Rally Raid
Dakar Rally organisers have come up with a gruelling two-week course that will push competitors and their machines to the absolute limit on their latest visit to Saudi Arabia.
Summary
- 1Prologue – January 3
- 2Stage 1 – January 4
- 3Stage 2 (48-hour Chrono) – January 5-6
- 4Stage 3 – January 7
- 5Stage 4 (Marathon Part 1) – January 8
- 6Stage 5 (Marathon Part 2) – January 9
- 7Rest Day – January 10
- 8Stage 6 – January 11
- 9Stage 7 – January 12
- 10Stage 8 – January 13
- 11Stage 9 – January 14
- 12Stage 10 – January 15
- 13Stage 11 – January 16
- 14Stage 12 – January 17
There is no other challenge in motorsport quite like the Dakar Rally and the route for the 47th edition of the world famous desert race has got it all. Massive sand dunes, a 48-hour Chrono Stage measuring over 1,000km, plus a full fortnight of further twists and turns in Saudi Arabia.
It all starts with a high-speed 29km Prologue Stage in Bisha on January 3. Then, it's straight into the thick of the action with both the 48-hour Chrono Stage and Marathon Stage coming in the first week of the rally. Competitors who make it past these obstacles will get a well-earned rest day in Hail on January 10.
All roads lead to the Empty Quarter desert during the 2025 Dakar Rally's second week. It will be among Saudi Arabia's most formidable sand dunes that this latest edition of the rally will ultimately be won and lost. The chequered flag will fly in Shubaytah on January 17 and anyone reaching the finish line of this Dakar can consider themselves a true champion. Lets take a closer look at the full route below:
01
Prologue – January 3
- Start: Bisha
- Finish: Bisha
- Total distance: 79km
- Special: 29km
The rally raid roars into life with a 29km Prologue Stage around the Dakar's Start Camp in Bisha. Expect to see top contenders fire out of the blocks to get racing on wide gravel tracks, because the top 10 entrants in all categories will get to choose their starting positions for the following day's first full stage.
02
Stage 1 – January 4
- Start: Bisha
- Finish: Bisha
- Total distance: 500km
- Special: 412km
The dunes are yet to arrive, but this 412km timed special stage will feature almost every other type of terrain imaginable. That means tough decisions when it comes to picking the right speed and correct lines throughout the day.
03
Stage 2 (48-hour Chrono) – January 5-6
- Start: Bisha
- Finish: BIsha
- Total Distance: 1,057km
- Special: 965km
It's the 48-hour Chrono Stage! This groundbreaking format of racing over 1,000km across two Dakar days makes its second appearance at the rally. The convoy will enter the stage on the morning of January 5 and when the clock strikes 5pm competitors must stop at the next rest area they arrive at (there are six rest areas in total dotted along the route). Then, on the morning of January 6, the remainder of the 965km timed stage must be completed. Special attention should be paid to the mechanical side of things to avoid getting left behind on this mammoth stage.
04
Stage 3 – January 7
- Start: Bisha
- Finish: Al Henakiyah
- Total Distance: 845km
- Special: 496km
The rally departs Bisha for the final time and heads north to Al Henakiyah. The opening section will be technical and a test for the bikers in particular. Then, the speeds will be stepped up as the convoy move towards its new home for the night.
05
Stage 4 (Marathon Part 1) – January 8
- Start: Al Henakiyah
- Finish: AlUla
- Total Distance: 588km
- Special: 415km
There’s simply no chance to ease up when racing the Dakar and further proof of this comes on Stage 4, the first half of this edition's Marathon Stage. As competitors are plunged into the spectacular canyons of AlUla, they must find the right balance between risk and reward – and remember to bring along their own tool kits.
06
Stage 5 (Marathon Part 2) – January 9
- Start: Al Ula
- Finish: Hail
- Total Distance: 491km
- Special: 428km
Under Marathon Stage rules competitors will have spent the previous night separated from their mechanics, meaning any repairs needed will have been a solo job. What will follow on the road to Hail is a classic mix of sandy and rocky tracks as the rally heads towards its halfway point.
07
Rest Day – January 10
- Location: Hail
After a punishing first week at the Dakar Rally, the convoy gets a well-earned rest in Hail. Nestled between Mount Shammer to the north and Mount Salma to the south, the city of Hail was once the capital of the Arabian Desert. A fitting location to take stock of of the rally's first week and gear up for what's still to come.
08
Stage 6 – January 11
- Start: Hail
- Finish: Al Duwadimi
- Total Distance: 829km
- Special: 606km
The good news for competitors who remain in the rally is that there's only one more week to go. The bad news is that the stages at the start of the rally's second week are even longer than what’s come before. Stage 6 features sand dunes capable of getting even the most experienced desert racers into a tangle.
09
Stage 7 – January 12
- Start: Al Duwadimi
- Finish: Al Duwadimi
- Total Distance: 745km
- Special: 481km
Stage 7 is one of five stages at this Dakar that sees two-wheel and four-wheel competitors take divergent paths. This certainly complicates things in the car category, where the first Ultimate class crews on the stage will have no bike lines to follow in the sand. On the other hand, it means an earlier start for the cars, so they have a much better chance of finishing the stage before nightfall.
Expect a war of physical, mental and mechanical attrition
10
Stage 8 – January 13
- Start: Al Duwadimi
- Finish: Riyadh
- Total Distance: 733km
- Special: 487km
Dakar organisers have described Stage 8 between Al Duwadimi and Saudi Arabia’s capital city Riyadh as "hectic and varied". By now the leaderboards will have taken shape and we'll know who's fighting for glory in the desert. We've been told to expect "a war of physical, mental and mechanical attrition."
11
Stage 9 – January 14
- Start: Riyadh
- Finish: Haradh
- Total Distance: 589km
- Special: 357km
A relatively short hop from Riyadh to Haradh awaits on Stage 9, with a timed section measuring 357km. The Dakar now reaches the point where strategy starts to play an increasingly important role in the race. Starting positions for each stage become crucial as the massive sand dunes of the Empty Quarter desert appear on the horizon.
12
Stage 10 – January 15
- Start: Haradh
- Finish: Shubaytah
- Total Distance: 638km
- Special: 119km
If you're looking at the timed special stage distance of just 119km and thinking that the rally organisers are being too kind to the competitors, think again! We're now deep into the Empty Quarter desert and the final three days of this Dakar will be raced exclusively in this region, which is home to sand dunes of up to 250m high.
13
Stage 11 – January 16
- Start: Shubaytah
- Finish: Shubaytah
- Total Distance: 506km
- Special: 280km
Everything is still up for grabs on the penultimate stage of this year's Dakar. The unpredictability of racing in the Empty Quarter desert means that an advantage of over an hour can easily be wiped out by one false move. On Stage 11 the truck class are given their own route away from the rest of the convoy, allowing the rally's big beasts to really push each other to the limit.
14
Stage 12 – January 17
- Start: Shubaytah
- Finish: Shubaytah
- Total Distance: 205km
- Special: 134km
At last we've reached the final stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally! The convoy will convene for a mass start to create a special desert spectacle, before charging towards one final finishing line. Winners will get their trophies, but every competitor reaching the end of this Dakar will have every right to feel immensely proud.
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