Two years after sustaining serious leg injuries when his support truck exploded with him inside prior to the 2022 Dakar Rally, Philippe Boutron will make his racing return at the 2024 edition. He will drive the #253 Sodicars BV2 in the Ultimate (formerly T1) class for Sodicars Racing with Franck Maldonado as his navigator.
The blast occurred outside a hotel in Jeddah where he and other competitors were staying before the start of the rally. Boutron was taken to a local military hospital before being flown back to France, and was in a coma for a week before awakening and continuing treatment at Hôpital d’instruction des armées Percy in Clamart. Despite fears that his legs would be amputated, it was ultimately not necessary and he subsequently underwent five months of rehabilitation. His injuries prevented him from racing the 2023 Dakar Rally, but his recovery since has ensured a 2024 start was possible; according to a report from MARCA, he currently only has a slight limp and is “very motivated and excited” to return to the Dakar.
While Saudi officials ruled out criminal activity as a potential cause after their initial investigation, French authorities and Sodicars Racing have concluded it to be a terrorist attack. Conducting their own probe, France’s General Directorate for Internal Security and National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office found traces of an improvised explosive device inside the cockpit, which went off directly below the driver’s seat that Boutron was sitting on. Boutron concurs with this view and suggested it was likely an “isolated act.”
The incident, along with a repeat the following day that claimed a support truck on Camelia Liparoti’s team, led to competitors staying in camps rather than hotels from 2023 onwards. Additional security concerns in the wake of increasing geopolitical strife have also prompted the Amaury Sport Organisation to forbid everyone from displaying national flags on their vehicles for 2024. Save for the aforementioned explosions, the Dakar has been relatively safe for drivers since its move to Saudi Arabia in 2020, though these increased measures were justified by the ASO since providing security for a massive rally in the open desert is already a difficult task.
While recovering, Boutron returned to work as the president of French Championnat National football club US Orléans.
The 2024 Dakar Rally begins on 5 January.
