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Manila Bulletin devider Drive devider Ford and Dacia seek Dakar Rally glory

Ford and Dacia seek Dakar Rally glory

2025 Dakar Rally to test veterans and rookies alike

Published Jan 6, 2025 02:06 am

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Easily the ultimate test of off-road endurance and prowess is the legendary Dakar Rally. The two-week long desert rally pits the world’s best vehicles —  be they motorcycles, quads, side by sides, cars, trucks, or concept vehicles — against the harsh desert environment.

Where legends are made

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The race has made legends out of drivers and vehicles that have successfully completed it and continues to attract even past winners to compete again because of the unique challenge it presents.

Vehicles like the Porsche 953, Mitsubishi Pajero, Volkswagen Touareg, and Mini Countryman have made names for themselves after competing in Dakar. The same can be said of motorcycles like the Yamaha Tenere, BMW GS, or Honda Africa Twin.

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Initially staged between Paris to Dakar in Senegal, the current Dakar Rally has been held in Saudi Arabia keeping with the race’s unique desert heritage.

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This year is the 47th running of the desert event, which has expectedly attracted a horde of veterans as well as new machines plus plenty of rookies.

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Racing starts on January 3 with a Prologue Stage in Bisha. Then come 12 desert stages spread over 14 days, covering thousands of kilometers. It then concludes on January 17, when the winners are crowned.

New hopefuls

Interesting to watch out for this year is the participation of two new high-profile entries, the Ford Performance team which has entered a specially prepared Raptor T1+ and the Dacia Sandriders team entering a Dacia prototype vehicle.

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Piloting the Fords will be last year’s Dakar winner, two time World Rally champ, Carlos Sainz Sr., father of former Ferrari F1 driver, Carlos Sainz. He is joined by Rallycross and DTM champion, Mattias Ekström.

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Meanwhile, Dacia has 7-time World Rally champ, Sebastien Loeb and 5-time Dakar winner, Nassar Al-Attiyah.

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Toyota will not make it easy for these two, fielding two teams in the form of Toyota Gazoo Racing and Toyota Overdrive, the latter of which will have former Dakar motorcycle winners, Toby Price and Sam Sunderland.

With all these shake-ups, the 2025 Dakar Rally is shaping up to be an exciting one. Highlights of the days stages can be watched in a variety of streaming services or through Dakar Rally's official YouTube channel.

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