The Baja 1000 is a non-stop race that runs down Mexico's Baja peninsula. It takes the winning vehicle about 16 or more hours to complete the race. Pit stops and driver changes are allowed, although it's possible to do the event solo, as navigating the tracks is relatively easy as they are marked and prerunning is allowed.
Dakar is like running 10 Baja races back to back with only a few hours' rest between each, and no driver changes or prerunning are allowed. The route is not marked, and navigation is an essential element if a racer has any hope of finishing, let alone winning.
For many years, the race started in Paris, which is why it used to be know as the Paris-Dakar race, even though it did not always finish in Dakar. This year, the event started in Barcelona and took a slightly shorter route than usual, making it only 17 days long instead of 21 days as it has been most years in the past.
What makes Dakar so different from other events is the fact it runs over so many days and goes from one place to another instead of being based in one or two fixed locations, like most rallies or rally-raids. It also traverses hundreds of miles of desert where there are no trails and it is very easy to get lost. At times, competitors cannot even follow tracks left by other racers as sandstorms cover tracks within minutes.
In essence, each day is like a new race. The teams start in the order they finished the day before and set off at one- or two-minute intervals. Invariably there is a transit stage, which is run at normal speeds and is not timed. Then there is a "special" stage, which is run at competitive speeds nonstop. The winner is the driver with the lowest accumulative time for the whole event. As in Baja, the cars often race on open public roads or tracks, although there is little or no traffic. A speed limit of 30 kph (19 mph) is strictly enforced when the race goes through villages with signs to mark where the enforced speed limit begins and ends. To ensure there is no cheating, speeds are monitored remotely via onboard GPS tracking systems, and hefty time penalties are assigned to drivers breaking the speed limit. The GPS systems are also invaluable for tracking lost competitors.
There are three main classes of competitors: Motorcycles (and quads); cars (including everything from buggies to SUVs and pickups); and trucks. Trucks are those giant four- or six-wheel-drive medium-duty trucks you expect to see on a construction site and are truly spectacular. Originally they were support trucks for the race teams, and many of them still serve that purpose as they can catch up to a disabled race vehicle and do repairs much quicker than the normal service crews that traverse paved highways or use airplanes. However, the truck class has taken on a life of its own, and some of the trucks are pure race trucks that are competing to win-not to service other race vehicles.
When you consider there were 164 cars, 230 motorcycles, and 69 trucks competing in the race this year, along with their support crews, the logistics of organizing the event are incredible.
Each night a bivouac is set up which is large enough to feed more than 2,100 people. Each morning the bivouac is dismantled, placed on board more than 21 cargo planes and moved on to the next night's location where everything is re-assembled. Team personnel, medical staff, media, and the organizers also travel in these planes as they leapfrog the competitors each day. In addition, helicopters follow the race each day for TV coverage and medical assistance. It's a staggering operation, which would make any army general proud.