Rally Dakar 2022

The 2022 Dakar Rally will be a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia and the 44th edition of the Dakar Rally organized by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). The event will take place 2 – 14 January 2022. This will be the third time Saudi Arabia had hosted the event, with support from the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. The race will start in Ha’il and end in Jeddah, going through canyons and cliffs in the Neom region, passing by the Red Sea coastline, into to stretches of dunes surrounding Riyadh, with a lot more action on sand dunes in the Empty Quarter. The route consists of one prologue stage and 12 normal stages, with one rest day in Riyadh on 8 January.

The route

The feedback from competitors about previous event was that there were too many rocky surfaces resulting in excessive tyre wear and punctures, and not enough sandy stages which traditionally dominated Dakar rally. The organizers listened to the complaints and on 11 May 2021 revealed a new route which is characterized by a push into the sandy Empty Quarter. Same as last year, the route includes 1 Prologue stage, 12 stages including 2 loop stages and 1 marathon stage. The route will consist of around 4,000 km (2,500 mi) of special stages and 2,500 km (1,600 mi) – 3,000 km (1,900 mi) of liaisons. The exact route was revealed in late November 2021. The route did not feature the Empty Quarter this year. Initially, due to very difficult terrain, the competitors were planned to be airlifted from stage 8 finish to Riyadh.

Entry list

Announced early entries

A total of 750 riders, drivers and co-drivers entered the event, among them 209 rookies (first-time entries), 130 legends (participating for the 10th or more years), 34 original by Motul (riders without support team) and 60 women. Another 315 drivers and co-drivers entered the Dakar Classic (classic car and truck categories).

Stages