Saudi Arabia will be the setting, for the sixth consecutive time, for the Dakar. The 47th edition of the world's most famous Rally Raid, in fact, will start on Friday, January 3rd from Bisha, ending two weeks later in Shubaytah. A grueling challenge designed to test drivers in the Motorcycle, Car, and Truck categories along a route of more than 7700 kilometers, of which more than 5000 are timed.
A total of 340 entrants in the main race, to which are added the 76 cars and 19 trucks taking part in the Dakar Classic and the five vehicles equipped with cutting-edge technologies in the Mission 1000 Challenge, which will compete on the same impassable terrain as the competition. To give more space to motorcycles, unlike in past years, the Quad category will not be present in 2025. Among the new features will be a project called "Saudi Next Gen." Designed to raise the next generation of Saudi riders, giving five riders a taste of the competition and rewarding the most talented with a ticket to the next Dakar.
All the stages of Dakar 2025
As usual, the race program will consist of 12 stages, plus a prologue of 29 timed kilometers to start picking up the pace. Only one rest day, scheduled for Friday, January 10th, in Hail. Also confirmed for this year is the 48-hour Superstage, which debuted in 2024, made even more challenging in this new edition of the Dakar.
In fact, the competitors will already face at the start of the race the 967 km of special stage spread over two days, which will oblige them to stop at sunset in one of the bivouacs arranged along the route, to avoid spending the night in the desert as Cesare Zacchetti did last year. Before being able to resume their march and complete the fraction on the following day. Having passed this impassable test, the riders will soon face the Marathon stage, which will lead them to the treacherous dunes of the Empty Quarter, the stage for the last three special stages. The last of which, the final stage, will see the return of a mass start reminiscent of the days of the African editions of the Dakar.
For the first time, cars and motorcycles will run on separate routes in at least five of the scheduled stages, accounting for 45 percent of the timed distance. A decision motivated by the race director, David Castera, with the desire to make the race smoother and safer. But one that will make navigation even more complex and uncertain for the four-wheeled crews, deprived of the tracks left by the passage of motorcyclists.
This is the complete program of Dakar 2025:
Prologue, Jan. 3: Bisha → Bisha (79 km total, 29 km timed)
Stage 1, Jan. 4: Bisha → Bisha (499 total km, 413 timed km)
Stage 2 - 48-hour Superstage, Jan. 5-6: Bisha →Bisha (1058 total km, 967 timed km)
Stage 3, Jan. 7: Bisha→Al Henakiyah (847 total km, 495 timed km)
Stage 4, Jan. 8: Al Henakiyah→AlUla (588 total km, 415 timed km)
Stage 5, Jan. 9: AlUla→Hail (492 total km, 428 timed km)
Rest, Jan. 10: Hail
Stage 6, Jan. 11: Hail → Al Duwadimi (828 km total, 604 km timed)
Stage 7, Jan. 12: Al Duwadimi→ Al Duwadimi (742 total km, 478 timed km)
Stage 8, Jan. 13: Al Duwadimi→Riyadh (737 total km, 487 timed km)
Stage 9, Jan. 14: Riyadh→ Haradh (589 total km, 357 timed km)
Stage 10, Jan. 15: Haradh→ Shubaytah (640 km total, 120 km timed)
Stage 11, Jan. 16: Shubaytah→ Shubaytah (507 total km, 275 timed km)
Stage 12, Jan. 17: Shubaytah → Shubaytah (131 total km, 61 timed km)
Favorites for Dakar 2025 victory: all eyes on Branch and Brabec
As World Rally Raid 2024 champion, it can only be Ross Branch who is one of the biggest favorites to win this 47th Dakar in the Moto category. Racing with the number 1, the Botswana rider of the Hero Motorsports team, will be looking for revenge after finishing second in the last edition of the famous desert marathon, behind winner Ricky Brabec. Another sure protagonist of the race.
Defending last year's success and giving Honda its second consecutive win will not be easy for the American, however. Besides Branch, Brabec will have to pay special attention to his teammate José Ignacio Cornejo Florimo, who completes the Indian brand's lineup with Sebastian Buhler, and the two Argentine brothers, Kevin and Luciano Benavides.
At this particularly difficult time for KTM, the two-time Dakar winner and 2023 World Rally Raid Champion will be more intent than ever to hold the Austrian manufacturer's colors high. So will Daniel Sanders, the third spearhead of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team's attack, left orphaned by Toby Price, who will start in the Auto category along with Sam Sunderland.
But the rest of the official Honda squad, consisting of Skyler Howes, Adrien van Beveren, Pablo Quintanilla, and Tosha Schareina, is not to be underestimated either.
Nine Italians at the start of Dakar 2025
There will be nine motorcyclists holding high the Italian flag in this 47th edition of the world's most famous Rally Raid. Forced to retire in 2024, Paolo Lucci will be at the start of his fourth Dakar with the goal of improving on the 15th place overall, the 2nd among Rally2s, obtained in 2023, riding no longer a KTM but a Honda CRF450 Rally developed by HRC and will be able to count on the support of RedMoto and the assistance of RS Moto Racing Team. Tommaso Montanari, in his third participation in the Rally Raid, will also set off on the hunt for redemption. The second with the official Fantic Racing team.
Also among the familiar faces at the start will be those of Tiziano Internò, Iader Giraldi and the experienced Cesare Zacchetti, all competing in the "Original by Motul." The unassisted category in which Manuel Lucchese, Ottavio Missoni and Andrea Winkler will also compete, ready to fully savor the spirit of the Dakar after being away from competition for a while. Also returning after a year's absence will be Lorenzo Maestrami, whose goal can only be to complete the famous desert marathon, which he was forced to abandon prematurely due to an accident in his first participation in 2023.
Speaking of returns, one cannot fail to mention also that of Danilo Petrucci, but in a four-wheeled version. In this his second participation in the Dakar, the driver from Terni will in fact compete among the Trucks, in the unusual role of co-driver of the Iveco Powerstar fielded by the Italtrans team, which he will share with driver Claudio Bellina and navigator Marco Arnoletti.
Where to watch the Dakar 2025
As in previous editions, it will be possible to follow the race on the Dakar's Facebook and YouTube channels. As well as on Eurosport, a channel included in the Sky and DAZN packages and also visible in streaming, and on the Discovery+ and NowTV platforms, which will guarantee coverage of the Dakar through a special program aired every evening. There will also be updates from the bivouac on Sky Sport 24, broadcast every evening at 9:15 p.m. and streaming on NowTV, and a report of each stage, which you will find on GPone.com shortly after the finish.