Dakar Rally to remain in Saudi Arabia, say organizers

Action during Stage 12 of the Dakar Rally 2023 between Empty Quarter Marathon and Shaybah, in Saudi Arabia, on January 13, 2023. (AFP)

AL-HOFUF, Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia will continue to be the home of the Dakar Rally for the next few years with race director David Castera telling AFP “we still have so many deserts to explore.”
Castera was speaking after Saturday’s penultimate stage with Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah poised for his fifth title.
“I’m very happy we’re staying here, with so many deserts still to explore and with this country’s enormous potential,” he said.
Motorsport’s toughest endurance test moved to the conservative Kingdom in 2020 after a spell in South America on an initial 10-year contract.
Dakar organizers ASO announced the switch in 2019 saying a new chapter of the gruelling race’s history would be written in the “mysterious and vast deserts” of the land.
Castera confirmed a clause in the Saudi deal to pull out after five years would not be taken up.
“Today there’s been a big change, it’s progressing at a fast rate,” commented Castera.
“I’m not here to play politics but to organize a sporting event which has the legitimacy to exist here because the terrain suits it.”
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in attracting high profile sporting events including tennis, golf and Formula One to its shores and is preparing a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
And last month five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Saudi side Al-Nassr in a deal worth 200 million euros.
In the race, Al-Attiyah should complete the cruise to his fifth title. Meanwhile, the motorbikes are heading to the closest finish in the race’s history.
Only 12 seconds separate former champions and KTM teammates Toby Price and Kevin Benavides after about 3,900 kilometers of racing through Saudi Arabia.
Another 136 kilometers on Sunday are all that’s left, a fast beach special to the finish in Dammam on the Arabian Gulf.
Al-Attiyah was second on the 13th and penultimate stage on Saturday, 153 kilometers of dunes around Shaybah in the Saudi southeast.
The stage winner again was Sebastien Loeb for an unprecedented sixth straight time.
Loeb should extend his streak to seven on Sunday but the Frenchman will have to settle for second overall for a second straight year to Al-Attiyah, whose lead of 1 hour, 21 minutes practically guarantees he will win the Dakar just 100 kilometers from his Qatar homeland.
“We just have to bring the title home now,” Al-Attiyah said.