Dakar Rally 2023 | New track and details about the new version

Weather of Arabia - The 45th edition of the Dakar Rally, the biggest challenges in the world of motorsports and the oldest rally on earth, will return to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the fourth time in a row, from December 31 to January 15, 2023, in the opening round of the World Desert Rally Championship season from the federation International Motors.

In preparation for the big event, the “Amauri Sport Organization”, the organizer of the Dakar Rally, in cooperation with the Saudi Motorsports Company, revealed that the official press conference will be held to provide details of the Dakar Rally 2023 remotely, on December 1, next, at 01:30 pm KSA time, 01 :30 pm Paris time. The public can follow the details of the press conference via the link on the Dakar Rally website to learn about the details of the new track in the Kingdom, the most prominent amendments to the sports regulations and the participants this year.

Dakar Rally fans will enjoy two weeks of exciting adventure, as the world's most fearless racers take their vehicles of various classes through the desert, mountains and magnificent coastal landscapes of Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is hosting the entire Dakar Rally this year for the fourth time in a row, and the organizers have confirmed many changes to the sports and technical regulations, including the new track and sports rules.

In turn, His Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al Abdullah Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Motorsports Federation and the Saudi Motorsports Company, expressed his happiness at the return of the Dakar Rally to Saudi Arabia for the fourth time in a row, stressing that this event embodies the generous support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The two honorable King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, may God protect him, for the advancement of the sports sector, and the keenness of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince, may God protect him, to provide all the capabilities that would consolidate the Kingdom’s leading position in the global sports arena, according to the goals of the vision Kingdom 2030, and the diligent follow-up and directives of His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Minister of Sports, indicating that the new rally track would add more excitement to drivers, and would reflect the most beautiful scenic landscapes that characterize the Kingdom in front of the Dakar Rally audience from all over. the scientist.

His Highness said: “We look forward to welcoming again the participants in the most challenging rally in the world, to enjoy this exceptional competitive atmosphere on the soil of the Kingdom, to build on the success we have achieved in the past three years, and to confirm our ability to host the largest international races, through which we will convey to the world what is distinguished by it.” Our country is of wonderful nature and diverse and different terrain, which tells the beauty of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

new track

The "Amarui Sport Organization" revealed the completely new track this year, which will take the participants from the shores of the Red Sea, passing through the sands of the desert of the Kingdom, to Dammam on the coast of the Arabian Gulf, in a journey that takes 14 stages and one preliminary stage, and the Saudi Dakar Rally 2023 track is the longest of the stages. The special stages are subject to timing in the history of the rally in the Kingdom, and the length of the special stages ranges between 350-500 km.

The Saudi Dakar Rally 2023 features 70% new tracks, and the start will be from a camp on the shores of the Red Sea in Yanbu, before heading east towards Al-Ula and Hail, where drivers will go through two circular stages. The rally then begins its journey south, stopping at Dawadmi before the day of rest in Riyadh. The journey will then continue east towards Haradh before heading southeast for a three-day trek through an ocean of sand dunes in the Empty Quarter desert.

The Empty Quarter covers a vast area of challenging sand dunes in a desert the size of France, and it is the area that will host the marathon stage, where competitors will be prohibited from receiving outside assistance from their teams.

After the end of the marathon stage, the competitors will travel north along the coast of the Arabian Gulf, passing through Shaybah and Al Hofuf before reaching the final stage in Dammam, where the drivers will cover nearly 5,000 kilometers of timed special stages, the longest distance of the timed special stages since 2014.

Dakar Classic

This year’s edition will witness the return of the Dakar Classic category for the third time, in which historical and oldest vehicles (pre-21st century) participate, and this year will witness the addition of a completely new category to determine low medium speeds that adapt to less powerful cars to provide more fair competition.

This year will also witness two new challenges: the “Co-Driver Challenge” for vehicles that participate without relying on modern tools; and the "Icon Classic Club Challenge" of cars that originally competed in the Dakar in the 20th century.

Sports regulations changes

A number of changes to the sporting regulations that will come into force this year have also been announced, including the introduction of an electronic road guide available to all participants, a new mirror road, and the division of some sections into two lanes (A and B). The waybooks for Routes A and B are assigned so randomly that competitors who follow their predecessors can run the risk of losing their waypoints, and thus incur severe penalties.

The organizers also announced a time bonus for those who open the stage in the cycling category. Although the amount of the bonus has yet to be announced, the idea of the rule change is to deter riders from voluntarily giving up a position to win a stage due to the obstacles of opening the next stage.

It is worth noting that the Dakar Rally is one of the most ancient races in motorsports, given its size, events, and the level of excitement and enthusiasm it guarantees. During its 45th edition, drivers will cover a distance of 5,000 km across the Kingdom. The rally track this year consists of one preliminary stage and 14 regular stages, interspersed with one day of rest in Riyadh, during which the competitors will go through 3 circular stages and one marathon.