Dacia Sandriders driver Nasser Al-Attiyah has revealed he has sent a letter to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem over his grievances from this year’s Dakar Rally. The five-time event winner was left aggrieved by a 10-minute penalty when finishing fastest on Stage 5, a lost spare wheel taking away his 9m59s advantage at the end … Read more
Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Nasser Al-Attiyah have been handed penalties by the FIA for exceeding permitted speed limits after finishing first and second in stage two of the Dakar Rally. Read Also: Speed limits are dictated during non-timed liaison running, and stage winner Al-Rajhi was given a two-minute penalty for breaching the limit. The Toyota privateer … Read more
Guerlain Chicherit took a surprise victory for X-raid Mini in the opening stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia after a long battle with Toyota rivals. Frenchman Chicherit was quick from the get-go in Saturday’s 499km test around Bisha, establishing an early advantage of over a minute in his Mini JCW Rally 3.0i. … Read more
The Defender brand has announced plans to enter the Dakar Rally in 2026 as part of a three-year programme. The British manufacturer, a subsidiary of Land Rover, will field two examples of the popular Defender in all rounds of the World-Rally Raid Championship next year, with an additional third vehicle added to its line-up for … Read more
Dacia Sandriders will run an innovative new driver safety device on the team’s debut at the Dakar Rally. The manufacturer will use a ‘seat attenuator’ to absorb impacts over the rough terrain as the car slams up and down on its suspension, helping to reduce the compression of drivers’ spines, which have sustained injuries in … Read more
In a presentation on Saturday, it was announced that the 2025 Dakar Rally will kick off on 3 January from Bisha and conclude on the 17th of the same month in Shubaytah, two places that are already familiar to existing competitors. Rally director David Castera has engineered an event that seeks balance in order to maintain … Read more
Shinozuka shot to fame by becoming the first Japanese driver to claim outright victories in both the WRC and the gruelling Dakar Rally. Born in Tokyo, Shinozuka’s greatest success came as a factory Mitsubishi driver. In 1988, he claimed the inaugural Asia-Pacific championship alongside co-driver Fred Gocentas. The pair took the title scoring a solitary … Read more
Everything seemed ready for Varela’s Dakar debut. A member of a traditional Brazilian motorsport family, the South American Rally Raid champion was preparing to compete for the first time in the biggest rally-raid in the world, alongside navigator Bozzano, when the project suffered a serious blow. During Christmas time with his family in Brazil, Varela … Read more
