Rally Raid
12 things you never knew about the Dakar Rally
Fine tune your knowledge of the Dakar Rally as the toughest test in motorsports returns to the dunes in January 2027. We've picked out 12 little-known gems of wisdom about this unique race.
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Let us help you tighten the final screw as you prepare to take in the 2027 Dakar Rally. They’ll be calling you the 'Brains of the Bivouac' once you’ve stashed away these lesser-known facts about the world's hardest endurance race.
01
Some stats to get you up and running…
More than 350 competitors will race from Loulé in Portugal to Marrakech, Morocco, in the 49th Dakar Rally – the biggest adventure in motorsport.
The action sets off from the Start Camp on the Algarve in Portugal on January 9 before crossing the Mediterranean to regroup on the north African coast. From there, an international field of competitors will race around some of the toughest (and most beautiful) terrain as they try to conquer the Sahara and climb the Atlas mountains in a two-week race to historic Marrakech.
The will race through 2,697mi (4,341km) of special stages – that’s an entire WRC season packed into two weeks – and cover a total of 4,862mi (7,824km). That’s an entire F1 season or if you prefer, the equivalent of driving from New York City to Los Angeles, picking up a friend and driving to Cancún in Mexico.
02
A test of endurance
The Dakar Rally is the definition of a marathon race
© DPPI/Red Bull Content Pool
Known as the toughest race in the world, the Dakar is a destroyer of vehicles and not everyone setting out from the Estadio Algarve will make it to the finish. In 2026, a quarter of competitors had to retire before the end of the rally, which was an improvement on 2025 which saw 33 percent of the entrants drop out of the running.
Safety is world class, with every Dakar vehicle fitted with sophisticated tracking devices and a GPS that provides them with the day's road map, directions and also allows the 26-strong PCO team to monitor their progress. If anyone breaks down, they can contact race control, who will send help. If someone crashes on stage, it triggers an automatic alert and a rescue helicopter will be in the air within minutes.
03
The Dakar Rally is a marathon not a sprint
Nasser Al-Attiyah is pursuing his seventh Dakar Rally title
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
The Dakar Rally is a rally-raid – a long-distance race that takes place over several days with sections held against the clock and connected by treks on public roads. In 2022, the Dakar became the opening round of the World Rally-Raid Championship (or W2RC), combining world title races for both bike and quads (FIM) with cars, trucks, lightweight prototypes and Side-by-Sides (FIA).
Daniel Sanders (Bike) and Seth Quintero (Car) are leading the W2RC standing with one round to go. Assuming they seal their crowns at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, their title defense begins in Portugal. Meanwhile the defending Dakar champs are Luciano Benavides (Bike) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Car).
04
Did we say a marathon? We meant marathons within a marathon
Nasser Al-Attiyah kicks up some sand
© DPPI/Red Bull Content Pool
The sheer size of the Dakar Rally makes it a test of endurance for both man and machine, but it includes Marathon stages to push teams to the limits. In the original Paris-Dakar, competitors raced far into the desert, where they have to erect their tents, cook their meals and carry out running repairs to their machinery. After sleeping under canvas, they have to set off again for another day's gruelling racing before arriving at the next bivouac. The Marathon-Refuge stage is the only place you’ll find global stars like Carlos Sainz, Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso tinkering with their vehicles before camping out under the stars.
Dakar quick facts
05
Don't let a broken bone slow you down
Toby Price returns to Car action with Toyota
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Australian Toby Price scored his second Dakar victory in 2019 and gave Red Bull KTM Factory Racing their 18th consecutive win at the famous rally. Even more amazing than KTM's never-to-be-beaten winning streak is the fact that Price raced 3,231mi (5,200km) to victory with a broken bone. Just weeks before the rally, Price broke the scaphoid bone in his right wrist. He considered giving up his entry to the rally, but instead boarded his flight to Peru and won the final Dakar hosted in South America.
The unstoppable Daniel Sanders
© Kin Marcin / Red Bull Content Pool
In the same spirit, his compatriot Daniel Sanders, the 2025 Bike champion, crashed and broke his collarbone, sternum and rib and tore his groin muscle – but still supported his team and rode to the finish – that’s 1,293mi (2,081km) in agonizing pain.
06
Support trucks are both competitors and service vehicles
Waiting for the support truck to arrive
© Eric Vargiolu/DPPI/Red Bull Content Pool
The top factory teams have support lorries that carry vital equipment through each stage and can be used should the top runners suffer an accident or mechanical problem. These support trucks are massive and can cover the terrain just as well as the cars, although they are significantly slower. These big beasts of the desert also race against the rally's other support vehicles in their own truck class.
07
An eye on the future
Laia Sanz in the electric EBRO S800 XRR
© Pawel Starzyk/Red Bull Content Pool
The Dakar isn't just about endurance, it's also a proving ground for new technology. Every category will put new components to the test. The expanses of the Dakar have always served as a testing ground for improved speed as well as safety. Rally legend Carlos Sainz won the 2024 Rally Dakar in an Audi RS Q e-tron featuring an electric-powered drivetrain. Even more innovation will be on show in the Dakar Future Mission 1000. It's the fourth year of the category where the Dakar Rally provides the toughest testing conditions for alternative energy sources.
08
The rally started with someone getting lost in the desert
Getting lost is a big part of Dakar lore
© Florent Gooden/DPPI/Red Bull Content Pool
Thierry Sabine, a French motorbike racer, was competing in the 1977 Abidjan-Nice Rally when he lost his way. Realizing that navigating the remote sand dunes of a desert posed quite a challenge, he organized the first Dakar Rally. This inaugural edition left Paris in December 1978. The rally gets its name from the capital of Senegal: the location of the original finish line.
09
Women are racing to the front
Cristina Gutierrez, Laia Sanz and Dania Akeel
© Kin Marcin/Red Bull Content Pool
Women are playing an increasingly important role in the competition. The first woman to win the Dakar outright was German driver Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2001 and Cristina Gutiérrez built on her stage wins to clinch the Challenger class in 2024. Laia Sainz raced to the highest-ever finish for a woman in the Bike class with ninth place in 2016 and is a Dakar legend in her own right.
This year, more than 40 women are racing in the Dakar including all-female teams, such as the Gazelles Off Road Team, the Ladies Dakar Team and an X-raid team. Keep an eye on Gutiérrez, Sanz, Dania Akeel and Sara Price.
10
The lightweight divisions unearth new talent
Mechanics are kept busy at the Dakar
© Flavien Duhamel/Red Bull Content Pool
There's been a huge uplift in competitors entering the Lightweight Divisions of the rally, such as the Challenger category. Challenger machines such as the Taurus T3 Max house both a driver and co-driver and measure up to a two-thirds version of the Ultimate class race cars driven by the likes of Carlos Sainz, Nasser Al-Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb. Competing in the Challenger class is seen as the ideal way to progress from training wheels to the sharp end of the rally. This has been shown by Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team graduates Seth Quintero, Cristina Gutiérrez, Mitch Guthrie Jr. and Guillaume de Mevius.
"The Challengers are limited to a top speed of 84mph (135kph) while the Ultimates can hit 106mph (170kph),” explains De Mevius, who finished as runner-up on his Ultimate class debut. "The chassis strength of the Ultimate is also a significant upgrade, you can attack much more over rocks and jumps. You soon find the limit in a Challenger, but an Ultimate car can take you anywhere."
11
The landscapes will blow your mind
Carlos Sainz crosses the Andes during the 4th stage of Rally Dakar 2015
© Marcelo Maragni / Red Bull Content Pool
Mattias Ekstrom race through Saudi Arabia at the 2026 Dakar Rally
© Florent Gooden / DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool
The Dakarists gather on the salt flats of Uyuni in Chile
© Frederic Le Floch / DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool
Sébastien Loeb races into the Saudi wilderness at the 2026 Dakar
© Florent Gooden / DPPI / Red Bull Content Pool
The Dakar takes in some breathtaking scenery as the competitors race into remote parts of the world. The mountains of the Atacama, the salt plains of Uyuni, the canyons of AlUla and the towering dunes of the Empty Quarter. Expect more eye-catching terrain as the Dakar returns to Morocco.
12
The drivers don't have time to stop and…
Some of the drivers struggle with the notion of staying in the car for an entire day. Some stages require 12 hours of driving and, well, sometimes nature knocks on the door. Therefore some of the drivers have sacks in their race suits so that they can pass urine as they pass rivers and boulders at 106mph (170kph). It's just one of many sacrifices made in the name of completing – and trying to win – the Dakar Rally.
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