Bumpy terrain for the 2023 Dakar

Nothing better to tickle the journalistic mind than this observation provided by David Castera, the director of the Dakar, on the sidelines of the 45th edition completed on January 15: “ You will open Pandora's box with your subject ". This is in fact an aspect never addressed in the media field, and until now limited to the bivouac. But the recent adventures of rally-winter raids force us to no longer ignore the physical safety of drivers and co-drivers, particularly in the premier category, T1.

No brand competing for final victory has escaped accidents in Saudi Arabia. This is the lot of each edition of the Dakar, an event which built its legend through extreme difficulty in Africa, then in South America. But at this point? The Audi RS Q e-tron T1U hybrids lost any chance of winning after spectacular accidents (Stéphane Peterhansel and Carlos Sainz), a gentleman driver experienced such a fright in his Toyota Hilux T1+ that he retired from sports (Erik van Loon) and one of the fastest drivers on the field was seriously shaken in his Prodrive Hunter T1+ (Guerlain Chicherit).

As is often the case, the Savoyard entrepreneur-pilot is the most “cash” when it comes to talking about his bad experience. He was the first to describe the ordeal experienced during the 6th stage, between Ha'il and Riyadh. “ It was hell, whispered Chicherit. We took hits all day