Today, the ASO, the organiser of the Dakar, presented the route of the 2022 edition in Saudi Arabia! The official start will be celebrated in Hail on 2 January. From there, six stages will take the participants to the capital Riyadh, where the rest day will be held on 8 January. Six more stages will follow, taking the Dakar armada to the port city of Jeddah. There, the remaining crews will cross the finish podium on 14 January.
The route 2022
The Dakar participants will first meet in Jeddah after Christmas. The vehicles that were brought to Saudi Arabia by ship will arrive there. In Jeddah, the technical and administrative checks will be completed before all participants travel to Hail, the actual starting town of the Dakar 2022, on 1 January 2022. On the way, the race vehicles will complete a 19-kilometre short prologue.
The start of the first stage will be on 2 January in Hail. The first big challenge awaits the participants just one day later: the marathon stage. The crews have to work on their vehicles themselves after the special stage and cannot or must not rely on their team and the mechanics. The rest day will be run on 8 January in the Saudi capital Riyadh. From there, it’s back to Jeddah, the finish city of the Dakar 2022, where the competitors will celebrate on the finish podium on 14 January.
X-raid line-up for the Dakar 2022
The line-up includes three MINI JCW Buggy: After a year, Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk are returning in a MINI. The duo ensured the first victory for the MINI JCW Buggy developed and built by X-raid at the Dubai Baja 2019. The second Buggy is driven by the two Argentinians Sebastian Halpern and Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue. The two have already completed three rallies together with X-raid this season and secured fifth place twice.
Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov contested the last Dakar in the MINI JCW Rally. Now the two Russians will compete in a MINI JCW Buggy. In their first desert rally in the two-wheel-drive vehicle, they achieved a very good third place in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Saudi Yasir Seaidan and his Russian co-driver Alexey Kuzmich contested the entire FIA World Cup for cross-country rallies and secured the runner-up title in the MINI JCW Rally. Now the two will also compete in the 2022 Dakar in the MINI.
For Spain’s Laia Sanz, it will be a particularly exciting Dakar: for her, it is not only her debut in the MINI ALL4 Racing, but in the car category! Sanz was previously on a motorbike and switched to four wheels this year. She has already competed in the Rally Andalucia in the MINI ALL4 Racing.
Zala in the MINI JCW Rally
The entry list also includes another MINI JCW Rally. Latvian Vaidotas Zala is fielding the desert racer in his own team and will start together with his Portuguese co-driver Paulo Fiuza.
Before the Dakar is on the agenda at the beginning of January, the X-raid team is already heading to Saudi Arabia in December. From 6 – 11 December 2021, four MINI desert racers will take part in the Hail Rally, the final round of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.
Line up Dakar Rally 2022
MINI JCW Buggy
#203 Jakub “Kuba” Przygonski (POL) / Timo Gottschalk (GER)
#216 Denis Krotov (RUS) / Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS)
#223 Sebastian Halpern (ARG) / Bernardo “Ronnie” Graue
MINI JCW Rally
#218 Yasir Seaidan (KSA) / Alexey Kuzmich (RUS)
MINI ALL4 Racing
#238 Laia Sanz (ESP) / Maurizio Gerini (ITA)
Schedule Dakar 2022
27/28 December 2021 – Vehicle collection in Jeddah
29-31 December 2021 – technical and admin. Scrutineering in Jeddah
31 December 2021 – Briefing for all participants
1 January 2022 – Drive to Hail with 19km prologue
8 January 2022 – Rest day in Riyadh
14 January 2022 – Finish in Jeddah
