Driver Dania Akeel answers your most searched Dakar Rally questions
Part of this story
Where is the Dakar Rally 2024 taking place?
The Dakar Rally is being run in Saudi Arabia again this year, which is actually where I'm from – so good for me.
What's the distance of the Dakar Rally?
The rally is close to 9,000km in total and the timed special stages are between 4,000 and 5,000km.
What about safety. How dangerous is it to race the Dakar Rally?
It’s safe if you drive safe. They have really good markers on the road book to tell you where the dangers are and the points of major caution are. From there, it's your responsibility to drive through those areas in a safe way.
The Dakarists spend the night in the bivouac, a huge moving service park that travels with the event. What about the food there?
There's actually a very nice catering tent at the bivouac. When we come back from each stage, there's lunch ready and then there's dinner and breakfast. It's good food.
Drivers spend a lot of time in their vehicle, so how do you remain focused throughout the stages?
The best things to do to maintain focus are to stay really well hydrated during stages and to eat very well to keep up your energy levels. Getting good sleep is also really important, too.
Dania Akeel is already a Dakar Rally finisher
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
What's your goal at the Dakar Rally 2024?
Personally, my goal is to enjoy the driving to the maximum and finish the race. When it comes to numbers, I'll check in on the last day.
Part of this story