The 2022 edition of the Dakar rally starts this Sunday, January 2 from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia for the third consecutive year. Arrival is scheduled for January 14, after a two-week loop. On the program this year, like last year: a prologue (stage 1A) and 12 stages on 8,375 km including 4,258 km of specials. This 44th edition has 1,065 competitors, including 60 women, of 63 different nationalities. 196 French people must take the start including Sébastien Loeb, Xavier de Soultrait, Stéphane Peterhansel and Axel Allétru, the first paraplegic driver to have won an event in 2020. 578 vehicles are expected including 149 motorcycles, 97 cars, 21 quads, 58 trucks but also 148 Dakar Classic vehicles.
After the technical and administrative verifications, the competitors will compete from this January 1 in a stage between Jeddah-Ha’il (834 km, 19 km of special), which will determine the starting order for the next day. New this year, the winner of this sprint will have “the king’s choice” and will decide its position.
Hybrid and electric vehicles
Another innovation, a category grouping together hybrid or 100% electric vehicles was created. The German team Audi in particular, entrusted the wheel of one of its three electric cars to the champion Stéphane Peterhansel. The Haut-Saônois, which has 14 victories to its name, is taking part in the Dakar rally for the 34th time. A challenge : “We know that everything is changing very quickly in terms of new technologies and energy”, he told France Bleu. “Driving an electric car is very interesting and at least I will have seen it with my own eyes. With my hands I will have touched a car, driven a car, I will be able to judge of, maybe, what will be the future of off-road rally competition “.