2020 Dakar Rally Route Details In Saudi Arabia Announced

The Dakar Rally will be moving to Saudi Arabia in 2020 in a massive move for the motorsport series, having spent a decade in the dunes and mountains of South America. While the announcement to move the Dakar Rally arrived earlier this month, organisers ASO have now presented the route for the 2020 Dakar that takes place for the first time in Asia. The next edition of Dakar will commence on January 5, 2020 in Jeddah, the capital of Saudi Arabia, before concluding on January 17 in Al-Qiddiya after 12 stages and over 9,000 km of running. A rest day is planned for January 11 in Riyadh.

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Given the terrain of the region, much of the 2020 Dakar will be held in sand dunes as competitors will tackle the Rub' al Khali desert, much like this year's rally in Peru. The opening stages though will feature some WRC-style tracks and mountainous terrain.

Speaking on the new route, Dakar Rally director, David Castera said, "Africa, South America... and now Asia. The third chapter of its history is particularly fascinating and exciting for a race focused on exploration like the Dakar. I got to experience these shudders of anticipation myself 25 years ago, when I first rode into the Sahara with my hands on the handlebar. I am now embarking on a new adventure in the Middle East from the nerve centre of the organising teams. Here, in the largest state in the region, we can let our imagination run riot with the infinite possibilities for a tough, balanced and varied course. The sporting challenge that we are putting together for the 42nd edition will tap the full potential of this vast country and its mosaic of deserts, mountains, canyons, valleys and coastal landscapes. Whatever their origins and whatever their objectives, all Dakar competitors and crews have one thing in common: their yearning to tread where no-one has ever tread before. Their audacity will show the way on the tracks and dunes of Saudi Arabia."

It is understood that the Dakar organisers have signed a five-year deal with the Saudi Arabian government for the conducting the event. While the initial years could see the rally restricted to being held only in Saudi, the organisers could make it a multi-country event in the Middle East in the years to come.