Dakar Route 2025: 7,700 kilometres through Saudi Arabia
11/30/2024
- Challenging first week: 48-hour chrono and marathon stage
- 5,100 kilometres against the clockr
On Thursday afternoon, A.S.O. presented further details about the 2025 Dakar! The focus was on the route, which will take the competitors through Saudi Arabia for the sixth time in a row. It is a total of 7,700 kilometres long – 5,100 km will be against the clock. The start and finish are in the south of the host country: Bisha in the west will be the venue for scrutineering and the finish of the first special stages. The Dakar will end in Shubaytah in the east of the country on 17 January 2025. The rest day will be in Hail on 10 January.
And the participants will have truly earned it, because the first week is very demanding and offers hardly any time to catch one’s breath. After the prologue and a loop around Bisha, the crews will start the 48-hour Chrono stage (5-6 January) on the third day. After that, the teams have just one day to prepare their vehicles for the marathon stage (8-9 January). But the second week won’t be any easier either, taking the competitors to the dunes of the ‘Empty Quarter’.
The 48-hour Chrono stage made its debut at the 2024 Dakar and was very well received by the participants. In 2025, the level of difficulty will increase in many areas: The overall route is longer, motorcycles and cars take different routes, and the terrain varies more. However, the procedure remains similar: the first day ends at 5 p.m. sharp, and the participants have to head for the nearest of the six bivouacs. There they have no contact with the team and cannot fall back on the spare parts in the race truck, which is most likely in a different bivouac.
Quite in contrast to the marathon stage: although the crews cannot rely on their mechanics here either, at least all the participants spend the night in the same bivouac.
Additional spice is provided by the fact that cars and motorbikes travel 45% of the total distance on different routes. On the one hand, this increases safety, but makes navigation more difficult for the car category. They cannot follow in the tracks of the motorbikes in front.
The X-raid team has completed most of the preparations. The service fleet has already arrived at the port of Barcelona. There it will be loaded onto the ship to Saudi Arabia together with the other European participants. In addition, two MINI JCW Rally 3.0i, two MINI JCW Rally Plus and an X-raid 1000R Turbo Side-by-Side will compete in the Dubai International Baja this weekend.
Dakar 2025 programme
1/2 January 2025: Scrutineering (Bisha)
3 January 2025: podium and prologue (Bisha)
5-6 January 2025: 48h Chrono
8-9 January 2025: marathon stage
10 January 2025: rest day (Hail)
17 January 2025: final podium (Shubaytah)
Quotes from the team
João Ferreira (MINI JCW Rally Plus): ‘It’s going to be an interesting Dakar, with the 48-hour chrono and the marathon stage in the first week. We’re in for some tough days. But I’m really looking forward to it, as it’s my first Dakar in an Ultimate car.’
