Eduard Pons, rally and cross-country competitor, plans to run all four World Rally-Raid Championship rounds in 2023 ahead of racing the 2024 Dakar Rally. He finished twelfth in T3 in the first W2RC leg at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Occasional World Rally Championship driver and twice PWRC champion Armindo Araújo is embarking on a rally raid programme in 2023 alongside his usual rally schedule with the hopes of competing in the Dakar Rally by next year.
After becoming the youngest winner in Dakar Rally history when he claimed the T4 overall, Eryk Goczał will move up to T3 for the 2024 edition.
Javier Campos became eligible for the 2024 Dakar Rally thanks to the 2022 Rallye du Maroc effort, and has two major European rallies and a potential return to Morocco planned for 2023 to prepare.
TreasuryONE Motorsport and Red-Lined Motorsport both introduced their T1+ trucks to the racing world at the South African Stella 300, where they finished 1–2 with Hennie de Klerk and Chris Visser.
As her twin Aliyyah Koloc continues in the World and South Africa Rally-Raid Championships, Yasmeen Koloc will run some Middle East Cross-Country Bajas races as both prepare for the 2024 Dakar Rally.
Arturo Merzario, best known for his cowboy hat and saving Niki Lauda from his 1976 German GP crash, will race in the Dakar Rally’s adjacent Dakar Classic in 2024.
Argentinian touring car veteran Leonel Larrauri plans to enter the Dakar Rally in 2024 for the first time since 2018, likely once again in an SSV. He will run his home country’s Desafío Ruta 40 beforehand.
2023 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge: Tobias Ebster punches Dakar 2024 ticket with Rally2 win
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Despite not being a World Rally-Raid Championship points scorer, winning Rally2 at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge means Tobias Ebster is now eligible for the 2024 Dakar Rally.
João Ramos drove Dakar racer Benediktas Vanagas’ Toyota Hilux T1+ to the win in the Portugal All-Terrain Championship opener, while Dakar T3 stage winner Ricardo Porém tried his hand at navigator with Maria Luís.
Among Dakar Rally competitor Benediktas Vanagas’ donations to the Ukrainian military are used race tyres in good condition, which are heavier and more durable than customer ones.
South African team Red-Lined Motorsport plans to unleash an upgraded T1+ version of their REVO rally raid truck, which began testing earlier this week.
After last appearing in 2018, Renault is planning a return to the Dakar Rally in 2025 with the Dacia brand. It is likely that the French make will enter a hybrid Dacia Duster.
Hennie de Klerk will run the 2024 Dakar Rally with a new WCT/TreasuryONE Toyota Hilux T1+, which is simpler, cheaper, and aimed at privateers unlike the factory-aligned Hilux that won the last two Rallies.
Matthew Stevenson, Dakar Rally co-driver for those like Jutta Kleinschmidt and Luc Alphand in the 2000s and Volkswagen Dakar factory team member, died Monday after suffering an aneurysm. He was 53.
Despite his fractured vertebrae suffered at the Dakar Rally, Carlos Sainz will not need to head to the operating room and is instead using INDIBA radiofrequency therapy.
Australian off-road racer Toby Hederics, whose father John Hederics is an Australasian Safari great, is striving to compete at the 2025 Dakar Rally.
