Organisers of the Dakar Rally have revealed the route for the 2022 event.
As was the case for this year’s second Dakar in Saudi Arabia, there are 12 stages, although the Prologue is now officially designated as ‘Stage 1A’ and the first stage proper as 1B.
The fortnight long journey is also broadly similar to that of 2021 in so much that it starts and ends in Jeddah, taking a clockwise loop through the country.
However, the 19km prologue is part of a 636km leg from Jeddah to Ha’il, meaning the field skips the northwest of the country this time around, and the route turns back on itself a number of times.
Total distance is up at 8177km, although special stage distance is down around 500km to 4258km, with stage lengths the same for each of Bikes/Quads, Cars/SSVs, and Trucks.
More than 430 vehicles have been entered into the event, plus another 148 in the Dakar class.
The former figure includes four cars in the T1-Ultimate (T1.U) category which has been created as part of Dakar organisers’ plans for the field to be comprised entirely of low-emission vehicles by 2030.
They are three hybrid Audi RS Q e-trons, to be driven by a big gun line-up of Stephane Peterhansel, Carlos Sainz, and Mattias Ekstrom; and a biofuel-powered GCK Thunder buggy piloted by Guerlain Chicherit.
Toby Price will compete in Bikes with #18 on his Red Bull KTM 450 Rally, while fellow Australian Daniel Sanders is on the #4 Gas Gas 450 Rally after finishing fourth on his Dakar debut this year.
In other Dakar news, the event will now be part of both the inaugural FIA and newly renamed FIM World Rally-Raid Championships.
In a five-round calendar, the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge takes place in March, Rally Kazakhstan in April, Rally Andalucia in June, and Rallye du Maroc in October.
Dakar 2022 route
| Stg | Date | Start > Finish | Total km | Special km |
| 1A | Sat 1/1 | Jeddah > Ha’il | 636 | 19 |
| 1B | Sun 2/1 | Ha’il > Hail | 546 | 334 |
| 2 | Mon 3/1 | Ha’il > Al Artawiya | 585 | 339 |
| 3 | Tue 4/1 | Al Artawiya > Al Qaysumah | 554 | 368 |
| 4 | Wed 5/1 | Al Qaysumah > Riyadh | 707 | 465 |
| 5 | Thu 6/1 | Riyadh > Riyadh | 563 | 348 |
| 6 | Fri 7/1 | Riyadh > Riyadh | 635 | 421 |
| Rest | Sat 8/1 | Riyadh | ||
| 7 | Sun 9/1 | Riyadh > Al Dawadimi | 700 | 401 |
| 8 | Mon 10/1 | Al Dawadimi > Wadi Ad Dawasir | 828 | 394 |
| 9 | Tue 11/1 | Wadi Ad Dawasir > Wadi Ad Dawasir | 490 | 287 |
| 10 | Wed 12/1 | Wadi Ad Dawasir > Bisha | 757 | 374 |
| 11 | Thu 13/1 | Bisha > Bisha | 500 | 345 |
| 12 | Fri 14/1 | Bisha > Jeddah | 676 | 163 |
FIA, FIM World Rally-Raid Championship 2022 calendar
| Rnd | Date | Event |
| 1 | Jan 1-14 | Dakar Rally |
| 2 | Mar 5-10 | Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge |
| 3 | Apr 24-30 | Kazakhstan Rally |
| 4 | Jun 6-12 | Rally Andalucia |
| 5 | Oct 6-12 | Rallye du Maroc |
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