Mary Dickinson

MANAGEMENT

MANAGEMENT_119_PRESENTATION

Initially, teammate and former WRC champion Carlos Sainz led the race comfortably until

crashing out, but went on to win the event in 2010.After a poor showing in 2009, Mitsubishi

withdrew from the competition and left Volkswagen as the sole works entrant.The German

marque won the race for a third time in 2011, this time with Nasser Al-Attiyah, before they

withdrew to focus on their upcoming WRC entry and leaving the Dakar with no factory

participants in the car class.In the bikes, Despres and Coma stretched KTM's incredible

unbroken run of success.Both tied on three victories apiece after Coma's third win in

2011.In the 2012 rally, the X-raid team came to the fore, now using Minis in lieu of

BMWs.Peterhansel had joined the team in 2010 after Mitsubishi's departure, but had been

unable to challenge the Volkswagen drivers.Following Volkswagen's withdrawal,

Peterhansel was able to secure his fourth win in the car category and his tenth in total, his

main opposition coming from within his own team.Peterhansel successfully defended his

title in 2013 as the Damen Jefferies buggies of Sainz and Al-Attiyah failed to last the

distance.Despres also racked up a further two wins for KTM in the bikes class in 2012 and

2013, bringing his tally to five, aided by Coma's absence due to injury in the latter

year.Coma struck back on his return to the Dakar in 2014, taking a comfortable fourth title

and a 13th in succession for KTM, whilst Nani Roma emulated Auriol and Peterhansel by

taking his maiden title in the cars class a decade on from his victory on two wheels – albeit

only after team orders by X-raid slowed Peterhansel.Peugeot returned for the 2015 event

with an all-new, diesel-powered, two-wheel drive contender, but failed to make an impact
as X-raid's Minis once more dominated.Al-Attiyah won the event in his second year for the

team, while Coma racked up a fifth title in the bikes after the defection of long-time rival

Despres to the car class and Peugeot.Peugeot did however see success in 2016 with

Peterhansel behind the wheel, racking up his 6th win in the car category, and again in 2017

and 2018 until Peugeot decide to officially leave the competition.In 2019, which was the

first Dakar Rally to be held in just one country (Peru), Toyota won for the first time with

Nasser Al-Attiyah (in his third victory with three different manufacturers).The bike

category saw the KTM works team rider, Australian Toby Price, take his first Dakar victory,

winning his second title in 2019.Sam Sunderland and Matthias Walkner won the 2017 and

2018 edition also for the team from Mattighofen (18 overall victories as in 2019).=== Saudi

Arabia ===

Following ASO's increasingly deteriorating relationships with South American

governments, which culminated in the controversial 2019 disqualification of Bolivian quad

rider Juan Carlos Salvatierra, the rally has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020.Since 2022,

the rally has been the season-opening round of the World Rally-Raid Championship jointly

sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and Fédération Internationale

de Motocyclisme.The 2023 event ran from 31 December 2022 to 15 January 2023.The

Dakar Rally was intended to also feature other Middle East countries starting from 2021, as

the contract with the country was only exclusive for the first year.However, the effects of

COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 and 2022 prevented such expansion from happening.==

Vehicles and classes ==

The five competitive groups in the Dakar are the motorcycles, quads, the cars class (which

ranges from buggies to small SUVs), UTVs, and the trucks class.Many vehicle manufacturers

use the rally's harsh environment as both a testing ground and an opportunity to show off

their vehicles' durability even though most vehicles are heavily modified from their
production specification or purpose-built.=== Motorbikes ===

For the 2005 rally regulations introduced a limit of 450cc for twin cylinder

motorbikes.Single cylinder motorbikes were still open class with no capacity limit.As of

2011, the engine displacement limit for all motorbikes competing in the Dakar Rally is

450cc.Engines may be either single or twin cylinder.Riders are divided into two groups,

RallyGP and Rally2.A subcategory is the "Original by Motul" category (formerly named

"Malle Moto" due to the only piece of luggage competitors were allowed to take with them

was a "malle", a French term for box or trunk.), which refers to motorbikes and quads

competing without any kind assistance.The organization provides assistance for this

category with 4 people dedicated to the transportation of the competitors "malle" or boxes

between bivouac sites plus any additional equipment or belongings.This includes: 1 trunk, 1

set of wheels, 1 sleeping tent, 1 travel bag, 1 set of tyres, free use of the generators,

compressors and tool-boxes, and easy access to race information.Since these competitors

are not allowed to receive any outside support, each rider must service their own vehicle.It

is often called the category for the toughest of the tough, and one for the Dakar purists.KTM

has dominated the motorcycle class in recent years, although Honda, Yamaha, Sherco,

Husqvarna, and Gas Gas also compete currently.BMW and Cagiva have also enjoyed success

in the past.=== Quads ===

Prior to 2009, Quads were a subdivision of the motorbike category, but they were granted

their own separate classification in 2009 and are designated Group 3 in the current

regulations.