Everything you need to know about the 2024 Dakar Rally

The famous Dakar Rally is back in Saudi Arabia for the fifth time, with organisers preparing a route that is sure to push competitors and their machines to their limits.

But where will the route take the riders and drivers? How far is it? Who are the favourites? And what the hell is the new 48h Chrono stage? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered.

Here is everything you need to know about Dakar 2024.

The 2024 Dakar Rally will begin on January 5, 2024, and will run until January 19, 2024. The Prologue will be held on January 5, before the first official stage kicks off on January 6. This is of course local time, with Saudi Arabia eight hours behind Australian Eastern Daylight Time.

As mentioned, the Dakar Rally will return to Saudi Arabia for a fifth consecutive time. The original Dakar Rally took place in Africa, but security concerns saw it moved to South America in 2009. But when South American countries began to lose interest in hosting the event, Saudi Arabia pounced in late 2019 to secure a five-year deal.

While that initial five-year deal is set to expire at the conclusion of the 2024 event, it is expected that Saudi Arabia will secure a new deal with the race, so the Dakar could well be set to stay there for the foreseeable future.

The 2024 Dakar Rally route will be quite different from previous years, with competitors set to tackle 7891 kilometers of varied terrain – nearly 5000 of which will be timed.

Starting in the ancient desert city of Al-‘Ula, the race will consist of a prologue and 12 stages across 14 days. From Al-‘Ula, the competitors will head east towards Shubaytah and the Empty Quarter desert where they will take part in the inaugural 48h Chrono stage (more on that shortly).

After the Chrono stage, the race will stop for a rest in Riyadh before making its way through Ha’il, back to Al-‘Ula, and finishing in Yanbu on the shores of the Red Sea.

The 48h Chrono stage is a new format which will replace the old Marathon stage. As the sixth stage of the 2024 Dakar Rally, it will begin on January 11 and run for two days and nearly 600km.

Over the course of the stage, competitors will have no outside support, but they will be allowed to help each other in the evening. This is much like the previous Marathon format.

Where the Chrono stage differs, is that when the clock strikes 4pm, competitors must stop at the next bivouac they come across, regardless of how far they have travelled. This will be one of eight basic bivouacs set out along the stage. They then set off again at 7am the following morning to complete the stage.

KTM – Order was restored for the Austrian manufacturer in 2023, when Argentina’s Kevin Benavides piloted his 450 Rally to victory after three years of dominance by other brands. Benavides will be back to defend his title this year alongside Australia’s two-time winner Toby Price, who will be looking to add a third title before his expected switch to four wheels. Another former winner, Matthias Walkner, will not join his KTM teammates this year due to injury.

Honda – The Japanese manufacturer’s advantage in 2024 will be that it has six factory riders, four more than KTM and GASGAS. This gives the team more resources should anything go wrong with the bikes. The Honda crew will be led by Pablo Quintanilla and former winner Ricky Brabec, while Skyler Howes, Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, Adrien Van Beveren, and freshly signed Tosha Schareina will also be names to watch.

Husqvarna – Carrying the number 1 plate will be reigning World Rally-Raid Champion, Luciano Benavides. The younger brother of Kevin finished sixth in the 2023 Dakar with three stage victories, but then went onto secure four consecutive podiums to win the World Championship. He is a very good chance to win his maiden Dakar title in 2024.

GASGAS – The other big Australian name is Daniel ‘Chucky’ Sanders. The larrikin from Victoria finished 4th on debut in 2021, but ran into bad luck in his next two campaigns. If all goes well in 2024, he should be able to put his GASGAS 450 Rally on the podium. Racing alongside him is two-time former winner Sam Sunderland, who will also be hungry for victory after a DNF in 2023.

Sherco – While the Sherco trio of Lorenzo Santolino, Rui Goncalves, and Harith Noah shouldn’t pose a threat to the podium in theory, it will be interesting to see how high they can place aboard the French bikes. Don’t count out Santolino for a top-five finish.

Hero – The Indian manufacturer will carry a fairly capable team into the 2024 event, with veteran Joan Barreda Bort leading the way. He will be joined by Joaquim Rodrigues, Ross Branch, and Sebastian Buhler. All four riders should compete well.

Kove – Perhaps one of the most interesting riders to watch will be Mason Klein, who finished 9th in 2022 as the first rookie. He also won a stage in 2023 before he retired late in the race. Kove is a Chinese brand that made its Dakar debut in 2023 with Chinese riders. Kelin will be aboard the new 2024 Kove 450 Rally EX in this year’s edition. The new Kove bike is apparently a big improvement over the previous version, but is it good enough to get Kelin another top-ten finish?

bikesales Hot Tip – Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) to win ahead of Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) and Toby Price (KTM). Call us biased towards the Aussies, but Sanders has long been touted as a future Dakar winner, and we think this is his year. Benavides is ready to break through after his 2023 world title, and Price will be hungry for more glory in what might be his final Dakar on two wheels.

A one-hour highlights package will be shown on SBS each night at 5:00pm starting January 6, although those with the SBS On Demand app can get it earlier that morning.

If you want even more Dakar coverage, the Red Bull crew always publish plenty of unique content on its website, social channels, and YouTube page. And also keep an eye on the channels of each manufacturer.