MOTORSPORT
Dakar 2023 promises more dunes in Empty Quarter
December 31, 2022 - January 15, 2023 - Organisers have promised that this year’s Dakar Rally, the fourth to be held in Saudi Arabia, will be the most challenging with a lot of sand dune racing.
Fifteen days of racing comprises a prologue and 14 stages, including a four-day excursion into the as yet unexplored desert of the vast Rub’ al-Khali, or Empty Quarter, in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Some 455 vehicles, with 865 competitors including defending champions Nasser al-Attiyah (car) and Sam Sunderland (motorbike), are expected at the starting line on the Red Sea before taking in 8,549km, of which 4,706km will be raced against the clock, AFP said.