Saudi Dakar Rally 2024 Concludes

SPA/APP

Riyadh: The city of Yanbu hosted the closing ceremony of the 5th edition of the Saudi Dakar Rally 2024, marking the 46th edition in the history of the world rally.

The 14-day competition unfolded over 12 stages, covering a challenging distance of over 7,500 km. A total of 778 drivers and co-drivers participated, navigating 434 vehicles across six categories, including cars, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) or quads, desert Challenger vehicles, Side by Side (SxS) light commercial desert vehicles, and trucks.

Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, Chairman of the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) and Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC), had the honor of crowning the victorious competitors.

Among the winners was Spanish driver Carlos Sainz of the “Audi” team, who clinched the Saudi Dakar Rally 2024 title in the car category.

This marked his fourth victory in the rally’s history and his second win in the Kingdom. Notably, Sainz achieved this milestone by becoming the first driver to secure the rally title using an electric car with four different manufacturers, securing the victory with an impressive lead of one hour, 20 minutes, and 25 seconds.

The Belgian rally driver Guillaume de Mévius came in second, while the French rally driver Sébastien Loeb came in third, with a difference of one hour, 25 minutes, and 12 seconds.