The organizing committee of the 2022 Saudi Arabia Dakar Rally Sunday announced, via a virtual conference, the final details of the 2022 Saudi Arabia Dakar Rally route. Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal, chairman of the Saudi Arabia Olympic Committee; Prince Khalid Bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation and the Saudi Motorsport Company; Yann Le Moenner, chairman of the Amaury Sport Organization; and David Castera, Dakar Rally Director attended the press conference. The conference revealed the details of the new edition of the rally that will be held in Saudi Arabia for the third consecutive year between Jan. 1 and 14, 2022, with the participation of 430 vehicles in various categories of the race and other 148 vehicles in Dakar Classic over a distance of more than 8,000 kilometers in an edition that is considered the biggest in terms of participants that represent more than 70 countries. Prince Abdulaziz said: “We are proud today to announce the route details of the 2022 Dakar Rally that will be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the third consecutive year, which embodies the support and interest of the wise leadership in the sports sector and the keenness and follow up of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for this sector through providing all necessary potential to make Saudi Arabia a site for hosting the biggest and most important international sports events." He added: “We have a big passion for sports that is among the main pillar for the 2030 Saudi Vision, and has become a main contributor for our economic development, so we continue welcoming the world in our precious homeland with hosting the biggest international events, and most importantly is that we focus on making a viable and vivid community to realize sports excellence at the local, regional and international levels. “So, today we are facing a new challenge through hosting the third edition of the Saudi Arabia Dakar Rally after we have achieved big successes in the previous two editions, and we promise all to see a distinguished edition full of suspense and competitiveness to write a new chapter in the story of the Saudi Arabia Dakar Rally." For his part, Prince Khalid said: “The Saudi sport are making steady steps towards reaching the targets of Saudi Vision 2030 thanks to the big support of our wise leadership and the minister of sport, which has already changed into reality on the ground.” He added: “Over the past two years, we have succeeded in hosting the most difficult and biggest rally in the world, and despite difficulties we have faced last year specifically due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, yet we have organized a perfect edition according to the highest international safety standards, and we are today approaching the hosting of the event for the third consecutive year with enough expertise to offer yet another distinguished edition that reflects the homeland youths’ ability to host the biggest and most important international events ever.” This year’s route will include one prologue stage and 12 ordinary stages that will include a one day for rest in Riyadh on Jan. 8, where racers continue their journey with a prologue stage from Jeddah to Hail on Jan. 1, with Jan. 2 marking the actual launch of the race from Hail through Al Artawiya, Al Qaysumah and Riyadh, then Al Dawadimi, Wadi Ad Dawasir, Bisha and Jeddah. The stages of the race will be as follows: • 1A Saturday, January 1, 2022, Jeddah to Hail with a total of 636 km and 19 km for the special stage • 1B Sunday, January 2, 2022 Hail to Hail with a total of 546 km and 334 km for the special stage • 2 Monday, January 3, 2022, Hail to Al Artawiya with a total of 585 km and 339 km for the special stage • 3 Tuesday, January 4, 2022, Al Artawiya to Al Qaysumah with a total of 554 km and 368 km for the special stage • 4 Wednesday, January 5, 2022, Al Qaysumah to Riyadh with a total of 707 km and 465 km for the special stage • 5 Thursday, January 6, 2022, Riyadh to Riyadh with a total of 563 km and 348 km for the special stage • 6 Friday, January 7, 2022, Riyadh to Riyadh with a total of 635 km and 421 km for the special stage • Rest day in Riyadh on January 8 • 7 Sunday, January 9, 2022, Riyadh to Al Dawadimi with a total of 700 km and 401 km for the special stage • 8 Monday, January 10, 2022, Al Dawadimi to Wadi Ad Dawasir with a total of 828 km and 394 km for the special stage • 9 Tuesday, January 11, 2022, Wadi Ad Dawasir to Wadi Ad Dawasir with a total of 490 km and 287 km for the special stage • 10 Wednesday, January 12, 2022 Wadi Ad Dawasir to Bisha with a total of 757 km and 374 km for the special stage • 11 Thursday, January 13, 2022, Bisha to Bisha with a total of 500 km and 345 km for the special stage • 12 Friday, January 14, 2022 Bisha to Jeddah with a total of 676 km and 163 km for the special stage. — SPA