Dakar Rally 2024: Path to eternal glory gets tougher than ever after crazy addition

From January 5th to 19th, it's time again for the Dakar Rally. InSaudi Arabia, the setting for the world's toughest rally for thefifth time, twelve leaden stages have been mapped out. In total,participants must cover 7,289 kilometers between Al Ula and Yanbu.RacingNews365 lays out the news and the main favourites for you.What's new? Marathon 48-hour stage The organization had aspectacular surprise in store during the presentation: a 48-hourmarathon stage around Shubaytah. The sixth stage lasts two days andis full of dangers. Eight small, primitive bivouacs have beenrigged along the way, where participants are required to stop after4pm local time on day one. Arrive at a bivouac before 4pm? Then youmay choose whether to continue or stop. Entirely at your own risk,of course. The next bivouac is a bit of a drive, so you may end upin the dark. An important note is that the marathon stage will berun in the Empty Quarter . Sand, sand and more sand, in otherwords. Navigation and risk avoidance are going to play an importantrole. On the second day, everyone gets to start again at 7:00am andthe total time counts for the overall classification. Of course,participants will get no help from mechanics. The full route of theDakar Rally can be found here. M1000 The Dakar Rally has been allabout innovations for a while now. Gert Huzink already competedseveral times in a hybrid Renault truck, while Audi even went astep further among the cars with an electric-powered bolide. Thisyear even a sustainable class is being rigged: the M1000.Participants in this class, set up specifically for electric,hybrid and hydrogen vehicles, will drive part of a stage. Thefavourites Has the field of participants in the cars ever been thisstrong? Probably not. Five-time winner Nasser Al-Attiyah is thedefending champion, but left the rally world stunned with hisrecent move to Prodrive Hunter, which will partner with Dacia from2025. This makes the Qatarean the new teammate of Sebastien Loeb ,who is still looking for his first Dakar victory. Prodrive Hunternormally gets a lot of competition from Toyota, Al-Attiyah's oldteam. Yazeed Al-Rajhi is only too eager to shine on his home turf,while his teammate Giniel de Villiers already won the rally once in2009. A dangerous outsider is Seth Quintero , who came over fromthe SSVs and took Al-Attiyah's spot. The 21-year-old Quinterofinished second in 2023 and caused a furor by winning 12(!) stagesin 2022. The American is competing in the cars for the first time.Lucas Moraes , last year's number three, completes Toyota's lineup.Is Audi a favorite for the win? Looking at the drivers, you wouldsay so, but is reliability in order? Stephane Peterhansel , CarlosSainz senior and Mattias Ekstrom will start the race with shakyhands, as the hybrid car regularly breaks down due to technicalproblems. If everything stays in one piece, Audi could just end itsDakar adventure on a jubilant note. It will not be down to thedrivers. Tim and Tom Coronel are of course also participating againand aim to finish in the top twenty. Michel Kremer and Thomas deBois will assist them in the other Century. Maik Willems and Robertvan Pelt are participating on behalf of the Netherlands in aToyota. The text continues below the image. A dutch affair? Thereare quite a few entries from the Netherlands on the list this year.Janus van Kasteren is only too eager to prolong his Dakar victoryin Team de Rooy's Iveco, but faces fierce competition. What aboutMitchell van den Brink ? The young Brabander finished fourth lastyear and is hungry to achieve more. His father Martin van den Brink, a familiar name among rally followers, has already let it beknown that he will help his son. There's no better support, youmight say! Of course, the danger does not only come from the Dutch.Martin Macik (Iveco), Jaroslav Valtr (Tatra) and Ales Loprais(Pagra) are important opponents, as is Pascal de Baar , who willalso be competing in a Tatra. The Dutchman replaces the injuredMartin Soltys, who finished fifth last year. For the rest, itremains a Dutch party after all. Indeed, Vick Versteijnen andRichard de Groot are also names that can win a stage on a good dayand usually stay out of trouble. There is special attention forAnja van Loon , the wife of Erik van Loon, who has already retired.She is competing in a truck for the first time, with an all-femaleteam. RacingNews365 will also report extensively on the Dakar Rallyin 2024. Every day you will stay up to date with the latest newsand the best videos from Saudi Arabia.