Monumental Arabia

June 11 ^th 2020 - 14:00 [GMT + 3]

Sometimes it feels like the other side of the rainbow is just around the corner and a magical treasure is within reach. The two weeks of the 2020 edition in Saudi Arabia, when the Dakar inaugurated Chapter 3 of its history in style, were one such time. Our Saudi hosts had the daring inspiration to believe in this marriage, a vision shared by all the competitors and their crews. Stage after stage, and often multiple times within the same stage, the majestic landscapes of the region left us dazzled and in awe. However, Saudi Arabia only revealed a tiny part of its mysteries, leaving plenty of surprises in store for the next edition in January 2021. Over the last few weeks, we have plunged back into our GIS software and last year’s recon notes and realised just how vast the possibilities are. The route we have prepared, a gigantic tour of the Saudi deserts, reuses none of the tracks and dunes that featured in the specials last January. The possibilities open to us have given us the opportunity to design a more technical course with more varied terrain and fewer fast sections. Along with the changes in the style of the course, we are also rolling out new features with a view to making the race even truer to the values of rally raid. Shifting the focus from raw speed to navigation are part of a holistic approach in which the creation of the Dakar Classic bridges the legends of the past and the excitement of the future. After all, adventure is a timeless pursuit, is it not?

David Castera,

Director of the Dakar