Registration for Dakar rally Saudi 2020 officially opens

Photo courtesy of Amaury Sport Organisation  

The countdown to the world’s most challenging and exciting race has begun with registration opening officially for all pilots and teams in the Dakar Rally Saudi 2020, the Centre for International Communication (CIC) said in a statement.

The Saudi General Sports Authority (GSA), the race co-organizer, said in a statement on Thursday that registration opened on the Dakar Rally Saudi 2020 website in English, Arabic, French and Spanish May 15.

“These steps are in preparation for the launch of this grand rally taking place during the period from January 5-17, 2020, with a 9,000-km route as well as 330 vehicles representing 60 nationalities in four different categories: motorcycles, four-wheel vehicles, trucks and cars,” GSA added.

Rally drivers from across the world, and especially those in the Gulf, can enter the inaugural epic Asia debut of the 30-year-old race, which has swapped South America for the spectacular and uncharted terrain of Saudi Arabia.

The grueling yet remarkable route is set to pass through a diverse range of colors and surfaces, racing between, along and through canyons, dunes, mountains, deserts and wadis.

The action starts on January 5 in the coastal city of Jeddah on the Red Sea, continues to the Red Sea Project, which covers an area of 28,000 square kilometers (sq. km). After which the contestants reach NEOM, the ambitious project on the Red Sea, followed by the city of Hail, after which they enter the Saudi capital Riyadh.

After a one-day rest there, they head to the eastern region, through the Rub' al Khali (empty quarter) desert, finishing on January 17 in the historic and beguiling Qiddiya district near Riyadh.

“The 2020 edition of the Dakar Rally, which is being held for the first time in Asia, is expected to be exceptional in its 40-year history, and will be the biggest, longest, most difficult and most exciting one in the history of the Dakar Rally,” GSA added in its statement.

Organized by GSA, the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation and Amaury Sport Organisation, Dakar Rally 2020 is the first of a ten-year agreement.