The start of the 2023 MotoGP, WorldSBK and BSB seasons may be some way off but with the turn of the New Year comes the first of the season’s true blue riband events; the gruelling Dakar Rally.
One of motorsport’s most demanding events - on two or four wheels - the 2023 Dakar Rally kicks off on New Year’s Eve (31st December) and runs until 15th January, the dates bookending 14 days of sand-kicking, dune diving and rock-hopping off-road action traversing 8,549km.
While the name continues to represent the event’s original destination point - that of the Senegalese capital city - and no longer dashes through multiple north African countries, today the Dakar Rally is contested solely within the borders of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The fourth time it has been held in the Middle Eastern desert, British rider Sam Sunderland heads into the dunes as the reigning champion… as we look ahead to the 2023 Dakar Rally, will Sunderland be kicking sand in the faces of his rivals once again?
The Defending Champion - Sam Sunderland
After making history as the first British competitor to triumph on the Dakar Rally in 2017 - when the event was held in Argentina and Bolivia - Sunderland notched up his second career success in 2022 with a steely run to victory.
Only the third rider to win the Dakar in two different locations - together with Marc Coma and Cyris Despres, who both triumphed during the African and South American-based configurations of the event - Sunderland’s steadfast consistency was the defining factor in 2022 as rivals steadily fell by the wayside.
Moreover, his success marked a maiden Dakar victory for the Spanish-flagged GasGas Factory Racing Team, which became only the six different manufacturer to record a victory in 44 years, joining KTM, Honda, BMW, Yamaha and Cagiva.
For 2023, Sunderland and GasGas stick together in their efforts to defend not only their Dakar Rally title but also their World Rally-Raid Championship crown.
The Dorset rider took the spoils in the new series’ inaugural season, thanks in part to his Dakar Rally success, which doubled up as one of the year’s four rally-raid endurance events.
Going on to win another round in Abu Dhabi, Sunderland held on to clinch the 2022 title and duly heads into the 2023 season opener as the rider to beat in Saudi Arabia.
Can I watch the Dakar 2023 on TV in the UK?
Each evening at 9pm from Sunday 1st January, Eurosport will be broadcasting a 60-minute show on Eurosport 1. The show is then repeated on Eurosport 2 at 10.30pm, and again at 3am and 8.30am the following day back on Eurosport 1, though the replay times vary throughout the rally so do check your listings.
The Manufacturers
Many manufacturers have come, but very few have conquered the Dakar Rally since its inaugural race from Paris to Dakar in 1978.
Indeed, few motorsport events have the power to transform a motorcycle’s image should it succeed in enduring the harshest tests of durability and speed over an entire fortnight of full throttle action.
While the more cynical might point out that the 2022 Dakar Rally was won by KTM in all-but-name, though GasGas’ recent buyout by the Pierer Group certainly helped transform its effort from a shoestring budget effort to a professional factory one, it was still expected to be something of a supporting role to its more decorated sibling firm.
However, with David slaying its brother Goliath in 2022, the Pierer Group won’t have been too disappointed to see its flagship brand lose out to its sibling. Moreover, there remains a strong chance the title will remain within the group in 2023 with the combination of KTM, GasGas and Husqvarna dominating the entry list numbers.
Indeed, once you factor in a smattering of privateer efforts on KTM and Husqvarna machinery, the Austrian powerhouse counts 14 of the 27 entries in the RallyGP category.
The trio will face the biggest opposition in Honda, which returns with a three-man factory effort to reclaim a title it won in 2020 and 2021, which in turn prised away KTM’s 18-year stranglehold on the winners’ trophy.
There will be no factory Yamaha contingent on the starting ramp this year - its name upheld by a single privateer effort instead - but that doesn’t mean the 2023 Dakar Rally will be contested solely between the Pierer trio and Honda.
Indeed, French company Sherco [above] put up a strong fight for long stretches of the 2022 Dakar Rally as more established rivals fell foul in the desert. It’s a performance that has spurred the now TVS-owned firm into a full-on factory offensive for 2023, one that could cause a surprise.
Similarly, Hero MotoCorp has looked more convincing with every year it competes, which coupled to the Saudi Dakar’s unpredictable nature could see the Indian giant in the mix.
The Riders to Watch
Five Dakar Rally winners – Sam Sunderland, Toby Price, Ricky Brabec, Kevin Benavides and Mathias Walkner - head up the 2023 Dakar Rally entry list in RallyGP.
As defending Dakar Rally and World Rally-Raid Champion, Sunderland heads into the 2023 edition as the man to beat but faces stiff opposition from runner-up and 2020 Dakar Rally winner Ricky Brabec.
The American spent the entire 2022 Dakar Rally in recovery mode after losing an hour on the very first stage but showed impressive focus and speed to claw his way back to 7th.
He heads up a formidable quartet of Honda riders, including new signing Pablo Quintanilla. The Chilean - who switches from Husqvarna - was second to Sunderland in 2022 and even led the Briton with two stages to go before being forced to settle for the runners-up spot.
They will be supported by Jose Ignacio Cornejo, who is eyeing a first Dakar podium, and new signing Adrien Van Beveren. The Frenchman most recently headed up Yamaha’s effort and topped the leaderboard last year within sight of the finish, only for a navigation error dropped him to a galling fourth.
Alongside Sunderland in the GasGas Factory Racing team is Daniel Sanders, the young Australian returning to the dunes having emerged as one of last year’s standouts before a crash and injury put him out of action.
At KTM, Price [pictured] - a mainstay of the brand since 2009 - and Walkner will be seeking to restore the manufacturer’s authority at the top of the podium after three years of being outperformed. The Australian-Austro duo are joined by Kevin Benavides, winner with Honda in 2021, the Argentine bidding for a better result in his second outing with KTM.
After watching GasGas steal the limelight in 2022, Husqvarna will be looking to make its own bit of history this time in 2023. Skyler Howes and Luciano Benavides - brother of Kevin - remain on board in the two-strong factory effort.
Sherco ran well inside the top ten for periods of the 2022 Dakar Rally with Lorenzo Santolino, the Spaniard returning to head up the French firm’s 2023 bid alongside Portugal’s Rui Goncalves and India’s Harith Noah Koitha Veetti.
Of the factory contingent, Hero heads to Dakar with four official entries for former Yamaha factory rider, Ross Branch from Botswana, plus Sebastian Buhler, Franco Caimi and Joaquim Rodrigues.
Elsewhere, top privateer efforts to watch out for include Joan Barreda Bort on the JB Honda, who is eyeing the podium after a career-best fifth place in 2022, BAS KTM pair Mason Klein and Tosha Schareina, plus the sole Yamaha entry of Antonio Maio.
The 2023 Dakar Rally will also see the belated debut of James Hillier on the OMG Racing GasGas.
The Isle of Man TT winner was due to tackle the Dakar back in 2021 as part of an attempt to switch from road racing to rally-raid but pushed his entry back a year in the run up citing a lack of sufficient preparation time.
However, after OMG Racing's switch from BMW to Yamaha machinery in BSB led to a contractual headache, he didn't make the startline in 2022 as planned either.
Nevertheless, he will be present and correct in the Solo Riders class on a GasGas 450 Rally.
2023 Dakar Rally Entry List
2023 Dakar Rally schedule and route
