Balance of power

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fastest of them all?", comes to mind when seeking to divine how the Dakar will unfold in January based on its route. The backdrop for the start, with the waves of the Red Sea kissing the shore next to the bivouac in Yanbu, will also set the scene for the finish two weeks later. Without attempting to achieve perfect symmetry, the organisation has sought to put together a balanced route without lowering the bar of the challenge. From fast tracks alternating with sandy or rocky sections to fields of dunes extending as far as the eye can see, as well as XXL stages in which endurance will be the name of the game, the basic ingredients of the menu remain the same in 2026, but their amounts and seasonings will serve up new flavours. Entrants will discover a new variant of the traditional marathon stages halfway through the first week, including a night in a bare-bones refuge-style bivouac where support will be limited to whatever assistance entrants can get from their peers (stages 4 and 5). Race management and stamina will be key. Stage 6, the longest of the rally at 925 km (336 km against the clock), will plunge the field into a sand- and dune-fest in the run-up to the rest day in Riyadh.

After a brief respite in the Saudi capital, the inbound leg will be every bit as gruelling as the outbound one, starting with the return to competition on the road to Wadi Ad-Dawasir (stage 7), which last hosted the rally in 2022. A second refuge-style marathon stage, this time with separate courses for the FIM and FIA fields, will crank up the pressure on the title contenders and those who "just" want to make it to the finish line. By then, some may think the worst part is already behind them, but there will still be more than 1,700 km left, including 762 km against the clock. For example, the fiendish navigation between Bisha and Al Henakiyah (stage 11) has the potential to shake up the hierarchy. As long-time fans know, even the last grain of sand can make a difference. The time for celebration will come in Yanbu, which will reveal itself to the competitors in a new light.

SAUDI NEXT GEN: ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR LAUNCH

• The Saudi Next Gen initiative hit the road on the fringes of the 2025 Dakar, putting five young crews through a "Rally Raid 101" programme and inviting them to fight for a ticket to the 2026 edition. The crews consisting of Hamza Bakhashab and Raed Alassaf and Abdullah Al Shegawi and Fahar Alamr, the inaugural graduates of the academy, will line up for the start of the SSV race in Yanbu.
• A second promotion, dreaming of following in the footsteps of their role model Yazeed Al Rajhi, is gearing up for five intense days in Yanbu. The participants were chosen from about 50 applicants from various motor-sport disciplines.

MISSION 1000: MOTORBIKES RISING TO THE CHALLENGE

• The field of the third edition of the Mission 1000 Challenge will consist of seven fully electric motorbikes and a hybrid truck running on hydrogen and biodiesel. They will gauge their progress every day on courses stretching for about 100 km.
• The Segways are back with higher-performance batteries; the Arctic Leopards, already on the prowl in 2024, are returning in the hands of three Spanish riders who are part of a private outfit; and the Stark Future machines, a commercial success story, are the calling cards of two independent projects stepping into the Mission 1000 arena.
• Meanwhile, the KH7 truck is becoming a symbol of the challenge after scoring the best results twice.
• As part of the broader Dakar Future program, the focus is also on developing the use of biofuels.