The Dakar 2025 is now a reality and, on the occasion of Saturday’s presentation, the organizers announced the route and dates of the 47th edition of the toughest race in the world. It will start on January 3rd from Bisha and end on the 17th of the same month in Shubaytah, two places already known to the caravan in an event that will present some new features.
Rally director, David Castera, has designed an event that seeks balance to maintain the excitement until the end, albeit with some key highlights, such as the now famous 48 Hour Stage introduced last year, the Marathon , and the mass start on one of the special stages, as well as the passage through the Empty Quarter towards the end. However, what was most striking was the division of routes between cars and trucks versus motorbikes, meaning that many more routes actually had to be laid out.
Added to this would be a sort of Power Stage, just like the WRC does on Sunday at every event, and it’s an idea that should land in the rest of the World Rally-Raid Championship, albeit by 2026 after testing in Portugal for try to bring the public closer.
The news of the Dakar 2025
#5 Red Bull GASGAS Factory. Daniel Sanders
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The 2025 edition will be characterized by three main innovations, both as regards the separate routes and as regards the mass start and the so-called Power Stage. Motorsport.com met David Castera for a brief chat with the media, during which he explained what’s new in the Dakar and, although he insisted on maintaining the Empty Quarter adventure, something had to be done to maintain the drivers in racing conditions: “This year we did different routes for cars, trucks and motorbikes. We have the 48-hour stage, which is two days, so I’m working on four other completely different special stages for the categories, with three consequences.”
“The first idea is that those behind, the amateurs, would finish very late in the evening, because in Saudi Arabia it gets dark very early, and then, if they all start together, because they will all start the same way for 300 meters and separate their paths, to give even a little twist, they will gather to refuel and come back again for the finish,” he said. “This way, almost no one will start at night, unless they are very slow or in difficulty, they will finish a race almost all day, and for me it is another way of racing that is important.”
“The second consequence is that the pilots will have to navigate much more, the co-pilots will have a lot of work to do. And the third is safety, especially for motorbikes, which will not mix with cars and will not have dust, they will not overtake each other or there will be complaints”, commented David Castera. “Also, we ended up with the Empty Quarter, something I had in mind since we started work.”
“Everyone is very happy with the dunes, but then we have to see how to do it, with not very long stages in the middle of the rally, and I will do what no one thinks, because it is also true that I like it. We will have three days, with stages 10 and 11 with large dunes, and the small stage 12 to finish, with a mass start reminiscent of the old days of the Dakar, when we all started together”, he continued.
“We are trying to do something similar, and we will do like in the WRC with the Power Stage, whoever wins gets more points towards the world championship,” he said. “So, we will play a bit with the last special stage, which is short and will end with a somewhat special bivouac, because I like the idea of being close to the desert, which is the DNA of the Dakar, and we will do a traditional bivouac, a bit African style, with the marathon tent to give a different touch, the spirit of what I like”.
Features of the Dakar 2025
#502 Boss Machinery Team De Rooy Iveco: Janus van Kasteren, Darek Rodewald, Marcel Snijders
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David Castera wanted to do something better for the different categories, so cars, trucks and motorcycles will have different routes in some stages, but that’s not all. The Frenchman said he always listens to the people around him, both the riders and his team, and this is what the Dakar 2025 generated.
“I say it all comes out of my head, I put it all together, but I’m confident and I believe I have the ability to listen. It is important to listen to everyone’s opinion and see the amateurs and professionals, who have big dreams, but there is always an idea, I know the people who are with me well”, said the rally director.
Therefore, the race will begin with a Prologue and a ring in the city of Bisha, where a bivouac will be set up which will not be the most spectacular due to the location, but surprises will come towards the end. For stages 10, 11 and 12, the competitors will head towards the dangerous and unknown Empty Quarter, with special stages of over 350 kilometres, in addition to the 48 Hours which was so successful in the last edition and which will remain unchanged.
“The idea is to be more or less like last year, because I think I’ve found a balance that I like and that the riders also like. They finish very happy, so I want to continue on this path, and we have worked to maintain this level of difficulty, there are no special stages with less than 350 kilometers, except the last one, and everything will be complicated”, he revealed.
However, for the marathon there will be a slight modification, as there will be no connections as such, but the runners will arrive at the bivouac and leave the following morning from the same place, so they will not have the possibility of making small traps, as David qualified Castera.
On the technical side, there will be some changes, with particular attention to the Stock category, known as T2, as there is little interest at the moment and work is underway to convince other manufacturers to join Toyota. The director of the rally spoke of Jaguar or Defender as candidates to enter, although the focus is more on 2026 in order to encourage participants, because “it takes time”.
Ultimate will pay attention to the performance of each car and will use a system very similar to the Balance of Performance [BoP] which exists in the WEC, as the Frenchman explained, although this will only be based on the car’s power through engine torque. This allows us to “be very precise about the power of each car to achieve balance”.
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