Reviewing what happened in the Dakar 2022 is more an account of events than the summary of a race. The competition itself does not allow for many analyzes after the first day the mother of all controversies that tipped the scales had already taken place, especially in cars. Then more would arrive until a second week when normality would return. What happened on the sidelines of the race didn’t help either. Let’s take a look at it all.
The chaotic ‘waypoint’
It was the first and, without a doubt, the most controversial point of the entire Dakar, because it left many out of the game as soon as they set foot in Arabia, including Sainz. The man from Madrid, who missed two hours that day, led the complaints of a large group of riders who got lost due to what was an obvious roadbook error for most. In fact, there were fewer who found the way at first than those who got involved in going around. “We are not all idiots,” Carlos came to say.
Pardon Al Attiyah for the black box
The Qatari contested the second stage without the system that records engine data because his mechanics forgot to connect it. An oversight that pIt could cost him disqualification, according to what the regulations said, but the stewards decided to resolve it with a fine of 5,000 euros for being the first time and with the condition of not repeating it. In return, he was given a five-minute penalty for not wearing his belt and HANS properly for two minutes in stage eight. A compensation?
No marathon due to rain
There were many who feared the second stage because it was the one that started the marathon, in which there is no assistance from outside the race, because it arrived too early. But the deluge fell in the desert… There were several areas that suffered flooding in northern Arabia, including the Al Artawiyah bivouac that was to accommodate the pilots. It was flooded, we had to jump to the next Al Qaisumah camp and give up one of the most special moments of a Dakar.
The unfair starting order
The important thing is cooked up front, but the Dakar is a race for all those who participate and it was not fair to some of them. With the arrival of the Cross Country World Championship, the number of priority drivers with the right to relocation grew as much as their list of entries (upon payment of 15,000 euros), which left those who did not do so in a very unfavorable situation. Laia or Esteve came out behind a hundred cars and trucks for not finishing in the top 30. Then they recognized the mistake and corrected it.
An idea that paralyzes motorcycles
In the plans prior to the Dakar it was not announced, but when the time came it was announced that the fifth and sixth stages, both with loops around Riyadh, would alternate for motorcycles and cars. Each category would do a different one on the same day to exchange them for the next, but it was chaos: they neutralized the two motorcycles. The first, due to the “strong mobilization” of the helicopters (they did not explain why) and the second, because the cars and trucks destroyed the land the day before. A bad play.
They look the other way with Loeb
The Frenchman had a BRX mount dislodged and lost a spare wheel along the way. He didn’t stop to pick it up, perhaps because by the time he realized it was too late, but in any case, it’s something that the regulations require and that’s why another driver was penalized with five minutes a few days earlier. In his case, he only received a fine of 5,000 euros. A case similar to that of Al Attiyah. In the end, ‘Seb’ received those five minutes for speeding on the penultimate stage.
Extra sports
Outside of the race, the Dakar did not have its best days in 2022 either. In the Jeddah preview, first those who passed the PCR tests at the last moment, such as Petrucci or Sara García, were scared, and then all those who are part of the caravan upon learning of the sudden explosion of an assistance car driven by the French Boutron that even put on the table a possible cancellation of the event. And finally, another tragedy with the death of a French mechanic in a traffic accident.
