2018 Dakar Preview

The 40th edition of the Dakar begins in Lima, Peru on the January 6. The traditional new year’s start for the world’s most grueling off-road endurance race has been pushed slightly forward, but promises to be exciting nevertheless. The 2018 Dakar Rally will cross into Bolivia with a rest day in La Paz and then enter Argentina for the finish at Cordoba.

The 40th Dakar will be the tenth to be raced in South America. Starting on Peru’s Pacific coast dunes, the 2018 race features a reinvented route that lessens the burden on service crews but retains that classic Dakar challenge to the competitors.

The route takes in just about every type of terrain and scenery South America has to offer: fast, flowing, WRC-style gravel roads; tight and twisty mountain passes; dune-filled deserts; and coastal plains. It being summer in the southern hemisphere, temperatures will vary from 40 degrees plus at low levels, and plunge down to below freezing as the altitude rises. It really will be a tough test of man and machine over the next two weeks.

139 bikes, 92 cars, 49 quads, 44 trucks and 11 SxS vehicles will take start. Here’s a look at the competitors to watch out for at Dakar 2018.

Bike Category

1.) Sam Sunderland – 2017 Winner – Red Bull KTM Factory Team
In 2017, Sam Sunderland became the first British rider to win the Dakar Rally. This was his fourth attempt at the Dakar, his previous attempts in the years 2012, 2014 and 2015 ended in retirement.

2.) Antoine Meo – Red Bull KTM Factory Team
The four-time Enduro World Champion made his Dakar debut in 2016. Despite a crash on stage 12, he managed to attain the 7^th place in the rally. Due to a hand injury he could not race the 2017 Dakar Rally

3.) Toby Price – Red Bull KTM Factory Team
Dominating stages 2,5,6,8 and 9, he won the 2016 Dakar Rally, making him the first Australian ever to win in any category of the Dakar. In 2017, things did notgo to plan, as he faced a serious crash at the Stage 4 resulting in his retirement from the rally. The Aussie starts as one of the firm favourites this year.

4.) Matthias Walkner – Red Bull KTM Factory Team
The Austrian rider started racing professionally in the year 2004 and since then has bagged a number of achievements including the first position at the 2015 FIM MX3 World Championship, the 2015 FIM Cross-country World Championship and the second place in the 2017 Dakar Rally.

5.) Joan Barreda Bort – Monster Energy Honda Team
Making his Dakar debut in the year 2011, Joan Barreda Bort will be racing Dakar for the seventh time. Despite a penalty of one hour he managed to finish fifth at the 2017 Dakar Rally.

6.) Adrien Van Beveren – Yamalube Yamaha Official Rally Team
The 27 year old French rally rider has been showing great improvement since the past few years. Attaining 6th position in 2016 and 4th position in 2017, Adrien Van Beveren is unquestionably becoming a serious threat for the victory this year.

7.) Juan Pedrero Garcia – Sherco TVS Rally Factory
Juan Pedrero Garcia is a well-known name in the world of motorcycle rallying. The Spanish rider has achieved a number of milestones in his long running rallying career. Some of his most important achievements include 2^nd at Baja Aragon(2017), 3^rd in the Rally of Sardinia(2013), 3^rd in the Transanatolia Rally (2013) and 5^th at the Dakar(2011 and 2013).

8.) Stefan Svitko – Slovnaft Rally Team
Stefan has been racing the Dakar for the past eight years and has bagged a number of achievements in the exhaustive rally, the biggest of them was attaining the 2^nd position in the 2016 edition.

9.) C S Santosh
He was the first ever Indian to compete in the mega rally in 2015 finishing 36^th. In 2016, he entered Dakar with Team Suzuki Rally, but unfortunately had to retire due to mechanical issues.  Since 2017 he has been racing for the Hero Motosports Rally Team, with a 47^th place finish.

10.) Aravind K P
The winner of 7 Indian Supercross titles and 13 national rallying titles, in 2017 became the second Indian to compete in the Dakar Rally. Unfortunately, on just the first day of the rally he had a crash and fractured his hand, forcing him to retire on the third day. He has managed to finish26^th at the Morocco Rally 2016, 21^st at Merzouga Rally 2017 and 16^th at Baja Aragon 2017.

Car Category

1. Stephane Peterhansel – 2017 Winner – Team Peugeot Total
   Dakar as the Frenchman is popularly known as, is one of few racers who has had a great rallying career on bikes as well as cars at the Dakar. He has won the Dakar six times in the motorbike category and seven times in the car category, making him a legend at this event.

2. Sebastien Loeb – Team Peugeot Total
   Nine time WRC champion, Loeb is one of the most successful drivers in WRC history. He made is Dakar debut in 2016 and finished 9^th overall, briefly leading the rally. He gave tough competition to Peterhansel in 2017 and finished 2^nd

2. Carlos Sainz – Team Peugeot Total
   The Spaniard began his racing career in 1980 and in this glorious career, he has won various titles including 1987 and 1988 Spanish Rally Championship, 1990 and 1992 WRC, along with the 2010 Dakar rally.

2. Cyril Despres – Team Peugeot Total
   The five time Motorcycle Dakar winner from France is now racing in the Dakar Car category since 2015 and has managed to achieve some good results in that as well. He attained 34th, 7th and 3rd in 2015, 2016 and 2017 Dakar rallies, respectively.

2. Nani Roma – X-Raid Team
   Making his racing debut in 1991 and Dakar debut in 1996, he has won various titles in various rallies; some of his most important achievements include Dakar wins in 2004 on a motorcycle and 2014 in the car category.

2. Mikko Hirvonen – X-Raid Team
   The flying Finn is a well-known name in WRC. Between 2006 to 2012 he has won 15 WRC rallies and made his Dakar debut in 2016 with the Mini team. He achieved 4^th position in his first Dakar race and will be hoping to fight for the win this year.

2. Nasser Al-Attiyah – Toyota Gazoo Racing SA
   The rally driver from Quatar has been a Dakar regular for the past the past thirteen years and has great experience of the terrain and the format. Notable achievements in his Dakar career include wins in 2011 and 2015, and 2^nd position in 2010 and 2016.

2. Giniel De Villiers – Toyota Gazoo Racing SA
   In his 14 years long Dakar career, the South African veteran has won one once in 2009, but has managed to attain a place in the top 10 list most of the time. His consistency and experience is what makes him one to watch out for.

2. Orlando Terranova – X-Raid Team
   The Argentinian driver began his rally career as an enduro rider in 1997, he raced Dakar in 2005 and 2007 with team KTM, but had to retire in both attempts. From 2009 to 2015 he raced Dakar in the Car category; his best was achieving the fifth position in the 2013 and the 2014 editions.

2. Martin Prokop – MP Sports
   The Czech driver has been a regular in the WRC for a while now, with that he has also raced Dakar in 2016 and 2017 where he achieved has managed to finish 14^th and 11^th He will be hoping for a top 10 finish this year.

Truck Category

1. Eduard Nikolaev – 2017 Winner – Kamaz-Master
   The Russian rally-driver made his Dakar debut in 2006 as a mechanic for Kamaz. His career as a rally-driver started in 2009 and since then has been racing for Kamaz. Except for 2012 (disqualified) and 2016 (7^th), he has always had a podium finish. He is the winner of the 2010, the 2013 and the 2017 Dakar rallies.

2. Airat Mardeev – Kamaz-Master
   The 2015 title winner has been racing Dakar since 2013. Besides the 2015 Dakar title he has also bagged 2012 and 2016 Silk Way Rally titles, 2014 Zoloto Kagana title and many others.

2. Ales Loprais – Instaforex Loprais Team
   Ales made his Dakar debut as a navigator for Karel (his uncle) in 2006, in 2007 he entered Dakar as a driver for the first time and finished 3^rd. Since then he has been racing in Dakar consistently but hasn’t bagged a title victory yet.

2. Federico Villagra – YPF Infinia Diesel Team De Rooy
   This will be Federico’s fourth attempt at the Dakar Rally. He started his Dakar career in 2015 in the car category where he finished 27^th, later he switched to the truck category and attained 3^rd position in 2016 and 4^th in 2017.

Quad Category

1. Sergie Kariakin – 2017 Winner – Snag Racing Team
   Having raced for the Can-am Russia Rally in 2010, 2013 and 2016, he entered Dakar in 2014 where he finished 7^th. The 2017 Dakar proved to be great for him as he registered 3 stage wins and finished 1^st.

2. Ignacio Casale – Casale Motor Sport
   One of the few Dakar competitors who made their debut in the truck category and later moved on to other categories. The most important achievements in his Dakar career include 2^nd position in 2013 and 2017, and a title victory in 2014, all of which are from the Quad category.

2. Jeremias Gonzalez Ferioli – Consultores De Empresas
   The 22-year old Argentinian is ready to return to the Dakar after having a serious crash in 2016 that resulted in a fractured right clavicle, three broken ribs and a broken little finger. He made his Dakar debut in 2014 and finished 6^th, 2^nd and 5^th positions in 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

2. Pablo Copetti – MX Devesa By Berta
   Racing Dakar for the eighth time, he has had an outstanding rallying career. In the 2017 Dakar rally, Pablo achieved a 3^rd position overall which positions him as one of the firm candidates to fight for the victory this year.

2. Rafal Sonik – Sonik Team
   The 2015 Dakar winner, has been racing in this mega event since 2009 and has been performing consistently. Besides Dakar he has participated in various other rallies such as the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Atacama Rally and among others.

SxS Category

1. Camelia Liparoti – C.A.T Racing
   She is the only female competitor in the SxS category this year at the Dakar. The 54-year old Italain racer has some great achievements in her rallying career, such as finishing 2nd at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge 2016, 3^rd at Dubai Baja 2017 and 3^rd at Qatar Rally 2017.