom as the definitive home of the world’s toughest rally. The terrain diversity — from the Empty Quarter’s continuous sand dunes to the Hejaz Mountains’ rocky passes to the Red Sea’s coastal sections — has been uniformly praised by competitors as superior to the rally’s previous South American editions. The ability to design routes that vary dramatically year to year, visiting regions never previously explored by the rally, maintains the navigational challenge and competitive freshness that define the Dakar’s identity.

The economic and media impact — $130 million and $300 million respectively per edition — provides measurable return on the Kingdom’s hosting investment. The infrastructure legacy — service roads, communication networks, emergency access routes — benefits remote communities long after each edition concludes. And the domestic development pipeline — Saudi competitors entering the rally with SAMF support, gaining experience at the highest level of off-road endurance racing — ensures that the Kingdom’s engagement with the Dakar extends beyond hosting to genuine competitive participation.

With the hosting agreement running through 2029, at least three more editions will be staged on Saudi soil, providing continued opportunities to showcase the Kingdom’s landscapes, develop domestic talent, and generate the economic and media returns that justify the investment within the Vision 2030 framework.

The Technology Revolution in the Saudi Dakar

The Saudi editions of the Dakar Rally have witnessed a technology revolution that has reshaped the competitive landscape. The most significant development was the introduction of the Audi RS Q e-tron — an electric/hybrid rally raid vehicle that demonstrated alternative powertrain viability in the most demanding conditions motorsport can offer. Audi’s program progressed from its first stage win (Carlos Sainz, Stage 3, 2022) to the overall victory (Sainz, 2024), proving that electric/hybrid technology can compete with and defeat conventional combustion-powered vehicles across thousands of kilometers of desert terrain.

This technology progression connects directly to Saudi Arabia’s broader industrial strategy. PIF’s investments in Lucid Motors and Ceer EV, combined with the target of 500,000 electric vehicles produced annually by 2030, create a strategic context in which the Dakar Rally serves as both a sporting competition and a technology proving ground. The T1U vehicle category — specifically designated for electric and alternative-powered prototypes — ensures that the Dakar continues to drive innovation in electric off-road vehicle technology on Saudi soil.