The Dakar Rally or simply "The Dakar",formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally",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.
KTM is an Austrian motorcycle,bicycle and motorsports brand which traces its foundation in 1934 as Kronreif &Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. Today,Pierer Mobility AG operates as the manufacturer of KTM branded motorcycles;whereas KTM Fahrrad AG operates as the manufacturer of KTM branded bicycles.
Fabrizio Meoni was an Italian off-road and rallying motorcycle racer. He was a member of the KTM Factory Team.
Gas Gas is a Spanish motorcycle manufacturer established in 1985 by Narcìs Casas and Josep Pibernat in Salt,Girona. The company specializes in off-road motorcycles for trials and enduro competitions. Gas Gas was purchased by KTM motorcycles in 2019. After the sale to KTM,Spanish motorcycle manufacturer Rieju bought the right to produce old Gas Gas off-road models.
Tech3 is a motorcycle racing team competing in the MotoGP class World Championship under the name Tech3 GasGas Factory Racing. They also compete in the Moto3 World Championship under the name Red Bull KTM Tech3 and the MotoE World Cup under the name Tech3 E-Racing.
Rally raid is a type of off-road motorsport event for automobiles and motorcycles. Along with shorter baja rallies,rally raid constitutes cross-country rallying. Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) co-organise a common World Rally-Raid Championship featuring the same events for both types of vehicle.
Heinz Kinigadner is an Austrian former professional motocross racer. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1978 to 1988. Kinigadner is notable for being the first Austrian competitor to win an FIM motocross world championship. He won consecutive 250cc motocross world championships in 1984 and 1985. After his motocross career,he became a successful Rally Raid competitor. In 2016,Kinigadner was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycle racing achievements.
Cyril Despres is a French rally racer and resident of Andorra. He won the Dakar Rally five times,in 2005,2007,2010,2012 and 2013,riding a KTM motorcycle. He also won the Red Bull Romaniacs,an enduro event,three times,in 2004,2005 and 2007,and the Erzberg Rodeo in 2002 and 2003. In the 2018 season he is one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total.
Toby Joseph Price OAM is an Australian off-road and enduro motorcycle racing world champion. He lives in Gold Coast,Queensland,and rode for the KTM Off-Road Racing Team until October 2015. He now represents the Red Bull Factory KTM Rally Team.
Danilo Carlo Petrucci is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer who has competed in the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati New York. After losing his KTM ride in MotoGP at the end of the 2021 season,he entered the 2022 Dakar Rally with a Tech3 KTM rally raid 450 cc machine in January 2022.
Brad Binder is a South African Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He is most-known for winning the 2016 Moto3 World Championship. In November 2019 he was confirmed as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider in MotoGP class for the 2020 season,replacing Johann Zarco who had abandoned his factory ride earlier during that year.
The 2013 Dakar Rally was the 35th running of the event and the fifth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Lima,Peru on 5 January and finished in Santiago,Chile on 19 January after fourteen stages of competition. 448 vehicles in four classes of competition started the event,which comprised a total distance of over 8,500 kilometres. The motorcycle category was won by French rider Cyril Despres for a fifth time,riding a KTM;Marcos Patronelli took his second win in the quad competition riding a Yamaha;Stéphane Peterhansel captured his eleventh Dakar victory in the car category alongside co-driver Jean-Paul Cottret at the wheel of a Mini;and Eduard Nikolaev's maiden victory re-captured the truck category title for Kamaz.
The 2016 Dakar Rally was the 38th edition of the event and the eighth successive year that the event was held in South America. The event started in Buenos Aires,Argentina on January 2,then ran through Argentina and Bolivia.
Matthias Walkner is an Austrian rally raid biker and former motocross rider,official driver of the team Red Bull KTM Factory for the Dakar Rally.
Harith Noah is a professional motorsports athlete from Shoranur in Kerala,India. He represents India in international cross country rallies such as the Dakar Rally. He is also the third rider from India to finish Dakar rally successfully after C.S. Santosh and Aravind K.P. He is also the fastest from India. He took a historic victory for India in the Rally 2 category of Motorcycles at the 46th Dakar Rally on 19 January 2024 and finished in the overall top-11,to become the first from India at Dakar. Earlier,he bagged two stage wins in his class,the Rally 2.
Ricky Brabec is an American professional off-road and rally raid motorcycle racer. He is prominent for being the first American competitor to win the motorcycle division of the Dakar Rally in 2020. He won the Dakar again in 2024.
The 2021 Dakar Rally was a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia and the 43rd edition of the Dakar Rally. The event was held for 14 days,starting from 3 January and ended 15 January 2021. It was the second time Saudi Arabia had hosted the event,with support from the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. The race started and ended in Jeddah,allowing the competitors to venture through the desert and alongside the Red Sea. The route consists of one prologue stage and 12 normal stages,with one rest day in Ha'il on 9 January. The rally was originally intended to run through 2–3 additional countries,with Egypt and Jordan being rumoured likely candidates. However,due to travel and border restrictions implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,the route stayed entirely within Saudi Arabian territory.
Ross Branch is a motorcycle racer from Botswana. He lives in Gaborone,Botswana and rode for the KTM Off-Road Racing Team until October 2018. He now races for the Hero MotorSports International Rally team. Branch is the first Dakar stage winner from Botswana,after taking the stage 2 victory at the Dakar Rally 2020. Ross Branch also made history for his country and continent,becoming the first Botswana to podium at the Dakar,as well as first African to podium in the Rally GP class,coming 2nd place overall in the 2024 Dakar Rally Motorcycles.
Gerard Farrés i Güell is a Spanish motorcycle racer of enduro and rally raid. In rally raid,he finished in third place in the motorcycle category in the 2017 Dakar Rally and won Baja Aragón in the same category in 2007,2009 and 2011.
Luciano Benavides is an Argentine rally raid motorcyclist who is best known for racing in the Dakar Rally and winning the 2023 World Rally-Raid Championship.
Argentine
