The 2024 Dakar Rally will be the fifth successive event to take place entirely in Saudi Arabia, but organiser ASO has laid out a route that will be vastly different to previous years.
One of the biggest highlights of this year’s challenge is a two-day ‘chrono stage’, where competitors will have until 4pm to cover as much ground as possible before halting at the next bivouac they come across. They will head out again the following morning at 7am in order to be the first to reach the finish line, covering a competitive distance of nearly 600km in the process. To add to the difficulty, no assistance from teams will be allowed overnight as per ‘marathon stage’ rules, meaning drivers will have to fend for themselves in case of any technical drama.
But perhaps of even bigger interest is five-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah’s defection to Prodrive after a lengthy stint at Toyota. Al-Attiyah has always been a well-known quantity in cross-country rallying and the success he has enjoyed in Dakar since the rally moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020 has elevated him among the most successful drivers ever in this discipline. His move could well dictate the results of Toyota and Prodrive this year, as well those of rival entrants.
We look at the prospects of all major manufacturers competing in the 45th edition of the world’s most popular rally-raid.
Prodrive
Photo by: Prodrive
Nasser Al-Attiyah, Prodrive
Prodrive has shown all the ingredients to be a serious challenger in the last few years and 2024 marks its best chance to finally bag that elusive victory with the Hunter T1+. With Al-Attiyah now leading its attack, Prodrive can claim to have a line-up that is on par with Audi’s, except it won’t have to deal with an overly-complicated hybrid system.
Al-Attiyah has already completed two events in the Hunter buggy and, given that he has won Dakar with three different manufacturers, one can count on the Qatari driver to make a smooth adaptation from the vastly different Hilux pick-up he drove during his time at Toyota.
Completing Al-Attiyah’s efforts would be nine-time World Rally champion Sebastien Loeb, who continues his search for a maiden victory in Dakar after seven unsuccessful attempts. In 2023, Loeb pulled off an incredible recovery from an early setback as he won a record six consecutive stages during the middle of the event to finish behind Al-Attiyah. With fewer punctures and improved overall reliability, Loeb…
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