Overview
- Mattias Ekström set the fastest auto time over the 23 km Yanbu prologue in 10:48.7, ahead of Mitch Guthrie and Guillaume de Mevius, with Nasser Al‑Attiyah fourth and Carlos Sainz eighth.
- Edgar Canet topped the motorcycle prologue in 11:31.9, followed by Daniel Sanders, Ricky Brabec and Luciano Benavides.
- The 48th Dakar runs 3–17 January with a prologue and 13 stages around nearly 8,000 km in total distance and about 4,900 km of timed specials for cars.
- Organizers will trial official mid‑stage box stops limited to tire changes on three stages, a response to sharp pisten near Yanbu that teams expect will stress tires and equipment.
- Title defender Yazeed Al‑Rajhi with Timo Gottschalk leads a field featuring Dacia’s Nasser Al‑Attiyah and Sébastien Loeb, Ford’s Carlos Sainz and Ekström, and Land Rover’s factory D7X‑R debut with Stéphane Peterhansel, while nightly highlights air on Eurosport with on‑demand access via discovery+ and DAZN.