Dakar Rally

"Paris-Dakar Rally" redirects here. For the video game, see Paris-Dakar Rally (video game).

Dakar Rally

Category	Rally raid
Region	Europe and Africa (1979–2007) South America (2009–2019) Saudi Arabia & Middle East (2020–present)
Inaugural season	1979
Drivers' champion	Carlos Sainz Sr. (Cars) Ricky Brabec (Bikes) Martin Macík (Trucks) Manuel Andújar (Quads) Cristina Gutiérrez (Challenger (T3)) Xavier de Soultrait (SSV (T4)) Carlos Santaolalla (Classics) Jordi Juvanteny (Mission 1000)
Official website	Dakar.com
Current season

The Paris – Dakar route for the 1981 edition.

Thierry Sabine, founder of the Dakar Rally, pictured in 1986.

1981 Dakar competitor Rolls-Royce Corniche.

Countries the rally has been through from 1979 to 2007. Orange countries were only travelled through in the 1992 race to Cape Town; that year, participants used maritime transport to get from the Republic of the Congo to Angola, bypassing Zaire.

Countries through which the Dakar Rally has been from 2009 to 2018 since it was moved from the previous Paris-Dakar route due to security concerns. Cities included are major start/end points.

Tracks through the Sahara desert in Mauritania.

Cars on display in 1993 in Paris.

A support truck during the 2004 Dakar.

2011 Dakar Rally personal main prize (trucks T4).

The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar" (French: Le Rallye Dakar ou Le Dakar), formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally" (French: Le Rallye Paris-Dakar), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal. Security threats in Mauritania led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, and events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. Since 2020, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The event is open to amateur and professional entries, professionals typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.

The rally is an off-road endurance event. The terrain that the competitors traverse is much tougher than that used in conventional rallying, and the vehicles used are typically true off-road vehicles and motorcycles, rather than modified on-road vehicles. Most of the competitive special sections are off-road, crossing dunes, mud, camel grass, rocks, and erg among others. The distances of each stage covered vary from short distances up to 800–900 kilometres (500–560 mi) per day. The rough terrain, driver fatigue, and lack of skill usually results in accidents and serious injuries.

History

Predecessors

The Mediterranean Rally (also known as Algiers-Cape Town Rally) was a trans-Africa rally run in 5 editions between 1951 and 1961. It evolved from the original mixed road and off-road rally to a fully off-road endurance event, during the pioneer years of trans-Africa rallies.

Crossing the Sahara

The race originated in December 1977, a year after Thierry Sabine got lost in the Ténéré desert whilst competing in the 1975 "Rallye Côte-Côte" between Abidjan and Nice and decided that the desert would be a good location for a regular rally, on the lines of the 1974 London–Sahara–Munich World Cup Rally, the first automobile race to cross the Sahara Desert twice.

In 1971, ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker used the unproven Range Rover to drive from Algeria to Lagos, Nigeria to set up a recording studio and jam with Fela Kuti. Predating the Paris-Dakar Rally the subsequent documentary is replete with such terrain, and documents the vehicle's endurance.

Early growth

182 vehicles took the start of the inaugural rally in Paris, with 74 surviving the 10,000-kilometre (6,200 mi) trip to the Senegalese capital of Dakar. Cyril Neveu was the event's first winner, riding a Yamaha motorcycle. The event rapidly grew in popularity, with 216 vehicles taking the start in 1980 and 291 in 1981. The privateer spirit of early racers tackling the event with limited resources encouraged such entrants as Thierry de Montcorgé in a Rolls-Royce and Formula 1 driver Jacky Ickx with actor Claude Brasseur in a Citroën CX, in the 1981 race won by two-time winner Hubert Auriol.

In 1982, there were 382 racers, more than double the number that took the start in 1979. Neveu won the event for a third time, this time riding a Honda motorcycle, while victory in the car class went to the Marreau brothers, driving a privately entered Renault 20. Auriol captured his second bikes class victory in 1983, the first year that Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi competed in the rally, beginning an association that would last until 2009.

At the behest of 1983 car class winner Jacky Ickx, Porsche entered the Dakar in 1984, with the total number of entries now at 427. The German marque won the event at their first attempt courtesy of René Metge, who had previously won in the car category in 1981, whilst Ickx finished sixth. Gaston Rahier meanwhile continued BMW's success in the motorcycle category with back-to-back wins in 1984 and 1985, the year of Mitsubishi's first victory of 12 in the car category, Patrick Zaniroli taking the spoils. The 1986 event, won by Metge and Neveu, was marred by the death of event founder Sabine in a helicopter crash, his father Gilbert taking over organisation of the rally.

Peugeot and Citroën domination

The 1987 rally marked the start of an era of increased official factory participation in the car category, as French manufacturer Peugeot arrived and won the event with former World Rally champion Ari Vatanen. The 1987 event was also notable for a ferocious head-to-head duel between Neveu and Auriol in the motorcycle category, the former taking his fifth victory after Auriol was forced to drop out of the rally after breaking both ankles in a fall. The 1988 event reached its zenith in terms of entry numbers, with 603 starters. Vatanen's title defence was derailed when his Peugeot was stolen from the service area at Bamako. Though it was later found, Vatanen was subsequently disqualified from the event, victory instead going to compatriot and teammate Juha Kankkunen.

Peugeot and Vatanen returned to winning ways in 1989 and 1990, the latter marking Peugeot's final year of rally competition before switching to the World Sportscar Championship. Sister brand Citroën took Peugeot's place, Vatanen taking a third consecutive victory in 1991. The 1991 event also saw Stéphane Peterhansel take his first title in the motorcycle category with Yamaha, marking the beginning of an era of domination by the Frenchman.

For the 1992 event, the finish line moved to Cape Town, South Africa in a bid to combat a declining number of competitors, where GPS technology was used for the first time. Auriol became the first person to win in multiple classes after taking Mitsubishi's second victory in the car class, while Peterhansel successfully defended his motorcycle category title. The 1993 rally entry list slumped to 153 competitors, around half of the preceding year's figure and around a quarter of that of 1988. The event was the last to be organised by Gilbert Sabine and the Amaury Sport Organisation took over the following year. With the finish line now back in its traditional location of Dakar, Bruno Saby won a third title for Mitsubishi and Peterhansel took a third straight success in the motorcycle category.

The 1994 event returned to Paris after reaching Dakar, resulting in a particularly grueling event. Pierre Lartigue took Citroën's second win in acrimonious circumstances, as Mitsubishi's leading drivers were forced to withdraw from exhaustion after traversing some particularly demanding sand dunes in the Mauritanian desert that the Citroën crews had opted to skip. Peterhansel's did not compete due to a disagreement between Yamaha and the race organizers over the regulations. Edi Orioli claimed a third title in the bikes category. The 1995 and 1996 events begin in the Spanish city of Granada, with Lartigue racking up wins for Citroën in both years. Peterhansel returned to take a fourth bikes category win in 1995, but lost to Orioli in 1996 because of refuelling problems.

Mitsubishi in the ascendancy

The 1997 rally ran exclusively in Africa for the first time, with the route running from Dakar to Agadez, Niger and back to Dakar. Citroën's withdrawal due to a rule change paved the way for Mitsubishi to take a fourth victory. Japan's Kenjiro Shinozuka became the first non-European to win the event. Peterhansel equalled Neveu's record of five motorcycle category wins in 1997, before going one better in 1998, when the event returned to its traditional Paris-Dakar route. 1998, Dakar veteran Jean-Pierre Fontenay posted another win for Mitsubishi in the car class.

1999 started in Granada and a maiden success for erstwhile Formula One and sports car driver Jean-Louis Schlesser, who had been constructing his own buggies since 1992. With the help of Renault backing, Schlesser overcame the works Mitsubishi and Nissan crews to win, whilst Peterhansel's decision to switch to the car category allowed Richard Sainct to take BMW's first title in the bikes category since 1985. Schlesser and Sainct both successfully defended their titles in 2000, traversing the route from Dakar to the Egyptian capital of Cairo.

2001 was the final time that the rally used the familiar Paris-Dakar route, and was notable for Mitsubishi's Jutta Kleinschmidt, as she was the first woman to win the rally – albeit only after Schlesser was penalised one hour for unsportsmanlike conduct. Fabrizio Meoni took the first Dakar win for Austrian manufacturer KTM, beginning a winning streak that lasted through 2019. The 2002 began in the French town of Arras and long-time Dakar participant Hiroshi Masuoka won the event for Mitsubishi (Masouka had led for much of the previous year's rally.) The 2003 rally featured an unorthodox route from Marseille to Sharm El Sheikh. Masuoka defend his title after teammate and long-time leader Peterhansel was plagued by mechanical problems in the penultimate stage. Sainct meanwhile took honours in the motorcycle category, the third title for both him and KTM.

Mid-2000s

By 2004, the entry list had increased to 595, up from 358 in 2001, with a record 688 competitors starting in 2005. Alongside Mitsubishi and Nissan, Volkswagen now boasted a full factory effort, while Schlesser's Ford-powered buggies and BMWs of the German X-raid team proved thorns in the side of the big budget works teams. The 2004 route was from Clermont-Ferrand to Dakar, and was the year Peterhansel emulated Hubert Auriol's feat of winning the rally on both two wheels and four. The Frenchman defended his title in 2005, when the rally began for the first time in Barcelona. In the bikes category, KTM continued their success with Nani Roma in 2004, who switched to the car category the following year, and Cyril Despres in 2005.

The 2006 event moved to Lisbon. Nissan pulled out having failed to provide effective opposition to Mitsubishi, who took a sixth consecutive victory, this time with former skiing champion Luc Alphand after Peterhansel committed a series of errors late in the rally. Peterhansel made amends in 2007, however, taking his third title in the car category for Mitsubishi after a close contest with Alphand after the increasingly competitive Volkswagens retired with mechanical problems. In what would be the final African event of the Dakar, Despres took his second title in the bikes category, having conceded victory in 2006 to Marc Coma after suffering an injury.

2008: Hungary and Romania Step In

The 2008 event, due to start in Lisbon, was cancelled on 4 January 2008 amid fears of attacks in Mauritania following the 2007 killing of four French tourists. Chile and Argentina offered to host subsequent events, which were later accepted by the ASO for the 2009 event.

From a legal standpoint, the ASO held all entries for a rescheduled and relocated race, the Central Europe Rally, held in Hungary and Romania. It was intended to be part of a series known as the Dakar Series. The seven-stage rally-raid was legally the 2008 edition of the Dakar.

David Casteu in a KTM won his first rally-raid race of his career while KTM swept the podium. He defeated Francisco Lopez by 2:58 for what technically was his first Dakar win.

Volkswagen dominated the cars category, with Carlos Sainz, Sr. and Michel Périn winning the category in the Race Tourareg 2, and the marque sweeping all seven stages of the race. Despite that, Sainz still had to fend off the challenges of Stéphane Peterhansel and Jean-Paul Cottret in a Mitsubishi Pajero, who finished second by 2:01 after the seven stages.

South America

The 2009 event, the first held in South America with a respectable 501 competitors, saw Volkswagen take its first win in the Dakar as a works entrant courtesy of Giniel de Villiers. Initially, teammate and former WRC champion Carlos Sainz led the race comfortably until crashing out, but went on to win the event in 2010. After a poor showing in 2009, Mitsubishi withdrew from the competition and left Volkswagen as the sole works entrant. The German marque won the race for a third time in 2011, this time with Nasser Al-Attiyah, before they withdrew to focus on their upcoming WRC entry and leaving the Dakar with no factory participants in the car class. In the bikes, Despres and Coma stretched KTM's incredible unbroken run of success. Both tied on three victories apiece after Coma's third win in 2011.

2018 rally in Peru

The route passed through the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia, the world's largest salt desert.

In the 2012 rally, the X-raid team came to the fore, now using Minis in lieu of BMWs. Peterhansel had joined the team in 2010 after Mitsubishi's departure, but had been unable to challenge the Volkswagen drivers. Following Volkswagen's withdrawal, Peterhansel was able to secure his fourth win in the car category and his tenth in total, his main opposition coming from within his own team. Peterhansel successfully defended his title in 2013 as the Damen Jefferies buggies of Sainz and Al-Attiyah failed to last the distance. Despres also racked up a further two wins for KTM in the bikes class in 2012 and 2013, bringing his tally to five, aided by Coma's absence due to injury in the latter year. Coma struck back on his return to the Dakar in 2014, taking a comfortable fourth title and a 13th in succession for KTM, whilst Nani Roma emulated Auriol and Peterhansel by taking his maiden title in the cars class a decade on from his victory on two wheels – albeit only after team orders by X-raid slowed Peterhansel.

Peugeot returned for the 2015 event with an all-new, diesel-powered, two-wheel drive contender, but failed to make an impact as X-raid's Minis once more dominated. Al-Attiyah won the event in his second year for the team, while Coma racked up a fifth title in the bikes after the defection of long-time rival Despres to the car class and Peugeot. Peugeot did however see success in 2016 with Peterhansel behind the wheel, racking up his 6th win in the car category, and again in 2017 and 2018 until Peugeot decide to officially leave the competition. In 2019, which was the first Dakar Rally to be held in just one country (Peru), Toyota won for the first time with Nasser Al-Attiyah (in his third victory with three different manufacturers). The bike category saw the KTM works team rider, Australian Toby Price, take his first Dakar victory, winning his second title in 2019. Sam Sunderland and Matthias Walkner won the 2017 and 2018 edition also for the team from Mattighofen (18 overall victories as in 2019).

Saudi Arabia

Following ASO's increasingly deteriorating relationships with South American governments, which culminated in the controversial 2019 disqualification of Bolivian quad rider Juan Carlos Salvatierra, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020. Since 2022, the rally has been the season-opening round of the World Rally-Raid Championship jointly sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. The 2023 event ran from 31 December 2022 to 15 January 2023.

The Dakar Rally was intended to also feature other Middle East countries starting from 2021, as the contract with the country was only exclusive for the first year. However, the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022 prevented such expansion from happening.

Vehicles and classes

The five competitive groups in the Dakar are the motorcycles, quads, the cars class (which ranges from buggies to small SUVs), UTVs, and the trucks class. Many vehicle manufacturers use the rally's harsh environment as both a testing ground and an opportunity to show off their vehicles' durability even though most vehicles are heavily modified from their production specification or purpose-built.

Motorbikes

Joan Barreda racing a Honda motorcycle at the 2016 Dakar Rally

For the 2005 rally regulations introduced a limit of 450cc for twin cylinder motorbikes. Single cylinder motorbikes were still open class with no capacity limit.

As of 2011, the engine displacement limit for all motorbikes competing in the Dakar Rally is 450cc. Engines may be either single or twin cylinder. Riders are divided into two groups, RallyGP and Rally2.

A subcategory is the "Original by Motul" category (formerly named "Malle Moto" due to the only piece of luggage competitors were allowed to take with them was a "malle", a French term for box or trunk.), which refers to motorbikes and quads competing without any kind assistance. The organization provides assistance for this category with 4 people dedicated to the transportation of the competitors "malle" or boxes between bivouac sites plus any additional equipment or belongings. This includes: 1 trunk, 1 set of wheels, 1 sleeping tent, 1 travel bag, 1 set of tyres, free use of the generators, compressors and tool-boxes, and easy access to race information. Since these competitors are not allowed to receive any outside support, each rider must service their own vehicle. It is often called the category for the toughest of the tough, and one for the Dakar purists.

KTM has dominated the motorcycle class in recent years, although Honda, Yamaha, Sherco, Husqvarna, and Gas Gas also compete currently. BMW and Cagiva have also enjoyed success in the past.

Quads

Prior to 2009, Quads were a subdivision of the motorbike category, but they were granted their own separate classification in 2009 and are designated Group 3 in the current regulations. They are divided into two subgroups – Group 3.1, which features two-wheel drive quads with a single cylinder engine with a maximum displacement of 750cc, and Group 3.2, which permits four-wheel drive quads with a maximum engine displacement of 900cc, in either single or twin cylinder layout.

Yamaha went unbeaten in the Quad category as an official class, with their main opposition coming courtesy of Honda and Can-Am.

Quads were dropped from the Dakar in 2025 due to declining manufacturer support.

Cars

See also: Group T1 and Group T2

The car class is made up of vehicles weighing less than 3,500 kg (7,716 lb), which are subdivided into several categories. T1 is made up of "Improved Cross-Country Vehicles", subdivided according to engine type (petrol or diesel) and drive type (two-wheel or four-wheel drive), while T2 is made up of "Cross-Country Series Production Vehicles", which are subdivided into petrol and diesel categories. There is also an "Open" category catering for vehicles conforming to SCORE International regulations.

Mini have been the most successful marque in the car category in recent years, thanks to the efforts of the non-factory X-raid team, with limited involvement currently coming from Toyota, Ford and Haval. Several constructors also produce bespoke buggies for the event, most notably SMG and Damen Jefferies.

Mitsubishi is historically the most successful manufacturer in the car class, with Volkswagen, Citroën, Peugeot and Porsche having all tasted success in the past with factory teams. Jean-Louis Schlesser has also won the event twice with his Renault-supported buggies. Factory teams from Nissan and SEAT have also won stages, as has BMW, courtesy of the X-raid team.

Trucks

See also: Group T5

Vladimir Chagin, "The Tsar of Dakar", is the most successful truck driver

The Truck class, first run as a separate category in 1980, is made up of vehicles weighing more than 3,500 kg (7,716 lb). Trucks participating in the competition are subdivided into "Series Production" trucks (T4.1) and "Modified" trucks (T4.2), whilst Group T4.3 (formerly known as T5) trucks are rally support trucks – meaning they travel from bivouac to bivouac to support the competition vehicles. These were introduced to the rally in 1998. The truck event was not run in 1989 after it was decided the vehicles, by this stage with twin engines generating in excess of 1000 horsepower, were too dangerous following the death of a DAF crew member in an accident during the 1988 rally.

Kamaz has dominated the truck category since the turn of the century, although it has come under increasing pressure from rivals such as Iveco, MAN, Renault, and Tatra, which enjoyed much success in the 1990s. Hino, DAF, Perlini, and Mercedes-Benz have also been among the winners in the past.

UTVs

See also: Group T3 and Group T4

The utility task vehicle (UTV) category was introduced in 2017. Before this, UTVs ran under the car category as the T3 class. The class rapidly gained in popularity, and in 2021 the class was further subdivided into separate T3 light prototypes category, and T4 SSVs, which are based on production vehicles.

Classics

A new Dakar Classic class was introduced in 2021 for cars and trucks manufactured before 2000, or new vehicles built to original pre-2000 specification. For the fifth edition in 2025, rules allowed another five years where 2005 became the latest specification year for the class, effectively making the rule 20 years for classification as classics.

These vehicles share the same bivouac and the organization but run in a parallel, yet different route, suitable for historic vehicles. The scoreboard is not based on fastest time, but rather on regularity rally point scoring system. The class feature a reduced entry fee, yet the same rules and fees apply for the assistance.

List of winners

Cars, bikes and trucks

Year	Route	Cars		Bikes		Trucks
		Driver Co-driver	Make & model	Rider	Make & model	Driver Co-driver Technician	Make & model
2024	al-Ula–Yanbu	Carlos Sainz Lucas Cruz	Audi RS Q e-tron	Ricky Brabec	Honda CRF 450 Rally	Martin Macík František Tomášek David Švanda	Iveco PowerStar
2023	near Yanbu–Dammam	Nasser Al-Attiyah Mathieu Baumel	Toyota GR DKR Hilux	Kevin Benavides	KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica	Janus van Kasteren Darek Rodewald Marcel Snijders	Iveco PowerStar
2022	Ḥaʼil–Jeddah	Nasser Al-Attiyah Mathieu Baumel	Toyota GR DKR Hilux	Sam Sunderland	Gas Gas 450 Rally	Dmitry Sotnikov Ruslan Amkhmadeev Ilgiz Akhmetzianov	Kamaz K5 435091
2021	Jeddah–Ḥaʼil	Stéphane Peterhansel Édouard Boulanger	Mini John Cooper Works Buggy	Kevin Benavides	Honda CRF 450 Rally	Dmitry Sotnikov Ruslan Amkhmadeev Ilgiz Akhmetzianov	Kamaz 43509
2020	Jeddah–Riyadh–Qiddiya	Carlos Sainz Lucas Cruz	Mini John Cooper Works Buggy	Ricky Brabec	Honda CRF 450 Rally	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz 43509
2019	Lima–Lima	Nasser Al-Attiyah Mathieu Baumel	Toyota Hilux Dakar	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz 43509
2018	Lima–La Paz–Córdoba	Carlos Sainz Lucas Cruz	Peugeot 3008 DKR Maxi	Matthias Walkner	KTM 450 Rally	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz 4326-9
2017	Asunción–La Paz–Buenos Aires	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret	Peugeot 3008 DKR	Sam Sunderland	KTM 450 Rally	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz 4326-9
2016	Buenos Aires–Salta-Rosario	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret	Peugeot 2008 DKR	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally	Gerard de Rooy Moi Torrallardona Darek Rodewald	Iveco PowerStar
2015	Buenos Aires–Iquique-Buenos Aires	Nasser Al-Attiyah Mathieu Baumel	Mini All 4 Racing	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Ayrat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz 4326-9
2014	Rosario-Salta–Valparaíso	Nani Roma Michel Périn	Mini All 4 Racing	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Devyatkin	Kamaz 4326-9
2013	Lima–Tucumán–Santiago	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret	Mini All 4 Racing	Cyril Despres	KTM 450 Rally	Eduard Nikolaev Sergey Savostin Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz 4326-9
2012	Mar del Plata–Arica–Lima	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret	Mini All 4 Racing	Cyril Despres	KTM 450 Rally	Gerard de Rooy Tom Colsoul Darek Rodewald	Iveco PowerStar
2011	Buenos Aires–Arica–Buenos Aires	Nasser Al-Attiyah Timo Gottschalk	Volkswagen Race Touareg 3	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Vladimir Chagin Sergey Savostin Ildar Shaysultanov	Kamaz 4326-9
2010	Buenos Aires–Antofagasta–Buenos Aires	Carlos Sainz Lucas Cruz	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Cyril Despres	KTM 690 Rally	Vladimir Chagin Sergey Savostin Eduard Nikolaev	Kamaz 4326-9
2009	Buenos Aires–Valparaiso–Buenos Aires	Giniel de Villiers Dirk von Zitzewitz	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Marc Coma	KTM 690 Rally	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev	Kamaz 4326-9
2008	Budapest-Baia Mare-Lake Balaton	Carlos Sainz Michel Périn	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	David Casteu	KTM 690 Rally	Hans Stacey, Eddy Chevaillier, Bernard der Kinderen	MAN TGA
2007	Lisbon–Dakar	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Cyril Despres	KTM 690 Rally	Hans Stacey Charly Gotlib Bernard der Kinderen	MAN TGA
2006	Lisbon–Dakar	Luc Alphand Gilles Picard	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Marc Coma	KTM LC4 660R	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz 4911
2005	Barcelona–Dakar	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Cyril Despres	KTM LC4 660R	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev	Kamaz 4911
2004	Clermont-Ferrand–Dakar	Stéphane Peterhansel Jean-Paul Cottret	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Nani Roma	KTM LC4 660R	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz 4911
2003	Marseille–Sharm el Sheikh	Hiroshi Masuoka Andreas Schulz	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Richard Sainct	KTM LC4 660R	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz 4911
2002	Arras–Madrid–Dakar	Hiroshi Masuoka Pascal Maimon	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Fabrizio Meoni	KTM LC8 950R	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz 49256
2001	Paris–Dakar	Jutta Kleinschmidt Andreas Schulz	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Fabrizio Meoni	KTM LC4 660R	Karel Loprais Josef Kalina Petr Hamerla	Tatra 815
2000	Dakar–Cairo	Jean-Louis Schlesser Henri Magne	Buggy Schlesser - Renault	Richard Sainct	BMW F650RR	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz 49252
1999	Granada–Dakar	Jean-Louis Schlesser Philippe Monnet	Buggy Schlesser - Renault	Richard Sainct	BMW F650RR	Karel Loprais Radomir Stachura Josef Kalina	Tatra 815
1998	Paris–Granada–Dakar	Jean-Pierre Fontenay Gilles Picard	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha XTR850R	Karel Loprais Radomir Stachura Jan Cermak	Tatra 815
1997	Dakar–Agades–Dakar	Kenjiro Shinozuka Henri Magne	Mitsubishi Pajero Type 2	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha XTR850R	Peter Reif Johann Deinhofer	Hino Ranger
1996	Granada–Dakar	Pierre Lartigue Michel Périn	Citroën ZX	Edi Orioli	Yamaha XTR850R	Viktor Moskovskikh Anatoli Kouzmine Nail Bagavetdinov	Kamaz 49252
1995	Granada–Dakar	Pierre Lartigue Michel Périn	Citroën ZX	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha XTR850R	Karel Loprais Radomir Stachura Tomas Tomecek	Tatra 815
1994	Paris–Dakar–Paris	Pierre Lartigue Michel Périn	Citroën ZX	Edi Orioli	Cagiva Elefant	Karel Loprais Radomir Stachura Josef Kalina	Tatra 815
1993	Paris–Dakar	Bruno Saby Dominique Serieys	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 850T	Francesco Perlini Giorgio Albiero Claudio Vinante	Perlini 105F
1992	Paris–Sirte–Cape Town	Hubert Auriol Philippe Monnet	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 850T	Francesco Perlini Giorgio Albiero Claudio Vinante	Perlini 105F
1991	Paris–Tripoli–Dakar	Ari Vatanen Bruno Berglund	Citroën ZX	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 750T	Jacques Houssat Thierry de Saulieu Danilo Bottaro	Perlini 105F
1990	Paris–Tripoli–Dakar	Ari Vatanen Bruno Berglund	Peugeot 405 T16	Edi Orioli	Cagiva Elefant 900 [it]	Giorgio Villa Giorgio Delfino Claudio Vinante	Perlini 105F
1989	Paris–Tunis–Dakar	Ari Vatanen Bruno Berglund	Peugeot 405 T16	Gilles Lalay	Honda NXR800V	Not held
1988	Paris–Alger–Dakar	Juha Kankkunen Juha Piironen	Peugeot 205 T16	Edi Orioli	Honda NXR800V	Karel Loprais Radomir Stachura Tomas Muck	Tatra 815
1987	Paris-Alger–Dakar	Ari Vatanen Bernard Giroux	Peugeot 205 T16	Cyril Neveu	Honda NXR750V	Jan de Rooy (rally driver) Yvo Geusens Theo van de Rijt	DAF TurboTwin II
1986	Paris-Alger–Dakar	René Metge Dominique Lemoyne	Porsche 959	Cyril Neveu	Honda NXR750V	Giacomo Vismara Giulio Minelli	Mercedes-Benz U 1300 L
1985	Paris-Alger–Dakar	Patrick Zaniroli Jean da Silva	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Gaston Rahier	BMW R80G/S	Karl-Friedrich Capito Jost Capito Klaus Schweikarl	Mercedes-Benz 1936 AK
1984	Paris-Alger–Dakar	René Metge Dominique Lemoyne	Porsche 911 (953)	Gaston Rahier	BMW R80G/S	Pierre Laleu Daniel Durce Patrick Venturini	Mercedes-Benz 1936 AK
1983	Paris-Alger–Dakar	Jacky Ickx Claude Brasseur	Mercedes 280 GE	Hubert Auriol	BMW R80G/S	Georges Groine Thierry de Saulieu Bernard Malferiol	Mercedes-Benz 1936 AK
1982	Paris-Alger–Dakar	Claude Marreau Bernard Marreau	Renault 20 Turbo 4X4	Cyril Neveu	Honda XR550	Georges Groine Thierry de Saulieu Bernard Malferiol	Mercedes-Benz U 1700 L
1981	Paris–Dakar	René Metge Bernard Giroux	Range Rover	Hubert Auriol	BMW R80G/S	Adrien Villette Henri Gabrelle Alain Voillereau	ALM/ACMAT
1980	Paris–Dakar	Freddy Kottulinsky Gerd Löffelmann	Volkswagen Iltis	Cyril Neveu	Yamaha XT500	Miloud Ataouat Hadj Daou Boukrif Mahiedine Kaloua	Sonacome M210
1979	Paris–Dakar	Alain Génestier Joseph Terbiaut Jean Lemordant	Range Rover	Cyril Neveu	Yamaha XT500	Jean-François Dunac Jean-Pierre Chapel François Beau	Pinzgauer

Quads, SSVs and Light Prototypes

Year	Route	Quads		SSVs (UTVs until 2022)		Light Prototypes (T3)
		Rider	Make & model	Driver Co-driver	Make & model	DriverCo-driver	Make & model
2024	Al-'Ula–Yanbu	Manuel Andújar	Yamaha Raptor 700	Xavier de Soultrait Martin Bonnet	Polaris RZR Pro R	Cristina Gutiérrez Pablo Moreno Huete	Taurus T3 Max
2023	near Yanbu–Dammam	Alexandre Giroud	Yamaha Raptor 700	Eryk Goczał Oriol Mena	Can-Am Maverick X3	Austin Jones Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am Maverick XRS
2022	Ḥaʼil–Jeddah	Alexandre Giroud	Yamaha Raptor 700	Austin Jones Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am Maverick X3	Francisco López Contardo Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre	Can-Am XRS
2021	Jeddah–Ḥaʼil	Manuel Andújar	Yamaha Raptor 700	Francisco López Contardo Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre	Can-Am Maverick X3	Josef Macháček Pavel Vyoral	Can-Am
2020	Jeddah–Riyadh–Qiddiya	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha Raptor 700	Casey Currie Sean Berriman	Can-Am Maverick X3
2019	Lima–Lima	Nicolás Cavigliasso	Yamaha Raptor 700	Francisco López Contardo Alvaro Quintanilla	Can-Am Maverick X3
2018	Lima–La Paz–Córdoba	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha Raptor 700	Reinaldo Varela Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am Maverick X3
2017	Asunción–La Paz–Buenos Aires	Sergey Karyakin	Yamaha Raptor 700	Leandro Torres Lourival Roldan	Polaris RZR 1000 XP
2016	Buenos Aires–Salta-Rosario	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha Raptor 700	Not held
2015	Buenos Aires–Iquique-Buenos Aires	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha Raptor 700
2014	Rosario-Salta–Valparaíso	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha Raptor 700
2013	Lima–Tucumán–Santiago	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha Raptor 700
2012	Mar del Plata–Arica–Lima	Alejandro Patronelli	Yamaha Raptor 700
2011	Buenos Aires–Arica–Buenos Aires	Alejandro Patronelli	Yamaha Raptor 700
2010	Buenos Aires–Antofagasta–Buenos Aires	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha Raptor 700
2009	Buenos Aires–Valparaiso–Buenos Aires	Josef Macháček	Yamaha Raptor 700

Source:

Dakar Classics

Year	Route	Classics
		Driver Co-driver	Make & model
2024	Al-'Ula–Yanbu	Carlos Santaolalla Jan Rosa i Viñas	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80
2023	near Yanbu–Dammam	Juan Morera Lidia Ruba	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80
2022	Ḥaʼil–Jeddah	Serge Mogno Florent Drulhon	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80
2021	Jeddah–Ḥaʼil	Marc Douton Emilien Etienne	Sunhill Buggy

Source:

Podium

Cars

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
	Driver	Car	Driver	Car	Driver	Car
1979	Alain Génestier	Range Rover V8	Claude Marreau	Renault 4 Sinpar	Cesare Giraudo	Fiat Campagnola
1980	Freddy Kottulinsky	Volkswagen Iltis	Patrick Zaniroli	Volkswagen Iltis	Claude Marreau	Renault 4 Sinpar
1981	René Metge	Range Rover V8	Hervé Cotel	Buggy Cotel	Jean-Claude Briavoine	Lada Niva
1982	Claude Marreau	Renault 20 Turbo	Jean-Claude Briavoine	Lada Niva	Jean-Pierre Jaussaud	Mercedes 280 GE
1983	Jacky Ickx	Mercedes 280 GE	André Trossat	Lada Niva	Pierre Lartigue	Range Rover V8
1984	René Metge	Porsche 911	Patrick Zaniroli	Range Rover V8	Andrew Cowan	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1985	Patrick Zaniroli	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Andrew Cowan	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Pierre Fougerouse	Toyota FJ 60
1986	René Metge	Porsche 959	Jacky Ickx	Porsche 959	Pascal Rigal	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1987	Ari Vatanen	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16	Patrick Zaniroli	Range Rover V8	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1988	Juha Kankkunen	Peugeot 205 Turbo 16	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Patrick Tambay	Range Rover V8
1989	Ari Vatanen	Peugeot 405 Turbo 16	Jacky Ickx	Peugeot 405 Turbo 16	Patrick Tambay	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1990	Ari Vatanen	Peugeot 405 Turbo 16	Björn Waldegård	Peugeot 405 Turbo 16	Alain Ambrosino	Peugeot 405 Turbo 16
1991	Ari Vatanen	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid	Pierre Lartigue	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jean Pierre Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1992	Hubert Auriol	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Erwin Weber	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1993	Bruno Saby	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Pierre Lartigue	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid	Hubert Auriol	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid
1994	Pierre Lartigue	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid	Hubert Auriol	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid	Philippe Wambergue	Buggy Bourgo
1995	Pierre Lartigue	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid	Bruno Saby	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1996	Pierre Lartigue	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid	Philippe Wambergue	Citroën ZX Rallye-Raid	Jean Pierre Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1997	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jean-Pierre Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Bruno Saby	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1998	Jean-Pierre Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Bruno Saby	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
1999	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Buggy Schlesser	Miguel Prieto	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jutta Kleinschmidt	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
2000	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Buggy Schlesser	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mega Desert	Jean-Pierre Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
2001	Jutta Kleinschmidt	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Hiroshi Masuoka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Buggy Schlesser
2002	Hiroshi Masuoka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jutta Kleinschmidt	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Kenjiro Shinozuka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
2003	Hiroshi Masuoka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jean-Pierre Fontenay	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
2004	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Hiroshi Masuoka	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Buggy Schlesser
2005	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Luc Alphand	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jutta Kleinschmidt	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2
2006	Luc Alphand	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Giniel de Villiers	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Nani Roma	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
2007	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Luc Alphand	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Jean-Louis Schlesser	Buggy Schlesser
2008	Carlos Sainz	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution	Dieter Depping	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2
2009	Giniel de Villiers	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Mark Miller	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Robby Gordon	Hummer H3
2010	Carlos Sainz	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2	Mark Miller	Volkswagen Race Touareg 2
2011	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Volkswagen Race Touareg 3	Giniel de Villiers	Volkswagen Race Touareg 3	Carlos Sainz	Volkswagen Race Touareg 3
2012	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mini All4 Racing	Nani Roma	Mini All4 Racing	Giniel de Villiers	Toyota Hilux Dakar
2013	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mini All4 Racing	Giniel de Villiers	Toyota Hilux Dakar	Leonid Novitskiy	Mini All4 Racing
2014	Nani Roma	Mini All4 Racing	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mini All4 Racing	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Mini All4 Racing
2015	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Mini All4 Racing	Giniel de Villiers	Toyota Hilux Dakar	Krzysztof Hołowczyc	Mini All4 Racing
2016	Stéphane Peterhansel	Peugeot 2008 DKR	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Mini All4 Racing	Giniel de Villiers	Toyota Hilux Dakar
2017	Stéphane Peterhansel	Peugeot 3008 DKR	Sébastien Loeb	Peugeot 3008 DKR	Cyril Despres	Peugeot 3008 DKR
2018	Carlos Sainz	Peugeot 3008 DKR	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota Hilux Dakar	Giniel de Villiers	Toyota Hilux Dakar
2019	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota Hilux Dakar	Nani Roma	Mini All4 Racing	Sébastien Loeb	Peugeot 3008 DKR
2020	Carlos Sainz	Mini John Cooper Works Buggy	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota Hilux Dakar	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mini John Cooper Works Buggy
2021	Stéphane Peterhansel	Mini John Cooper Works Buggy	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota Hilux Dakar	Carlos Sainz	Mini John Cooper Works Buggy
2022	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota GR DKR Hilux	Sébastien Loeb	BRX Hunter T1+	Yazeed Al-Rajhi	Toyota Hilux Overdrive
2023	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Toyota GR DKR Hilux	Sébastien Loeb	Prodrive Hunter T1+	Lucas Moraes	Toyota Hilux Overdrive
2024	Carlos Sainz	Audi RS Q e-tron	Guillaume De Mévius	Toyota Hilux Overdrive	Sébastien Loeb	Prodrive Hunter T1+

Bikes

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
	Driver	Bike	Driver	Bike	Driver	Bike
1979	Cyril Neveu	Yamaha XT 500	Gilles Comte	Yamaha XT 500	Philippe Vassard	Honda XL 250
1980	Cyril Neveu	Yamaha XT 500	Michel Merel	Yamaha XT 500	Jean-Noël Pineau	Yamaha XT 500
1981	Hubert Auriol	BMW R80 G/S	Serge Bacou	Yamaha XT 500	Michel Merel	Yamaha XT 500
1982	Cyril Neveu	Honda XR 550	Philippe Vassard	Honda XR 550	Grégoire Verhaeghe	Barigo 500
1983	Hubert Auriol	BMW R80 G/S	Patrick Drobecq	Honda XR 600	Marc Joineau	Suzuki DR 500
1984	Gaston Rahier	BMW R80 G/S	Hubert Auriol	BMW R80 G/S	Philippe Vassard	Honda XLR 600
1985	Gaston Rahier	BMW R80 G/S	Jean-Claude Olivier	Yamaha 660 Proto	Franco Picco	Yamaha 600 XT
1986	Cyril Neveu	Honda NXR 780	Gilles Lalay	Honda NXR 780	Andrea Balestrieri	Honda XL 600
1987	Cyril Neveu	Honda NXR 750	Edi Orioli	Honda XL 600	Gaston Rahier	BMW R80 GS
1988	Edi Orioli	Honda NXR 800V	Franco Picco	Yamaha YZE 750	Gilles Lalay	Honda NXR 750
1989	Gilles Lalay	Honda NXR 800V	Franco Picco	Yamaha YZE 750	Marc Morales	Honda NXR 750
1990	Edi Orioli	Cagiva Elefant 900	Carles Mas	Yamaha YZE 750	Alessandro De Petri	Cagiva Elefant 900
1991	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 750T	Gilles Lalay	Yamaha YZE 750T	Thierry Magnaldi	Yamaha YZE 750T
1992	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 850T	Danny LaPorte	Cagiva Elefant 900	Jordi Arcarons	Cagiva Elefant 900
1993	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 850T	Thierry Charbonnier	Yamaha YZE 850T	Jordi Arcarons	Yamaha YZE 850T
1994	Edi Orioli	Cagiva Elefant 900	Jordi Arcarons	Cagiva Elefant 900	Fabrizio Meoni	Honda EXP-2
1995	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 850T	Jordi Arcarons	Cagiva Elefant 900	Edi Orioli	Cagiva Elefant 900
1996	Edi Orioli	Yamaha YZE 850T	Jordi Arcarons	KTM LC4	Carlos Sotelo	KTM LC4
1997	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 850T	Oscar Gallardo	Cagiva Elefant 900	David Castera	Yamaha YZE 850T
1998	Stéphane Peterhansel	Yamaha YZE 850T	Fabrizio Meoni	KTM LC4	Andrew Haydon	KTM LC4
1999	Richard Sainct	BMW F650 RR	Thierry Magnaldi	KTM LC4	Alfie Cox	KTM LC4
2000	Richard Sainct	BMW F650 RR	Oscar Gallardo	BMW F650 RR	Jimmy Lewis	BMW R900 GS
2001	Fabrizio Meoni	KTM LC4 660R	Jordi Arcarons	KTM LC4 660R	Carlo de Gavardo	KTM LC4 660R
2002	Fabrizio Meoni	KTM LC8 950R	Alfie Cox	KTM LC4 660R	Richard Sainct	KTM LC4 660R
2003	Richard Sainct	KTM LC4 660R	Cyril Despres	KTM LC4 660R	Fabrizio Meoni	KTM LC8 950R
2004	Nani Roma	KTM LC4 660R	Richard Sainct	KTM LC4 660R	Cyril Despres	KTM LC4 660R
2005	Cyril Despres	KTM LC4 660R	Marc Coma	KTM LC4 660R	Alfie Cox	KTM LC4 660R
2006	Marc Coma	KTM LC4 660R	Cyril Despres	KTM LC4 660R	Giovanni Sala	KTM LC4 660R
2007	Cyril Despres	KTM 690 Rally	David Casteu	KTM 690 Rally	Chris Blais	KTM 660 Rally
2008	David Casteu	KTM 690 Rally	Francisco López	KTM 690 Rally	Alain Duclos	KTM 690 Rally
2009	Marc Coma	KTM 690 Rally	Cyril Despres	KTM 690 Rally	David Frétigné	Yamaha WR 450
2010	Cyril Despres	KTM 690 Rally	Pål Anders Ullevålseter	KTM 690 Rally	Francisco López	Aprilia RXV 450
2011	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Cyril Despres	KTM 450 Rally	Hélder Rodrigues	Yamaha WR 450F
2012	Cyril Despres	KTM 450 Rally	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Hélder Rodrigues	Yamaha WR 450F
2013	Cyril Despres	KTM 450 Rally	Ruben Faria	KTM 450 Rally	Francisco López	KTM 450 Rally
2014	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Jordi Viladoms	KTM 450 Rally	Olivier Pain	Yamaha WR 450F
2015	Marc Coma	KTM 450 Rally	Paulo Gonçalves	Honda CRF 450	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally
2016	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally	Štefan Svitko	KTM 450 Rally	Pablo Quintanilla	Husqvarna FR 450
2017	Sam Sunderland	KTM 450 Rally	Matthias Walkner	KTM 450 Rally	Gerard Farrés	KTM 450 Rally
2018	Matthias Walkner	KTM 450 Rally	Kevin Benavides	Honda CRF 450	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally
2019	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally	Matthias Walkner	KTM 450 Rally	Sam Sunderland	KTM 450 Rally
2020	Ricky Brabec	Honda CRF 450 Rally	Pablo Quintanilla	Husqvarna FR 450	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally
2021	Kevin Benavides	Honda CRF 450 Rally	Ricky Brabec	Honda CRF 450 Rally	Sam Sunderland	KTM 450 Rally
2022	Sam Sunderland	Gas Gas 450 Rally	Pablo Quintanilla	Honda CRF450 Rally	Matthias Walkner	KTM 450 Rally
2023	Kevin Benavides	KTM 450 Rally	Toby Price	KTM 450 Rally	Skyler Howes	Husqvarna 450 Rally
2024	Ricky Brabec	Honda CRF 450 Rally	Ross Branch	Hero 450 Rally	Adrien Van Beveren	Honda CRF 450 Rally

Trucks

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
	Crew	Truck	Crew	Truck	Crew	Truck
1979	Jean-François Dunac Jean-Pierre Chapel François Beau	Pinzgauer	Daniel Petit Françis Mare	UNIC	Alain Mekki Jean Neault	UNIC
1980	Miloud Ataouat Hadj Daou Boukrif Mahiedine Kaloua	Sonacome	Bernard Heu Daniel Delobel Gilbert Versino	MAN	Mokran Bouzid Daid Mekhelef	Sonacome
1981	Adrien Villette Henri Gabrelle Alain Voillereau	ALM-ACMAT	Jacques Briy Jean Salou Gustave Peu	Ford	Georges Groine Thierry de Saulieu Bernard Malferiol	Mercedes-Benz
1982	Georges Groine Thierry de Saulieu Bernard Malferiol	Mercedes-Benz	Pierre Laleu Bernard Langlois	Mercedes-Benz	Jan de Rooy (rally driver) Gérard Straetmans	DAF
1983	Georges Groine Thierry de Saulieu Bernard Malferiol	Mercedes-Benz	Hasse Henriksson Sture Bernhardsson John Granäng	Volvo C303	Jan de Rooy (rally driver) Joop Roggeband Yvo Geusens	DAF
1984	Pierre Laleu Daniel Durce Patrick Venturini	Mercedes-Benz	Paolo Bonera Valerio Grassi Paolo Travaglia	Mercedes-Benz	Henri Gabrelle Alain Voillereau Adolf Dirl	MAN
1985	Karl Friedrich Capito Jost Capito Klaus Schweikarl	Mercedes-Benz	Jan de Rooy (rally driver) Thierry de Saulieu Martinus Ketelaars	DAF	Karl Wilhelm Strohmann Volker Capito Heinz Schnepf	Mercedes-Benz
1986	Giacomo Vismara Giulio Minelli	Mercedes-Benz	Hans Heyer Winkler	MAN	Salvador Cañellas Ferran	Pegaso
1987	Jan de Rooy (rally driver) Yvo Geusens Theo van de Rijt	DAF	Karel Loprais Radomír Stachura Jaroslav Krpec	Tatra	Jiří Moskal Jaroslav Joklík Pavel Záleský	LIAZ
1988	Karel Loprais Radomír Stachura Tomáš Mück	Tatra	Jiří Moskal František Vojtíšek Pavel Záleský	LIAZ	Lutz Bernau Bartman Kluge	Tatra
1989	Category not held
1990	Giorgio Villa Giorgio Delfino Claudio Vinante	Perlini	Jacques Houssat Thierry De Saulieu Danilo Bottaro	Perlini	Zdeněk Kahánek Jaroslav Krpec Havlík	Tatra
1991	Jacques Houssat Thierry de Saulieu Danilo Bottaro	Perlini	Vladimir Goltsov Firdaus Kabirov Valery Koblukov	Kamaz	Joel Tammeka Juhan Anupõld Enno Piirsalu	Kamaz
1992	Francesco Perlini Giorgio Albiero Claudio Vinante	Perlini	Jacques Houssat Thierry de Saulieu Danilo Bottaro	Perlini	Karel Loprais Josef Kalina Radomír Stachura	Tatra
1993	Francesco Perlini Giorgio Albiero Claudio Vinante	Perlini	Jacques Houssat Sarlieve Diamante	Perlini	Gilbert Versino Gimbre Versino	Mercedes-Benz
1994	Karel Loprais Radomír Stachura Josef Kalina	Tatra	Yoshimasa Sugawara Shibata	Hino	Jacques Marvy Pons Dujon	Perlini
1995	Karel Loprais Radomír Stachura Josef Kalina	Tatra	Yoshimasa Sugawara Shibata	Hino	Vlastimil Buchtyár Milan Kořený Jaroslav Krpec	Tatra
1996	Viktor Moskovskikh Anatoly Kuzmin Nail Bagavetdinov	Kamaz	Karel Loprais Tomáš Tomeček Radomír Stachura	Tatra	Ladislav Fajtl Jiří Janoušek František Wurst	Tatra
1997	Peter Reif Johann Deinhofer Roth	Hino	Yoshimasa Sugawara Naoko Matsumoto Katsumi Hamura	Hino	Joseph Petit Jean-Christophe Wagner Takeshi Hashimoto	Hino
1998	Karel Loprais Radomír Stachura Jan Čermák	Tatra	Yoshimasa Sugawara Naoko Matsumoto Takashi Ushioda	Hino	Milan Kořený Jaroslav Lamač Martin Kahánek	Tatra
1999	Karel Loprais Radomír Stachura Josef Kalina	Tatra	Viktor Moskovskikh Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov	Kamaz	André de Azevedo Tomáš Tomeček Leilane Neubarth	Tatra
2000	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz	Karel Loprais Radomír Stachura Petr Gilar	Tatra	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Vladimir Goloub	Kamaz
2001	Karel Loprais Josef Kalina Petr Hamerla	Tatra	Yoshimasa Sugawara Seiichi Suzuki Teruhito Sugawara	Hino	Peter Reif Gunther Pichlbauer Holger Hermann Roth	MAN
2002	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz	Karel Loprais Josef Kalina Petr Hamerla	Tatra	Yoshimasa Sugawara Naoko Matsumoto Seiichi Suzuki	Hino
2003	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz	André de Azevedo Tomáš Tomeček Jaromír Martinec	Tatra	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Ilgizar Mardeev	Kamaz
2004	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Dzhamil Kamalov	Kamaz	Gerard de Rooy Tom Colsoul Arno Slaats	DAF
2005	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev	Kamaz	Yoshimasa Sugawara Katsumi Hamura	Hino	Giacomo Vismara Mario Cambiaghi Claudio Bellina	Mercedes-Benz
2006	Vladimir Chagin Semen Yakubov Sergey Savostin	Kamaz	Hans Stacey Charly Gotlib Bernard der Kinderen	MAN	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev	Kamaz
2007	Hans Stacey Charly Gotlib Bernard der Kinderen	MAN	Ilgizar Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Eduard Nikolaev	Kamaz	Aleš Loprais Petr Gilar	Tatra
2008	Hans Stacey Eddy Chevaillier Bernard der Kinderen	MAN	Wulfert van Ginkel Daniël Bruinsma Richard de Rooy	GINAF	Aleš Loprais Ladislav Lála Milan Holáň	Tatra
2009	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev	Kamaz	Vladimir Chagin Sergey Savostin Eduard Nikolaev	Kamaz	Gerard de Rooy Tom Colsoul Marcel van Melis	GINAF
2010	Vladimir Chagin Sergey Savostin Eduard Nikolaev	Kamaz	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev	Kamaz	Marcel van Vliet Herman Vaanholt Gerard van Veenendaal	GINAF
2011	Vladimir Chagin Sergey Savostin Ildar Shaysultanov	Kamaz	Firdaus Kabirov Aydar Belyaev Andrey Mokeev	Kamaz	Eduard Nikolaev Viatcheslav Mizyukaev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz
2012	Gerard de Rooy Tom Colsoul Dariusz Rodewald	Iveco	Hans Stacey Hans van Goor Bernard der Kinderen	Iveco	Artur Ardavichus Alexey Kuzmich Nurlan Turlubaev	Kamaz
2013	Eduard Nikolaev Sergey Savostin Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz	Airat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Anton Mirniy	Kamaz	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Devyatkin	Kamaz
2014	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Devyatkin	Kamaz	Gerard de Rooy Tom Colsoul Darek Rodewald	Iveco	Eduard Nikolaev Sergey Savostin Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz
2015	Airat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz
2016	Gerard de Rooy Moisès Torrallardona Darek Rodewald	Iveco	Airat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz	Federico Villagra Jorge Pérez Companc Andrés Memi	Iveco
2017	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz	Dmitry Sotnikov Ruslan Akhmadeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	Gerard de Rooy Moisès Torrallardona Darek Rodewald	Iveco
2018	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz	Siarhei Viazovich Pavel Haranin Andrei Zhyhulin	MAZ	Airat Mardeev Aydar Belyaev Dmitriy Svistunov	Kamaz
2019	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz	Dmitry Sotnikov Dmitry Nikitin Ilnur Mustafin	Kamaz	Gerard de Rooy Moisès Torrallardona Darek Rodewald	Iveco
2020	Andrey Karginov Andrey Mokeev Igor Leonov	Kamaz	Anton Shibalov Dmitry Nikitin Ivan Tatarinov	Kamaz	Siarhei Viazovich Pavel Haranin Anton Zaparoshchanka	MAZ
2021	Dmitry Sotnikov Ruslan Akhamadeev Ilgiz Akhmetzianov	Kamaz	Anton Shibalov Dmitri Nikitin Ivan Tatarinov	Kamaz	Airat Mardeev Dmitry Svistunov Akhmet Galiautdinov	Kamaz
2022	Dmitry Sotnikov Ruslan Akhamadeev Ilgiz Akhmetzianov	Kamaz	Eduard Nikolaev Evgeny Yakovlev Vladimir Rybakov	Kamaz	Anton Shibalov Dmitri Nikitin Ivan Tatarinov	Kamaz
2023	Janus van Kasteren Darek Rodewald Marcel Snijders	Iveco	Martin Macík František Tomášek David Švanda	Iveco	Martin van den Brink Erik Kofman Rijk Mouw	Iveco
2024	Martin Macík František Tomášek David Švanda	Iveco	Aleš Loprais Jaroslav Valtr Jr Jiří Stross	Praga	Mitchel van den Brink Jarno van de Pol Moises Torrallardona	Iveco

Quads

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
	Rider	Quad	Rider	Quad	Rider	Quad
2009	Josef Macháček	Yamaha	Marcos Patronelli	Can-Am	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha
2010	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha	Alejandro Patronelli	Yamaha	Juan Manuel González	Yamaha
2011	Alejandro Patronelli	Yamaha	Sebastián Halpern	Yamaha	Łukasz Łaskawiec	Yamaha
2012	Alejandro Patronelli	Yamaha	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha	Tomas Maffei	Yamaha
2013	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha
2014	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	Sebastian Husseini	Honda
2015	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha	Jeremías González	Yamaha	Walter Nosiglia	Honda
2016	Marcos Patronelli	Yamaha	Alejandro Patronelli	Yamaha	Brian Baragwanath	Yamaha
2017	Sergey Karyakin	Yamaha	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	Pablo Copetti	Yamaha
2018	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	Nicolás Cavigliasso	Yamaha	Jeremías González	Yamaha
2019	Nicolás Cavigliasso	Yamaha	Jeremías González	Yamaha	Gustavo Gallego	Yamaha
2020	Ignacio Casale	Yamaha	Simon Vitse	Yamaha	Rafał Sonik	Yamaha
2021	Manuel Andújar	Yamaha	Giovanni Enrico	Yamaha	Pablo Copetti	Yamaha
2022	Alexandre Giroud	Yamaha	Francisco Moreno	Yamaha	Kamil Wiśniewski	Yamaha
2023	Alexandre Giroud	Yamaha	Francisco Moreno Flores	Yamaha	Pablo Copetti	Yamaha
2024	Manuel Andújar	Yamaha	Alexandre Giroud	Yamaha	Juraj Varga	Yamaha

SSVs (UTVs until 2022)

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
	Crew	UTV	Crew	UTV	Crew	UTV
2017	Leandro Torres Lourival Roldan	Polaris	Wang Fujiang Li Wei	Polaris	Ravil Maganov Kirill Shubin	Polaris
2018	Reinaldo Varela Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am	Patrice Garrouste Steven Griener	Polaris	Claude Fournier Szymon Gospodarczyk	Polaris
2019	Francisco López Contardo Alvaro Quintanilla	Can-Am	Gerard Farrés Daniel Oliveras	Can-Am	Reinaldo Varela Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am
2020	Casey Currie Sean Berriman	Can-Am	Sergey Karyakin Anton Vlasiuk	Can-Am	Francisco López Contardo Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre	Can-Am
2021	Francisco Lopez Contardo Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre	Can-Am	Austin Jones Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am	Aron Domżała Maciej Marton	Can-Am
2022	Austin Jones Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am	Gerard Farrés Diego Ortega Gil	Can-Am	Rokas Baciuška Oriol Mena	Can-Am
2023	Eryk Goczał Oriol Mena	Can-Am	Rokas Baciuška Oriol Vidal Montijano	Can-Am	Marek Goczał Maciej Marton	Can-Am
2024	Xavier de Soultrait Martin Bonnet	Polaris	Jérôme de Sadeleer Michaël Metge	Can-Am	Yasir Seaidan Adrien Metge	Can-Am

Light Prototypes (Challenger/T3)

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
	Crew	Make	Crew	Make	Crew	Make
2021	Josef Macháček Pavel Vyoral	Can-Am	Camelia Liparoti Annett Fischer	Yamaha	Philippe Pinchedez Vincent Ferri	Pinch Racing
2022	Francisco Lopez Contardo Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre	Can-Am	Sebastian Eriksson Wouter Rosegaar	Can-Am	Cristina Gutiérrez Francois Cazalet	OT3
2023	Austin Jones Gustavo Gugelmin	Can-Am	Seth Quintero Dennis Zenz	Can-Am	Guillaume De Mévius François Cazalet	OT3
2024	Cristina Gutiérrez Pablo Moreno Huete	Taurus	Mitch Guthrie Kellon Walch	Taurus	Rokas Baciuška Oriol Vidal Montijano	Can-Am

Classics

Year	1st		2nd		3rd
	Crew	Make	Crew	Make	Crew	Make
2021	Marc Douton Emilien Etienne	Sunhill Buggy	Juan Donatiu Pere Serrat Puig	Mitsubishi Montero	Lilian Harichoury Luc Fertin Laurent Correia	Renault Trucks
2022	Serge Mogno Florent Drulhon	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Arnaud Euvrard Adeline Euvrard	Mercedes ML	Jesus Fuster Pliego Juan Carlos Ramirez Moure	Mercedes G-320
2023	Juan Morera Lidia Ruba	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Carlos Santaolalla Aran Sol I Juanola	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Paolo Bedeschi Daniele Bottallo	Toyota Land Cruiser BJ71
2024	Carlos Santaolalla Aran Sol I Juanola	Toyota Land Cruiser HDJ80	Lorenzo Traglio Rudy Briani	Nissan Pathfinder	Paolo Bedeschi Daniele Bottallo	Toyota Land Cruiser BJ71

Records

Further information: List of Dakar Rally records

Television coverage

The rally is broadcast on television in more than 190 countries. A live feed of the event and a roundup of each day's race progress is made into a 26-minute programme. This has been commentated on by Toby Moody for ten years, and more recently by Neil Cole.

The rally organizers and their television crews provide 20 edit stations along the route for various countries to produce their own programmes about the rally. There are four TV helicopters, six stage cameras, and three bivouac crews to make over 1,000 hours of TV over the two-week period.

A 2006 television documentary Race to Dakar described the experiences of a team, including the English actor Charley Boorman, in preparation for and entry into the 2006 Dakar Rally.

Broadcasters

List of TV broadcasters as of 2022

Region	Country	TV Network
Western Europe	France	Franceinfo
		France 2 / France 3 / France 4
	Spain	La 1
		Teledeporte
		TV3
		Esport3
	Netherlands	RTL 4
		RTL 7
	Belgium	VTM
		RTBF
	Austria	ORF Sport +
		ServusTV
	Italy	Sport Mediaset it:Sport Mediaset
		RAI
		Sky Sport 24
		Italia 1
	Germany	ZDF
Eastern Europe	Estonia	TV6
	Poland	Polsat
		TVP1 / TVP2 / TVN
	Czech Republic	Nova
		Prima
		Czech TV
	Lithuania	LNK
	Slovakia	RTVS
Europe	Pan-Europe	Eurosport
Middle East	Middle East	BeIN Sports
	Saudi Arabia	SSC sport
Latin America	Pan-Latin America	ESPN
Americas	USA	MavTV
	Canada	FloSports
	Argentina	Canal 12 (Cordoba)
		America TV
		TPA
		C5N
		El Trece
		Telefe
	Brazil	ESPN
	Colombia	Caracol TV
	Mexico	Fox Sports
Asia and Oceania	Asia and Oceania	Eurosport Asia
	Australia	SBS
	New Zealand	Sky Sport
	China	Zhibo.tv
	Japan	J Sports
	India	1Sports
Africa	South Africa	SABC
		eNCA
	Africa	Supersoft
World	World	Red Bull TV
		Motor Trend
		Motorsport.com
		France 24
		Canal 24 Horas
		Al Jazeera

Video games

Release date	Title	Genre	Platform	Developer	Publisher
1988	Paris-Dakar Rally Special	Rally	Famicom	ISCO	CBS/Sony Group
1997	Dakar '97	Rally	PlayStation (console)	Elcom Co., Ltd.	Virgin Interactive Entertainment (Japan), Inc.
2001	Paris-Dakar Rally	Rally	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2	Broadsword Interactive	Acclaim Entertainment
2003	Dakar 2: The World's Ultimate Rally	Rally	PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube	Acclaim Studios Cheltenham	Acclaim Entertainment
2018	Dakar 18	Rally	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One	Bigmoon Entertainment	Deep Silver
2022	Dakar Desert Rally	Rally	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S	Saber Interactive	Saber Interactive

Incidents

Main article: List of Dakar Rally fatal accidents

In 1982, Mark Thatcher, son of the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, along with his French co-driver Anne-Charlotte Verney and their mechanic, disappeared for six days. On 9 January, the trio became separated from a convoy of vehicles after they stopped to make repairs to a faulty steering arm. They were declared missing on 12 January. After a large-scale search was instigated, an Algerian military Lockheed L-100 (a version of the C-130 Hercules) search plane spotted their white Peugeot 504 some 50 kilometres (31 mi) off course. Thatcher, Verney, and the mechanic were all unharmed.

The organiser of the rally, Thierry Sabine, was killed when his Ecureuil helicopter ("Squirrel-copter") crashed at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 14 January 1986, into a dune at Mali during a sudden sand-storm. Also killed onboard was the singer-songwriter Daniel Balavoine, helicopter pilot François-Xavier Bagnoud, journalist Nathalie Odent, and Jean-Paul Lefur who was a radiophonic engineer for French radio broadcaster RTL (formerly Radio Luxembourg).

Six people were killed during the 1988 race, three participants and three local residents. In one incident, Baye Sibi, a 10-year-old Malian girl, was killed by a racer while she crossed a road. A film crew's vehicle killed a mother and daughter in Mauritania on the last day of the race. The race participants killed, in three separate crashes, were a Dutch navigator on the DAF Trucks team, a French privateer, and a French rider. Racers were also blamed for starting a wildfire that caused a panic on a train running between Dakar and Bamako, where three more people were killed.

In 2003, French driver Daniel Nebot both rolled and crashed his Toyota heavily at high speed killing his co-driver Bruno Cauvy.

In 2005, Spanish motorcyclist José Manuel Pérez died in a Spanish hospital on Monday 10 January after crashing the week before on the 7th stage. Italian motorcyclist Fabrizio Meoni, a two-time winner of the event, became the second Dakar Rally rider to die in two days, following Pérez on 11 January on stage 11. Meoni was the 11th motorcyclist and the 45th person overall to die in the history of the race. On 13 January a five-year-old Senegalese girl was hit and killed by a service lorry after wandering onto a main road, bringing the total deaths to five.

In 2006, 41-year-old Australian KTM motorcyclist Andy Caldecott, in his third time in the Dakar, died on 9 January as a result of neck injuries sustained in a crash approximately 250 kilometres (160 mi) into stage 9, between Nouakchott and Kiffa, only a few kilometers (miles) from the location where Meoni had his fatal wreck the year before. He won the third stage of the 2006 event between Nador and Er Rachidia only a few days before his death. The death occurred despite efforts by the event organisers to improve competitor safety, including limiting speed, mandatory rest at fuel stops, and reduced fuel tank capacity for the bike classes. On 13 January a 10-year-old boy died while crossing the course after being hit by a car driven by Latvian Māris Saukāns, while on 14 January a 12-year-old boy was killed after being hit by a support lorry.

In 2007, 29-year-old South African motor racer Elmer Symons died of injuries sustained in a crash during the fourth stage of the Rally. Symons crashed with his bike in the desert between Er Rachidia and Ouarzazate, Morocco. Another death occurred on 20 January, the night before the race's finish, when 42-year-old motorcyclist Eric Aubijoux died suddenly. The cause of death was initially believed to be a heart attack, but it was later suggested that Aubijoux had died of internal injuries sustained in a crash earlier that day while competing in the 14th stage of the race.

The 2008 Dakar Rally was cancelled due to security concerns after al-Qaeda's murder of four French tourists on Christmas Eve in December 2007 in Mauritania (a country in which the rally spent eight days), various accusations against the rally calling it "neo-colonialist", and al-Qaeda's accusations against Mauritania calling it a supporter of "crusaders, apostates and infidels". The French-based Amaury Sport Organisation in charge of the 6,000-kilometre (3,700 mi) rally said in a statement that they had been advised by the French government to cancel the race, which had been due to begin on 5 January 2008 from Lisbon. They said direct threats had also been made against the event by al-Qaeda related organisations.

Omar Osama bin Laden, the son of Osama bin Laden, attracted news coverage in 2008 by promoting himself as an "ambassador of peace" and proposing a 3,000-mile (4,800 km) horse race across North Africa as a replacement to the Dakar Rally, with sponsors' money going to support child victims of war, saying "I heard the rally was stopped because of al-Qaida. I don't think they are going to stop me."

On 7 January 2009, the body of 49-year-old motorcyclist Pascal Terry from France was found. He had been missing for three days and his body lay on a remote part of the second stage between Santa Rosa de la Pampa and Puerto Madryn.

On 4 January 2010, a woman watching the Dakar Rally was killed when a vehicle taking part in the race veered off the course and hit her during the opening stage.

On 1 January 2012, motorcyclist Jorge Martinez Boero of Argentina died after suffering a cardiac arrest after a fall. He was treated by medical staff within five minutes of the accident, but died on the way to hospital.

On 7 January 2015, motorcycle rider Michal Hernik died in unknown circumstances during Stage 3 of the 2015 rally.

On 12 January 2020, Portuguese motorcycle rider Paulo Gonçalves died after suffering a heart attack due to a crash on the seventh stage.

On 15 January 2021, motorcyclist Pierre Cherpin of France died. The 52-year-old Frenchman fell off his motorcycle on 10 January, and a rescue team in a helicopter found him unconscious in the desert. He was rushed to a hospital in Saudi Arabia where he was treated for his injuries. He sustained serious head injuries and cracked ribs, and one of his lungs also collapsed. Cherpin underwent emergency neurosurgery and was placed in an artificial coma. Doctors were initially optimistic about his recovery path and there were no complications after the surgery. He died during the medical transfer from Jeddah to France.

Overall, 76 people, including 31 competitors, have died in the Dakar Rally.

Criticism

When the race was held in Africa, it was subject to criticism from several sources, generally focusing on the race's impact on the inhabitants of the African countries through which it passed. Some African residents along the race's course in previous years have said they saw limited benefits from the race; that race participants spent little money on the goods and services local residents can offer. The racers produced substantial amounts of dust along the course, and were blamed for hitting and killing livestock, in addition to occasionally injuring or killing people.

After the 1988 race, when three Africans were killed in collisions with vehicles involved in the race, PANA, a Dakar-based news agency, wrote that the deaths were "insignificant for the [race's] organisers". The Vatican City newspaper L'Osservatore Romano called the race a "vulgar display of power and wealth in places where men continue to die from hunger and thirst." During a 2002 protest at the race's start in Arras, France, a Green Party of France statement described the race as "colonialism that needs to be eradicated".

The rally was criticised before 2000 for crossing through the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975, without the approval of the Polisario Front independence movement, which considers itself the representative of the indigenous Sahrawi people. After the race officials gained formal permission from the Polisario from 2000 onwards this ceased to be an issue.

The environmental impact of the race has been another area of criticism. This criticism of the race is the topic of the song "500 connards sur la ligne de départ" ("500 Arseholes at the Starting Line"), on the 1991 album Marchand de cailloux by French singer Renaud. In 2014, the Dakar rally was criticized for damage done to archaeological sites in Chile.

The move to Saudi Arabia for the 2020 Dakar Rally was under heavy criticism because of the situation of human rights in Saudi Arabia and the position of women in that country.

Despite the criticism from human rights organizations against the choice of host country for the 2020 season, the Dakar Rally was organized in Saudi Arabia for another consecutive year. While it was being denounced as an attempt of sportswashing by Saudi Arabia, the organizers defended the decision.

See also

• Africa Eco Race – rally raid launched in 2009 in response to the Dakar's move to South America
• Budapest-Bamako – Desert Rally
• Mint 400
• Rallye des Pharaons
• Peking to Paris

External links

• Official website (multilingual)