2021 DAKAR ROUTE REVEALED

Dakar rally organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), have revealed the route for the 2021 rally, which will run from 3 to 15 January and cover 4,778km of timed special stages and 7,658km overall.

Despite COVID-19 travel restrictions in most countries, the 2021 Dakar is going ahead and there’s a packed entry list of 555 competitors, including over 100 entries (as of 20/11/20) in the bike category. That 100+ total includes four Aussies – Toby Price, Daniel Sanders, Andrew Houlihan and Michael Burgess. While Price is now a Dakar veteran and is gunning for his third win, Sanders will be making his Dakar debut with the KTM factory team. Houlihan (Nomadas Adventure KTM) and Burgess (BAS Dakar KTM) are also Dakar rookies.

In a similar vein to this year’s Dakar, the 2021 rally will start in Jeddah on the Red Sea coast, but instead of the clockwise route heading north and finishing in Al Qiddiya, next year’s Dakar will head south from Jeddah, running anti-clockwise and heading down the Red Sea coast before turning north and heading deep into the northern provinces, then west to the Red Sea and following the coast down to Jeddah, which will be the finish point.

The Empty Quarter will be avoided in 2021 and the rest day will be in Ha’il instead of Riyadh, but the rally will still pass close to the Saudi capital.

There will be two loop stages, near the start and end of the rally, while the marathon stage (where competitors cannot call on team assistance in the bivouac) will follow the rest day. The penultimate day will be the longest timed stage of the entire rally at 511km - a potential heartbreaker should accidents or breakdowns happen to the leaders so close to the finish.

Also noteworthy on the 2021 Dakar route is that cars, bikes and trucks will all run the same distance – and presumably the same route. In past years, bikes have run alternate routes from cars and trucks. A common route for all next year has presumably been driven by minimizing the need for additional personnel under COVID-safe instructions.

ASO says that “special conditions” will be in place ahead of the start in Jeddah to shield competitors from COVID-19, and this will presumably extend through the rest of the rally.

New features that were trialled this year will be formalised in 2021, including bike, quad and SSV competitors receiving their roadbooks only 20 minutes before the start of each stage (SSV entries will receive their roadbook in digital tablet form). Danger zones on each special will now include an aural warning as well as notification in the roadbook, with “slow zones” added and specific speed limits applied.

Each bike competitor will be limited to six rear tyres each, a time penalty will be applied if more than one piston is replaced in the course of the rally and servicing of bikes will no longer be permitted during refuelling stops.

All motorcycle competitors will also have to wear an airbag vest to limit injury in an accident.

More general changes include solar power providing electricity at the Neom bivouac and various initiatives will be in place to reduce waste and environmental impact, as well as respecting historical and cultural sites.

The 2021 Dakar starts on 2 January with a prologue in Jeddah, ahead of the first competitive stage on 3 January and a conclusion on 15 January. A day-by-day breakdown of the route is below: