48-hour marathon stage is new in 2024

The 46th edition of the Dakar Rally, which will take place in Saudi Arabia from January 5th to 19th, 2024, has as its main novelty a 48-hour marathon stage. The race, which is taking place on Saudi soil for the fifth year, covers 7,881 kilometers, 4,727 of which (around 60% of the total) will be timed.

The sporting director of the event organized by the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), Frenchman David Castera, considers the two-day stage to be the “toughest” of the rally, since, in addition to the 584-kilometre length, the drivers must stop at 16:00 in one of the eight camps set up for this purpose along the route, where they will not have any communication with the outside world.

In this marathon stage, which precedes the rest day (January 13), competitors will sleep in tents provided by the organization and will not have outside assistance and the food will also be distributed by the organization and will consist of military rations.

On the rest day, in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, the future of the competition’s energy transition will be discussed. David Castera announced the creation of the Dakar Future Mission 1000, a laboratory to study ways to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and in the 2024 edition of the race there will be 10 vehicles selected to cover up to 1,000 kilometers in a sustainable way “and open a new dimension of Dakar with clean vehicles.”

For the 2024 Dakar Rally, 434 vehicles are registered, divided into 137 motorbikes, 10 quads, 72 cars (in the new Ultimate category, which brings together the T1 prototypes and the T2 series), 42 Cahllenger (the old T3 or light prototype vehicles), 36 SSV (which corresponds to the old T4 or light vehicles derived from the series) and 46 trucks.

The event also includes the participation of three stock cars (electric cars), 66 classic cars and 14 classic trucks. Six motorbikes, a car, a truck and two light vehicles participate in the Dakar Future Mission.