Leaving the tents at the bivouac in Al Salamiya to head towards the city of Al Hofuf, next to one of the country’s biggest oases, home to three million date palms. In between the two, the total distance to be covered measured almost 700 km, but the riders, drivers and crews “only” did battle over 299 of them.
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Watch the extended highlights from Stage 3 of the 2024 Dakar Rally
Photos from the 2024 Dakar Rally – Stage 3 After Dark
The Dakar, which is continuing to explore the heart of Saudi Arabia, is taking great strides towards the desert of the Empty Quarter, with a leap of more than 600 kilometres today. However, before being totally immersed in sand, the riders, drivers and crews had to tackle a wide range of terrains, which were often conducive to navigation mistakes.
Some oops moments in the dunes as the competitors get to grips with the navigational challenges of Stage 2
Watch the highlights of Stage 2 of 2024 Dakar
The nickname “Monsieur Dakar” suits the multiple record holder to a T. Stéphane Peterhansel won 14 editions of the rally, sometimes on a motorbike and sometimes in a car, between 1991 and 2021, and today he added a new record to his collection.
The road to Al Duwadimi, which contained the first dune fields of this edition, set the riders and crews on a course to the geographical heart of Saudi Arabia. The dunes were not tough or numerous enough to shake up the standings; instead, the entrants had to put their navigational flair to good use to get out of one maze after another
In an electrifying showdown, Dakar Legends Nasser Al-Attiyah and Carlos Sainz join the Red Bull TV crew in the heart of the camp to share a unique insight into their friendship and rivalry
Medina Province, in the north-western quadrant of Saudi Arabia, set the scene for the special, which went on and on for 414 kilometres and threw the riders and crews of the Dakar in at the deep end. After exiting AlUla, the field weaved its way around canyons on sand, but the landscape soon changed to more challenging terrain.