THE DAKAR
the greatest motor race in the world
Having started back in 1979 with an ambitious event from the Eiffel Tower in Paris all the way through the Sahara desert to Dakar in Senegal, the rally soon became known as the world’s most enduring motorsport event, something that it remains to this day.
Following 29 rallies in Africa the rally moved to the heights of the world’s driest place, the Atacama Desert in Chile, South America for 11 events before exploring the vast open deserts of Saudi Arabia from 2020.
To be competitive on the Dakar Rally is a huge undertaking in whichever of the six categories competitors chose to be in due to the massive distances involved on a daily basis through some of the most stunning but inhospitable places on earth. However, the rewards are massive from a sporting and technical perspective knowing that to even finish is a massive achievement while to win stages and the rally outright is one of the pinnacles of the sporting world similar to climbing Everest, winning Le Mans, the World Cup or the Olympic Marathon.
The final word may well go to the Dakar’s creator, Thierry Sabine who said the rally was: "A challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind."