DAKAR

DAKAR 2021 – LIVE START PODIUM PRESENTED BY AQUAFINA

Published

2 years ago

02/01/2021

Dakar 2021 – live start – Let’s meet all the competitors of the Dakar 2021 on the starting podium – presented by Aquafina

Watch the start podium for the 2021 Dakar Rally.

Late Dakar route change

The route for this year’s Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia has undergone a slight change just two days prior to the start of the event.

The finish for Stage 5 and start of Stage 6 has been moved around 400km northeast to Al Qaisumah, from Buraydah.

As such, the length of Stage 5 increases from a total of 625km to 662km and a special of 419km to 456km.

However, that is perfectly offset by Stage 6 dropping from a total of 655km to 618km and a special of 485km to 448km.

No explanation has yet been given for the tweak.

Last year’s Dakar route was changed during the event in bizarre circumstances, after organisers realised that construction of a gas pipeline would otherwise get in the way.

The modification, which only came to light on the eve of the final stage, saw timed running that day slashed from 374km to 167km.

The 2021 route is all-new relative to Dakar’s first visit to Saudi Arabia, last year, and competitors will now only receive their roadbooks just before the start of each stage.

Scrutineering takes place on January 1-2 (local time), with the Prologue and Start Podium held on the latter of those days.

Dakar 2021 route.

Stg	Date	Start > Finish	Total km	Special km
P	Sat 2/1	Jeddah > Jeddah	129	11
1	Sun 3/1	Jeddah > Bisha	623	277
2	Mon 4/1	Bisha > Wadi Ad-Dawasir	685	457
3	Tue 5/1	Wadi Ad-Dawasir > Wadi Ad-Dawasir	629	403
4	Wed 6/1	Wadi Ad-Dawasir > Riyadh	813	337
5	Thu 7/1	Riyadh > Al Qaisumah	662	456
6	Fri 8/1	Al Qaisumah > Ha’il	618	448
Rest	Sat 9/1	Ha’il
7	Sun 10/1	Ha’il > Sakaka	737	471
8	Mon 11/1	Sakaka > Neom	709	375
9	Tue 12/1	Neom > Neom	579	465
10	Wed 13/1	Neom > Al-`Ula	583	342
11	Thu 14/1	Al-`Ula > Yanbu	557	511
12	Fri 15/1	Yanbu > Jeddah	452	225