The journey of Dakar Rally 2024 has been presented by ASO, the competition's organizing company, and in the words of the test director, David Castera, it will be a greater challenge compared to the 2023 edition where navigation, resistance and climate were the rivals to overcome in Saudi Arabia , a country that will once again host the toughest test in motor sport.
If something identified the 2023 edition of the Dakar, it was the toughness of the first week, eliminating several of the contenders for victory in different categories and, in this year's edition, the situation will not be very different with a 48-hour stage of duration, which will force participants to give one last stretch before the rest day.
The competition that brings together motorcycles, cars and trucks will start on Friday, January 5 from the town of AlUla where the Prologue will be held with a short 27-kilometer stage of competition.
After this short route, hostilities will begin with 1,300 kilometers timed in the first three days, closing with a special Marathon in Al Salamiya, a special where there will be no assistance services and which will be a short interlude for Thursday and Friday, January 11 and 12. .
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David Castera, director of the competition, announced that stage 6 in the Shubaytah territory will be known as the Chrono 48 hourswith 818 kilometers in the Empty Quarter, an inhospitable and uninhabitable terrain where competitors will have to spend the night without their assistance equipment or comforts.
Participants who start on Thursday will have until 4:00 p.m. local time to reach one of the six camps established on the route. The vehicles must stop at the nearest one when the deadline is reached and there they will spend the night with a small team of bedding and food, but without communication with their teams, they will be isolated, so the repairs and strategy will be in charge. of each pilot and his navigator.
The reward for those survivors will be a rest day in Riyadh, where the second week of competition will begin to reach the finish line in Yanbu on Friday, January 19. When the competitors reach this point they will have traveled 4,727 timed kilometers and 7,891 total kilometers.
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