The 2024 Dakar will be held this year in Saudi Arabia between January 5 and January 19. Find all the information and rankings for the 46th edition of the rally run for the first time in 1978.
[Updated January 10 at 2:10 p.m.] The days follow one another and are not the same for Sébastien Loeb on this Dakar 2024. The day after his first success, the 24th of his career on the legendary rally contested in its entirety in Saudi Arabia this year, the former king of WRC races experienced another complicated day, Wednesday, during the shortest special of this 46th edition, contested over 118 kilometers between Al-Hofuf and Shubaytah. If the Frenchman rode roughly at the pace of the best at the wheel of his Prodrive buggy – initially ranking ninth in the stage, 6 minutes behind the winner – he received a 15-minute penalty for having missed a way-point during the special. It’s a real blow for the Alsatian who thus falls back from sixth to ninth place in the general classification, now relegated almost three quarters of an hour behind the leader.
This leader is still the Saudi Yazeed Al Rajhi who once again demonstrated his dexterity at the wheel of his Toyota Hilux. The 42-year-old driver took fourth place in the stage and only conceded 2 minutes overall to the fastest of the day: Nasser Al-Attiyah. The outgoing winner seems to be gaining strength as the days go by, his first success in this edition allows him to climb into second position in the general classification, 9 minutes behind Yazeed Al Rajhi. Carlos Sainz, only tenth today, lost nine minutes and now finds himself third overall (at 11’31”).
Furthermore, Matthieu Serradori, on his Century CR6-T buggy, is now the first French driver in the general classification, sitting in fifth place (at 31′) just ahead of the experienced Stéphane Peterhansel who received a penalty of six minutes (at 34’12”). Finally Guerlain Chicherit, the former freeride ski world champion, almost achieved the big move of the day but he had to leave the stage victory to Nasser Al-Attiyah for a minute and 51 seconds.
On the motorcycle side, Pablo Quintanilla recovered well from his disappointment the day before. After losing 18 minutes and clearly falling back in the general classification, the Chilean won the fifth stage by completing the 118 kilometers of special in just over an hour and a half. The South American, sixth different winner in this 2024 Dakar, beat Frenchman Adrien Van Beveren, also on Honda, by 37 seconds. Always well placed since the start of the rally, the Northerner has moved up one place in the general classification since he now occupies fourth place, 18 minutes behind the new leader.
New car Ross Branch, removed from his leadership the day before, regained control of the race this Wednesday by placing sixth (at 3’42”) in the fifth stage. The Botswanan thus passed the Chilean Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, only 12th across the finish line in Shubaytah (at 6’11”). The two men are only separated by 1 minute 14 before the highly anticipated stage 6, of a new type, which will take place over two days Thursday and Friday with the constraints of a marathon stage. The American Ricky Brabec, third less than 4 minutes behind, has so far played the role of referee perfectly. The fight is expected to rage over the next forty-eight hours.
1. (=) Al Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota) in 17h24’04″2. ( 1) Al Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) at 9’03″3. (-1) Sainz/Cruz (Audi) at 11’31″4. ( 1) Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi) at 22’58″5. ( 2) Serradori/Minaudier (Century) at 31’6. ( 2) Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi) at 34’12″7. ( 2) Zala/Fiuza (Mini) at 37’07″8. ( 2) De Mevius/Panseri (Toyota) at 41’51″9. (-3) Loeb/Lurquin (Prodrive Hunter) at 43’03″10. (-6) Moraes/Monleon (Toyota) at 54’47”
1. (1) Ross Branch (BWA/Hero) in 19h05’03″2. (-1) Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (CHI/Honda) at 1’14″3. (=) Ricky Brabec (USA/Honda) at 3’47″4. ( 1) Adrien Van Beveren (FRA/Honda) at 18’10″5. (-1) Kévin Benavides (ARG/KTM) at 21’17″6. (1) Pablo Quintanilla (CHI/Honda) at 26’47″7. (-1) Luciano Benavides (ARG/Husqvarna) at 30’36″8. (=) Toby Price (AUS/KTM) at 31’36″9. ( 2) Daniel Sanders (AUS/GASGAS) at 37’44″10. (=) Romain Dumontier (FRA/Husqvarna) at 38’52”
Al Attiyah/Baumel (Prodrive Hunter) – No. 200- Al-Rajhi/Gottschalk (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 201- Peterhansel/Boulanger (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – No. 202- Loeb/Lurquin (200). Prodrive Hunter) – No. 203- Sainz/Cruz (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – No. 204- Yacopini/Oliveiras (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 205- Moraes/Monleon (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – No 206- Ekström/Bergkvist (Audi RS Q e-tron E2) – No. 207- De Villiers/Murphy (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – No. 209- Roma/Bravo (Ford Ranger) – No. 210- Chicherit/Winocq ( Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 211- Quintero/Zenz (Toyota GR DKR Hilux) – No. 216- De Mevius/Panseri (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) – No. 221- Baumgart/Cincea (Prodrive Hunter) – No
– Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) – n°1- Toby Price (KTM) – n°2- Sam Sunderland (GASGAS) – n°4- Daniel Sanders (GASGAS) – n°5- Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) – n°7 – Ricky Brabec (Honda) – n°9- Skyler Howes (Honda) – n°10- Jose Ignacio Cornejo Florimo (Honda) – n°11- Romain Dumontier (Husqvarna) – n°16- Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) – #42- Ross Branch (Hero) – #46- Kevin Benavides (KTM) – #47- Tosha Schareina (Honda) – #73- Joan Barredo (Hero) – #88
There are changes in 2024. A privileged partner of the rally from the start, France Télévisions will no longer be the main broadcaster of the race this year. Only the Journal du Dakar will be offered each evening to viewers of the public service channel around 8:50 p.m. This 46th edition marks the arrival of the Dakar on the L’Equipe Channel. Broadcast unencrypted on TNT, on channel 21, the channel of the major sports daily will cover the race in detail.
The big live show will allow you to see the arrival of the main competitors every day between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. with several journalists and consultants on site to collect the participants’ first reactions. It will also be possible to watch the channel’s Dakar Journal from 6:20 p.m. while the summary of each stage will be broadcast at 8 p.m. For those who weren’t able to watch, the highlights of each stage will be rebroadcast each following day from 11am. Please note that the Eurosport group, via its channels 1 and 2, will always follow the race, with a summary of around fifty minutes each day at 8 p.m., 11:30 p.m. or the next morning at 8 a.m.
