The 2023 Dakar Rally will consist of 14 stages for the first time since 2018 as the event remains in Saudi Arabia for the third consecutive year.
Beginning with a Prologue at the edge of the Red Sea on New Years Eve, Dakar will span the entirety of the middle eastern nation, travelling east into the sand deserts.
After two weeks the event will reach its climax on January 15 in Dammam.
The full schedule for Dakar 2023 will be revealed in due course, with 70 per cent of the route set to be new.
Factors such as the Covid-19 pandemic have reduced the scale of Dakar in recent years, limiting the event to no more than 12 stages since 2019.
The race has also been confined to Saudi Arabia, having previously been a multi-nation event.
Changes to the schedule are accompanied by regulatory changes for 2023, shaking up the rules across the classes.
In a break from tradition, cars and trucks will start each stage in the order of their finishing positions on the previous day, rather than in the order of previous stage results.
In the T1 and T2 car categories neutral sections have been removed, while bike riders will have access to digital roadbooks like their car and truck counterparts.
The difficulty level of one of the world’s most challenging sporting events will be upped even further in 2023, as competitors will need to navigate to specified points while completing certain stages.
