The 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, but due to security threats in Mauritania, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 rally, events from 2009 to 2019 were held in South America. From 2020 to 2023, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia. The rally is open to amateur and professional entries, amateurs typically making up about eighty percent of the participants.
The Citroën ZX is a small family car produced by the French manufacturer Citroën between 1991 and 1998.
Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times. Constructors' world champions to have benefited from Sainz are Subaru (1995), Toyota (1999) and Citroën. In the 2018 season he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total. He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020. Sainz is currently competing in Extreme E for the Acciona | Sainz XE Team alongside teammate Laia Sanz.
Jean Todt is a French motor racing executive and former rally co-driver. He was previously director of Peugeot Talbot Sport and then Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 team principal, before being appointed chief executive officer of Ferrari from 2004 to 2008. From 2009 to 2021 he served as the ninth president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
Jean-Pierre Jaussaud was a French racing driver, noted for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 and 1980.
The Citroën Total World Rally Team was the Citroën factory backed entry into the World Rally Championship, run by Citroën Racing.
The 2009 Dakar Rally was the 31st running of the Dakar Rally. In addition to motorcycle, automobile, and truck categories, a separate quad class was added for the first time. The race began on 3 January 2009, and took place across Argentina and Chile. The rally was for the first time to take place outside of Europe and Africa as the location was changed by organizers due to concerns about possible terrorist attacks that resulted in the cancellation of the 2008 Dakar Rally.
The 2010 Dakar Rally was the 32nd running of the event. It was held in South America for the second successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event in February 2009.
1979 Dakar Rally, also known as the 1979 Paris–Dakar Rally was the first running of the Dakar Rally event. The rally began on 26 December 1978 from Paris, France and finished on 14 January 1979 in Dakar, Senegal, interrupted by a transfer across the Mediterranean. Cyril Neveu won the motorcycle category on a Yamaha, while the car category was won by Alain Génestier in a Range Rover.
1988 Dakar Rally also known as the 1988 Paris–Dakar Rally was the 10th running of the Dakar Rally event. 311 cars, 183 motorcycles, and 109 trucks started the rally. The rally was won by Juha Kankkunen, the motorcycle category was won by Edi Orioli, and the truck category was won by Karel Loprais on a Tatra 815. The event was marred by the death of six people, three participants, a mother and child killed in Mauritania when a camera car ran into a group of spectators, and a 10-year-old girl killed crossing the road in Mali.
The 1994 Paris–Dakar–Paris Rally was the 16th running of the Dakar Rally event. The route was from Paris to Dakar and back to Paris. it was the first Dakar Rally organized by Amaury Sport Organisation. Fenouil designed the route.
1995 Dakar Rally also known as the 1995 Paris-Dakar Rally was the 17th running of the Dakar Rally event. The race began outside France for the first time, at Granada in Spain. Pierre Lartigue won the car class for the second year in succession and Stephane Peterhansel won his fourth motorcycle title. Karel Loprais won the truck title in a Tatra 815.
1996 Dakar Rally, also known as the 1996 Paris-Dakar Rally, was the 18th running of the Dakar Rally event. It began on 29 December 1995 with a prologue stage in Granada, Spain - the second successive year the event began away from the traditional starting point of Paris - and ended in the Senegalese capital of Dakar on 14 January 1996. Pierre Lartigue won the car class for the third year in succession for Citroën and Edi Orioli won his fourth motorcycle title for Yamaha. Viktor Moskovskikh secured the first trucks class title for the Russian Kamaz marque.
1998 Dakar Rally, also known as the 1998 Paris–Granada–Dakar Rally, was the 20th running of the Dakar Rally event. The rally returned to a traditional Paris to Dakar route last used in 1993. A number of competitors were attacked near the end of the ninth stage, at Taoudenni in Mali. Jean-Pierre Fontenay won the car class and Stéphane Peterhansel won his sixth and final motorcycle title before switching to the car category for subsequent events. The truck title was won by Karel Loprais in a Tatra 815.
The 2011 Dakar Rally was the 33rd running of the event. It was held in Argentina and Chile for the third successive time, and ran from 1 to 16 January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the governments of Argentina and Chile agreed to a return to South America for the event on 23 March 2010.
Guerlain Chicherit is a French rally and rallycross driver, and a professional skier who was four times world champion in freeriding.
Michel Périn is a French rally navigator.
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, one of the toughest hard enduro events on the planet, 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.
Harry Hunt is a British endurance and rally driver, and son of billionaire Jon Hunt. In 2016 he became the youngest British driver to take part in the Dakar Rally, finishing in 10th place out of 110 cars. He has participated in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC), winning the IRC 2WD class championship in 2010 and 2012.
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.
Patrick Destaillats