The Dakar Rally is often celebrated as the first major race of the year, quite literally as the rally raid just days after or even on New Year’s Day itself. For 2024, however, there is a possibility that competitors will get to spend the new year with friends and family before getting to work.
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), who oversees the rally, sent out a survey to competitors inviting them to answer two yes-or-no questions about the 2024 edition. Both pertain to the date that the race will be held, with particular interest in 6–19 January.
“In the context of the reflections that the organization is carrying out for the next edition of the Dakar, thank you for taking the time to answer the two following questions,” begins the opening page.
“If the starting date of the Dakar was pushed back to January 6 to 19, 2024: Would this make your participation easier? Would you be able to make yourself available to participate?”
Since the Dakar Rally’s move to Saudi Arabia in 2020, the latest that it has begun was the first year when it ran from 5–17 January. Over the next three years, the start day was gradually pushed forward before culminating in the 2023 race beginning on 31 December 2022. It was the first time since 2006, when the route ran from Portugal to Senegal as part of the original “Paris–Dakar Rally” era, that the race kicked off in the previous calendar year.
On the other hand, 6 January is the latest start date and has been done twice in 2007, 2018, and 2019. The latter two rallies took place in South America.
While the ASO did not specify a reason for considering the date, giving competitors basically a week off beforehand allows them to celebrate the new year as well as provide more time to fine-tune their vehicles and racing abilities. The latter is perhaps more crucial after the 2023 Rally proved to be exceptionally challenging for racers.
Even if pushed back by just a few days, the new Dakar Rally date would not conflict with the Africa Eco Race as much. The AER, which follows the Paris to Dakar route as a “replacement” after the original Dakar Rally moved to South America, was postponed from March to 30 December – 14 January 2024 due to weather. The 2024 Intercontinental Rally, another rally raid on that same course, will ironically clash with the Dakar Rally should the change occur as it begins on 23 January.
