The 2025 Dakar Rally will see Ford competing with an old friend — Carlos Sainz Sr. The ex-WRC and Dakar Rally champion will pilot the Ford Raptor in the T1+ category, and the duo are back together after a long break from the rallying days. The 2025 Dakar Rally Ford Raptor has been built by Ford Performance and M-Sport. (more…)
As the 2025 Dakar Rally draws near, the world’s top off-road racers are gearing up for the ultimate test on wheels. This legendary event, known for its grueling stages and unpredictable terrain, challenges competitors across cars, motorcycles, trucks, and quads to push their limits. Taking place from January 3–17 in Saudi Arabia, the 47th edition will see racers tackle 7,759 kilometers, including 12 timed special stages, from Bisha to Shubaytah. (more…)
Find out how Sanders, Benavides and Moraes get set for 14 January days in the desert taking on motorsports’ toughest test…
The 2025 Dakar Rally is nearly upon us with the world’s best off-road racers getting ready for 14 days of gruelling action over the sand dunes of Saudi Arabia in January, so how exactly do they prepare their minds and bodies for motorsport’s fiercest test? Here is all you need to know: (more…)
Saudi Arabian rally driver Dania Akeel, a rising star in the motorsport world, has shared how her first exposure to the Dakar Rally as a spectator helped shape her journey to becoming a top-10 finisher in one of the most grueling events in motorsport. Now preparing for her fourth professional Dakar Rally in 2025, Akeel reflects on the insights she gained from her initial role at the Dakar, offering valuable lessons for both aspiring competitors and fans alike. (more…)
Rally director David Castera revealed the specifics of the 47th edition of the Dakar, which will take the amateurs and champions of planet rally raid to Saudi Arabia for the sixth time in a row. A prologue and 12 stages will be held between 3 and 17 January, including the 48 h chrono stage, a marathon stage and the climactic challenge in the Empty Quarter before the race draws to a close in Shubaytah. (more…)
NASCAR was listed Monday as being in talks to bring a race to the planned Qiddiya mega resort in Saudi Arabia toward the end of this decade, but it’s not yet commenting on the potential. The Middle Eastern kingdom is spending tens of billions of dollars to construct the sports and entertainment hub 40 miles southwest of Riyadh, and it is said to have an agreement in place with F1 to eventually shift the race currently held in Jeddah to the Qiddiya Speed Park Track when it opens closer to 2030, potentially as soon as 2028.
OCTOBER 1, 2024: The Dacia Sandriders will switch to competition mode for the first time later this week when Nasser Al-Attiyah/Édouard Boulanger, Cristina Gutiérrez/Pablo Moreno and Sébastien Loeb/Fabian Lurquin contest Rallye du Maroc (October 6-11), the 2024 FIA World Rally-Raid Championship season decider and the perfect practice run for January’s Dakar.
27-year-old American racer Mitch Guthrie Jr. will make his debut in the Dakar’s Ultimate class behind the wheel of brand-new Ford Raptor T1+.
Californian Mitch Guthrie Jr. joins Ford’s newly assembled Dakar Rally team alongside reigning champion Carlos Sainz. In 2025 the Ford Raptor T1+ makes its Dakar debut and Guthrie Jr. steps up to the elite category of the world’s toughest rally. (more…)
62-year-old Sainz started his World Rally Championship career in a Ford Sierra Cosworth in 1987. Fast-forward 37 years and Sainz brings back his immense passion for motorsports to Ford as the American brand chases down Dakar success.
Sainz is fully motivated for the challenges ahead: “At the last Dakar I proved I can still deliver victory and with Ford our final goal is to win the Dakar Rally.” (more…)
