Dune and dusted as Dakar Rally tests limits of endurance

SAUDI ARABIA: When it comes to endurance races in motor sport, nothing can quite compete with the annual Dakar Rally which starts its 45th edition on the shores of the Red Sea on Saturday.

This year’s event stretches 8,549 km over 15 days of racing, including a four-day excursion into the as yet unexplored desert dunes of the vast Rub’ Al-Khali, or Empty Quarter.

“Be Afraid’ seems to be the message of the route for the 2023 Dakar,” said organizers when they revealed the course at the start of December.