The unveiling of the 2021 Dakar route has taken place online this Wednesday, November 25. The 43rd edition of the legendary raid will be held in Saudi Arabia in its entirety for the second year running. 

The route will feature 7,646 kilometres, 4,767 of them timed, divided into 12 stages. The race will start and finish in Jeddah commencing on January 3. Participants will initially head south towards the ‘Empty Quarter’ desert. After eleven competitive days and one day off (Ha’il), drivers will cross the finish line on January 15, but not before visiting Riyadh, the capital of the Arab country. 

https://twitter.com/dakar/status/1331601533650124801

The entry list is considerably shorter than in previous editions as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. There were 541 entries (334 vehicles) at the last edition in South America (2019), 563 (342 vehicles) for the first run in Saudi Arabia, and only 501 (295 vehicles) registered for the upcoming 2021 edition. 

Numbers are, in sum, the lowest they have been since 1997, representing an 11% drop in participants and a 14% drop in registrations. Despite the low participation, the great champions of previous editions as Carlos Sainz or Nani Roma, across all of the categories will be there in 2021 Dakar route. France, Spain and the Czech Republic are providing the largest delegations. 

There has also been a slight reduction in the percentage of competitive kilometres compared to 2020 (63% to 65%). In any case, the principles set last year by new director, David Castera, have remained the same. His philosophy is that of reducing links as much as possible in order to increase competition time. One of the new features of the 2021 edition is the addition of a new category, the ‘Dakar Classic’. This division is open to vehicles from before the year 2000, who will compete in a parallel race to the main one. 

The itinerary of these vintage vehicles will also consist of 12 stages, albeit less demanding than those of the regular raid. Despite this and according to route designer and Alain Lopes’ eighties co-driver, Yves Loubet, the vintage route will have no shortage of excitement and charm. Also in agreement are the 26 registered entries (54 participants in total) 22 of which are Spanish. 

Stages & dates:

Stage 1: 2/01 – Prologue Jeddah > Jeddah – 11 km

Stage 2: 3/01 – Jeddah > Bisha, 622 km – SS : 277 km

Stage 3: 4/01 – Bisha > Wadi Ad-Dawasir, 685 km – SS : 457 km

Stage 4:  5/01 – Wadi Ad-Dawasir > Wadi Ad-Dawasir, 630 km – SS : 403 km

Stage 5:  6/01 – Wadi Ad-Dawasir > Riyadh, 813 km – SS : 337 km

Stage 6: 7/01 – Riyadh > Buraydah, 625 km – SS : 419 km

Resting day: 9/01 – Ha’il Día

Stage 7: 10/01 – Ha’il > Sakaka, 737 km SS : 471 km (marathon stage).

Stage 8: 11/01 – Sakaka > Neom, 709 km – SS : 375 km

Stage 9:  12/01 – Neom > Neom, 579 km – SS : 465 km

Stage 10:  13/01 – Neom > AlUla, 583 km – SS : 342 km

Stage 11:  14/01 – AlUla > Yanbu, 557 km – SS : 511 km

Stage 12: 15/01 – Yanbu > Jeddah, 452 km – SS : 225 km

Final day:  15/01 – Jeddah – Podium.

Images of 2021 Dakar route: Dakar.