Dakar 2024 starts with the promised duel between Al Attiyah and Loeb

The Dakar 2024 that starts today in Al-Ula with a 27 km special prologue stage in its fifth Saudi edition (until January 19) will once again be, in the battle of the four wheels, a matter of old foxes, rivals intimates who profess both respect and fear for their experience and wisdom: the fantastic four, the incombustible poker of masters of the wheel, with Carlos Sainz (61), Stéphane Peterhansel (58), Sébastien Loeb (49) and the current champion, Nasser Al-Attiyah (53), aspire to make their respective legends bigger. A 46th Dakar with even more spice than last year: the same four protagonists compete in pairs as neighbors and opponents in the same team and with the same prototype.

Without a doubt, this Dakar marks the end of the cycle in the car category: in addition to Al-Attiyah’s surprising change of steering wheel – from the powerful Toyota Hilux that gave his last three Tuaregs to the Hunter that Prodrive is preparing, with Loeb as a partner –, It is Audi’s farewell edition after three years of hybrid technology all-terrain project, and perhaps also – just perhaps – the farewell of its two references, Peterhansel, Monsieur Dakar, in his 25th participation on four wheels, and Sainz, el Matador, in its 17th edition.