Inside the Dakar Rally: Observations from the World’s Most Intense Off-Road Event

      In 1977, French motorcyclist Thierry Sabine found himself lost in Libya. He enjoyed the near-death experience in the African dunes so much that he decided to arrange an international rally focused on desert navigation. The following year, around 170 participants joined him in racing from Paris to Dakar, Senegal. Only 74 vehicles made it to the finish line, quickly establishing the Dakar Rally as the ultimate challenge between competitors and nature. The event continues to take place annually, with a different route each year, and has become one of the most difficult motorsport challenges globally. It is also an incredibly complex logistical operation.

      The Dakar Rally's history can be summarized in three distinct phases: the African years of the '80s and '90s, from which its name originates; the South American era of the late 2000s and 2010s, which attracted a passionate new fanbase; and the current Middle Eastern chapter. Since 2020, the race has been held entirely in Saudi Arabia.

      The race format has remained largely unchanged. The Dakar Rally has consistently been a multi-day, over one thousand-mile navigation challenge featuring a wide array of vehicles across desert terrain. Its main sponsors are primarily local: Aramco (the Saudi oil company), BF Goodrich, Land Rover, a trendy Polish outerwear brand called Diverse, and this year's new sponsor, Tudor Watch, acting as the official timekeeper. The Swiss watch company invited me to the race for this story. While its sister brand Rolex is well-known in motorsports, Tudor is focusing more on the adventure-racing aspect of the Dakar. "Being daring is at the core of Tudor’s brand DNA, and nothing embodies that more than the Dakar. This made it a natural match for our involvement," a company representative explained.

      **Why Is a Race Called "Dakar" When It's Not Held in Dakar?**

      In the early years of the Dakar Rally, the race concluded in Senegal's capital on the west coast of Africa. The name has remained even as the event moved continents twice, because it is now regarded as "a brand" by its organizers. This is akin to Porsche naming an electric car “Turbo” … the administrators believe the term carries significance beyond its literal meaning.

      The Dakar has stayed in a single country for five years now, but no two events are identical. Due to the extensive nature of the course, no two stages are ever the same. Competitors do not know their route until five minutes before the race begins, which means each of the 580 participants (the size of this year's field) can have vastly different experiences. This is why overseeing the race requires extraordinary planning and preparation, and why competing is regarded as elite-level athletics.

      From about 10,000 feet above, Saudi Arabia's landscape appears unique. I’ve visited deserts around the globe, and the Arabian Desert notably resembles Arrakis. The journey from New York took roughly 36 hours of flying, allowing me to watch both modern Dune films.

      The yellow line encircling Saudi Arabia represents about 4,800 miles of racing. While the country is sparsely populated, it is expansive—approximately 3.2 times the size of Texas.

      This story will not zero in on any individual drivers, but I hope my photographs will provide a glimpse of what the race looks like from ground level. To capture the essence of what the Dakar feels like for drivers, riders, and navigators, here’s a haiku:

      Follow a road book,

      Find dust, wind, sand, and pain.

      The prize: to survive.

      Before even thinking about reaching the starting line, organizing transportation for your racing vehicle, equipment, and support crew to a remote location is an immense task. Covering vast distances across rugged terrain certainly creates a tough competition. The isolation among competitors, from each other, the world, and their support teams, amplifies the intensity.

      Many different types of racing vehicles coexist on the Dakar course. Motorbikes, cars, buggies, and even massive trucks compete side by side in certain sections.

      The Dakar’s greatest challenge lies in the mental strain caused by its especially harsh navigation component, in addition to all the other challenges of off-road endurance racing. This race belongs to a unique racing classification called Rally Raid, where participants must determine their route based solely on instructions that they can read one step at a time.

      Now, imagine performing this continuously for two weeks—and you may begin to understand why so few competitors complete the rally—and why even the most skilled drivers sometimes get eliminated early on.

      **Dakar Rally Vehicles**

      Dakar racing vehicles are categorized into four types: bikes, cars, trucks, and classics. Within each of these categories, there are several classifications. In 2025, a total of 335 vehicles were approved to participate, with 175 completing the 4,864-mile course (4,631 for bikes). An estimated 400 to 500 support