Dakar Mag
Stage 12 | Bike - Rally 2
AL HENAKIYAH > YANBU
26| KONRAD DABROWSKI
One step at a time…
Konrad Dabrowski finished in 28th position on his first Dakar in 2021 and is continuing to discretely make progress which could eventually see him join the elite. On the eve of the end of the rally in Yanbu, he occupies 13th position in the overall rankings and 4th in the Rally 2 class.
The Dakar is a race that often involves a lot of perseverance. Konrad Dabrowski's career has taught him this virtue, which has been essential to his progress since his Dakar debut in 2021, the year when he became, at the age of 19 years old, the youngest...
Stage 12 | Bike - Rally 2
AL HENAKIYAH > YANBU
120| MATTHIEU CAUVIN
Unforgettable memories
Matthieu Cauvin promised himself to take part in the Dakar and now he is just one stage away from making completing his dream.
KTM rider number 120 dreamed of taking the finisher’s medal, which will be put around his neck in Yanbu, back home to proudly show to his two young sons. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that they would be with him for the final podium ceremony to share in their father’s joy. It was Emilie, their mother, who sprang the surprise by arriving at the finish to the penultimate stage of the rally....
Stage 11 | Classic
BISHA > AL HENAKIYAH
766| SHAMMIE BARIDWAN
773| JULIAN "JEJELOGY" JOHAN
The Dakar Classic dances the Java
Two Indonesian crews are participating in the Dakar Classic for the first time. They have made especially convincing debuts because Shammie Baridwan, who is 5th in the overall rankings, won the day’s stage in Al Henakiyah, while the friend he has known for 20 years, influencer Julian “Jejelogy” Johan, is immediately behind him in 6th place in the race hierarchy.
Even if you search through the archives thoroughly, there is no trace of an Indonesian driver in the history of the Dakar. That is not to say there is not an off-road...
Stage 11 | Bike
BISHA > AL HENAKIYAH
93| TIZIANO INTERNO
An old-school Dakar
For his sixth Dakar, Tiziano Interno decided to experience it like one of the pioneers on the most legendary of rally-raids, setting off from Paris and hauling around with him all his equipment and spare parts for his 450 KTM.
He is not the type of guy to do things like everyone else does. What’s more, for him, the Dakar is not a race like the others. This is why he has embarked on the production of a four-part documentary series that will be broadcast at the end of the year on Netflix. “I conducted a series of interviews with riders...
Stage 10 | Classic
BIVOUAC REFUGE > BISHA
763| LAURENCE LODER
763| MAX LODER
Handing over the torch
The Germans Maximilian and Laurence Loder are competing in their second Dakar Classic aboard an unusual vehicle, a Puch their father drove in 1985. This time round, Josef has also made the trip to spend the second week of the race in their company.
By definition, the cars lining up for the Dakar Classic arrive with a storied past. For the brothers Laurence and Maximilian Loder, the history of their machine stretches back to 1985 and carries a deeply personal weight. Only Maximilian had been born when their father, Josef, tackled the 14,000 km...
Stage 10 | Car
BIVOUAC REFUGE > BISHA
Thierry Sabine, the all-terrain adventurer
Forty years ago, on the evening of 14th January 1986, several kilometres from Gourma Rharous in Mali, the Dakar lost its founder in a helicopter crash. The aircraft, piloted by François-Xavier Bagnoud, was carrying Thierry Sabine as well as French singer Daniel Balavoine, journalist Nathalie Odent and radio-technician Jean-Paul Le Fur. In spite of all the members of the bivouac reeling in shock at this accident and morale being at rock bottom, the rally reached the Senegalese capital through great suffering and the Dakar has since continued to perpetuate his famous...
Stage 9 | Bike - Rally 2
WADI AD DAWASIR > BIVOUAC REFUGE
83| BADR AL HAMDAN
Going the distance
Racing in the Dakar for the second time, Badr Alhamdan has vowed to take his Kove back to Yanbu. Ready to muscle through physical and mechanical challenges, the Saudi rider dug deep to limit the damage in the first half of the second marathon stage.
The clock had almost struck eight in the evening by the time Badr Alhamdan rolled across the line of stage 9. As the final rider to reach the refuge of the second marathon stage between Wadi ad-Dawasir and Bisha, the Saudi was beaming after conquering the dunes under the cover of darkness. "It...
Stage 9 | Car - SSV
WADI AD DAWASIR > BIVOUAC REFUGE
328| BRUNO SABY
328| BENJAMIN BOULLOUD
The return of a legend
Twenty years after his last appearance on the Dakar, the winner of the 1993 edition has come back to get his teeth stuck into what the desert has to offer at the wheel of a Taurus Evo Max, for a race that is very different from when he won it driving his official Mitsubishi Pajero.
At the age of almost 77 years, Bruno Saby has lost nothing of his passion for motorsport, nor of his love for the Dakar. Regarding this race in which he participated fourteen times between 1992 and 2007, the man from Grenoble decided to take another taste of...
Stage 8 | Car - SSV
WADI AD DAWASIR > WADI AD DAWASIR
61| BERTRAND DOMET
The Dakar according to professor Casteu
After more than twenty years on the Dakar, David Casteu is discovering a new role on his first participation in a car. This year, he is acting as a Saint-Bernard of the sands for the two crews that he has trained, manages and provides assistance to during the specials, if possible all the way to Yanbu.
David Casteu has graced the Dakar with his smile since the 2003 edition, when he began as a simple amateur. In his participations as a biker, he experienced it all, from hardships through injuries to the thrill of stage victories (3 in total),...
Stage 7 | Car - Ultimate
RIYADH > WADI AD DAWASIR
248| MARIA GAMEIRO
Survivors
Maria Gameiro and Rosa Romero finished the special between Riyadh and Wadi ad-Dawasir without a working clutch, but they made it to the bivouac thanks to the solidarity of the Dakar caravan… and a couple of pointers from Dave Klaassen.
The pink Mini of the only all-female crew in the Dakar stands out from dunes and rock fields like a flashy neon sign, but that did not save Maria Gameiro and Rosa Romero from being hit by an overly impetuous truck during stage 2. "We had to get to the finish without our brakes", explains the Portuguese...
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