The world’s hardest race – Dakar 2023 – kicks off on Saturday with some of the aggressive arenas ever witnessed for the occasion in all courses.
This week, forward of the forty fourth run, outdated pals and rivals greet one another because the 2023 Dakar convoy and assist groups descend on the Marine Camp, which is able to function the structuring, documentation, technical checks, Thursday’s testing and rally heart. the primary two days of the race.
Greater than 100 basic common entries will tackle the 2023 problem, together with over 450 autos together with 70+ automobiles, 125 bikes, 20 quads, 90 UTVs and 55 vans.
The forty fifth Dakar, which is 2 days longer this yr, kicks off with a brief and sharp 11km qualifying take a look at on Saturday, December thirty first. This units the beginning positions for the 4,700km race and a complete of 8,600km to be pushed over the 15 days till the end on January fifteenth.
Defending the Dakar and World Rally Raid champions, Toyota Gazoo Racing is again within the trio of Hilux DKR T1+ led by 2022 winner Nasser Al-Attiyah from Qatar and Mathieu Baumel. They’re all supported by SA groups, 2009 Dakar winner and 2022 SA champions Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy, in addition to junior weapons Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings.
Qatar legend Al-Attiyah Dakar goals to extend win to 5
Of the opposite massive weapons, 9-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb (pictured above) is on the hunt for the hard-to-get Dakar win with Fabian Lurquin and Argentina’s Orlando Terranova alongside customized Guerlain Chicherit and Zala Vaidotas on the Prodrive Hunter manufacturing unit.
Audi’s highly effective petrol-electric hybrid Audi e-Tron Quattros can be launched in 2023 by Stéphane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz Sr. and Mattias Ekstrom might be anticipated to have a big Dakar issue on their arms. Among the many auto contenders, do not overlook a strong Mini collection and Martin Prokop’s Ford Raptor.
It’s sure that the six manufacturing unit groups will peak the curiosity in two-wheeled autos. GasGas duo, 2022 Dakar winners Sam Sunderland and Daniel Sanders are a very good wager, whereas sister model KTM has former winners Toby Value, Matthias Walkner and Kevin Benavides within the saddle.
Add 4 manufacturing unit Hondas to the combination for Ricky Brabec, Adrien Van Beveren, Pablo Quintanilla and Jose Florimo, in addition to the tremendous particular Joan Barreda, and it is everybody’s race.
Broad-open battle between two-wheeled brigades
Husqvarna has Skyler Howes and Luciano Benavides supported by SA professional and sand professional Michael Docherty. The a number of SA champion leads the Hero offensive with Kalahari Ferrari Ross Department, Joaquim Rodriguez, Franco Caimi and Seb Bühler from Botswana. Rui Gonçalves, Lorenzo Santolino and Harith Noah and Koitha Veettil are competing for Sherco.
Facet-by-side, 2022 winner Francisco Lopez Contardo joins Pink Bull T3 juniors, feminine star Cristina Guttieres, Gustavo Gugelmin and 2022 T4 winner Austin Jones within the SA-derived South Racing group. They face off towards Guillaume De Mevius, Helder Rodrigues and Ignacio Casale. South Africans Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman return with Dakar rookie group SA Rally Raid T1 Class champions Eben Basson and Abertus Pienaar.
Rokas Bakiuska begins out as a T4 favourite towards Gerard Farres Guell, brothers Michal and Marek Goczal, Rodrigo De Oliveira and native hero Yasir Seaidan. Add feminine racer Molly Taylor, bicycle owner refugee Xavier De Soultrait and Mozambican group Paulo Oliveira and Miguel Alberty. Stefan Svitko, Alexandre Giroud, Manuel Andujar, Pablo Copetti. Giovanni Enrico and Kamil Wisniewski and Laisvydas Kancius will in the meantime proceed their everlasting battle of the Dakar 4.
Dakar begins with a brief Foreword earlier than Sunday’s mega gravel loop
Dakar’s vans ought to crown a brand new winner within the absence of the Russian Kamaz in 2023. Kees Koolen, Martin Macik, David Svanda and Vaidotas Paskevicius wave the Iveco flag. MAN driver Gerrit Zuurmond, Ales Loprais’s Praga, Renault’s Omir Martinec and Teruhito Sugawara’s Hino are amongst those that stepped out to cease them.
Dakar begins with Saturday’s 11km Prologue, earlier than Sunday’s 367km full gravel loop with the primary dune problem to the end. A tricky first week follows, with 430km loops from rock fields to Alula on Monday, 447km from Ha’il on Tuesday, and 425 and 373km loops by canyons and dunes on Wednesday and Thursday.
Friday’s 467km dune plateaus to Al Duwadimi, Saturday’s 472km longest rock and sand stage, and Sunday’s new 398km run head to Riyadh for Monday’s Relaxation Day.
Then there may be 358 km to Haradh and a difficult 113 km to Shaybah. It consists of the 273km Empty Quarter Marathon, which doesn’t serve Al-Hofuf earlier than 154km on Thursdays and Fridays, and the irritating 136km on the seaside till the end in Dammam on Sunday, January fifteenth. (as reported by Dakar Motorsports Media Courtesy of Toyota Gazoo Racing)
In regards to the Dakar Rally
- The Dakar Rally is the top of the Rally Raid calendar. Rally raid, also referred to as cross-country rally, is a type of long-distance cross-country race that takes place over a number of days.
- The Dakar Rally journey has its roots in 1977, when French bike racer Thierry Sabine disappeared on his bike within the Libyan desert in the course of the Abidjan-Good Rally. As soon as out of the desert, the Frenchman was decided to design a race that capitalized on the expertise of a route that began in Europe, continued to Algeria, and crossed Agadez earlier than lastly ending in Dakar. Since then, the Dakar Rally has advanced from races in Africa to South America and now Saudi Arabia.
- The race consists of 1 stage per day, which might be on or off-road, every containing at the least one “particular” stage (a number of hundred kilometers lengthy). The full distance coated is a number of thousand kilometers. The occasion takes place over a interval of ten to fifteen days.
- The classification of the stage consists of the occasions decided within the particular stage and sports activities penalties, if any. The race requires exact navigation through a roadbook supplied by the organizers and distributed initially of every stage.
- The beginning order of every particular occasion can be based mostly on occasions set within the timed sector of the earlier stage, together with any sports activities penalties acquired in the course of the stage (for instance, rushing in connecting sectors or lacking waypoints).
- 2023 Dakar Rally can be longest route Since 2014, individuals will cowl a preface and 5,000km particular phases in 14 phases. The Prologue Stage will start on December 31, 2022, in Yanbu on the Pink Coastline, and the course goals to increase so far as Dammam within the Persian Gulf, ending on January 15, with extra dunes and potential traps than ever earlier than. . (Supply: Red Bull)
#Dakar #calm #desert #storm
