While nothing has been announced officially or appeared on the Dakar website, the rumour mill has announced that the 2020 Dakar Rally will be raced in Saudi Arabia, with sections possibly also in Jordan and Egypt.
This rumour comes on the back of hints from Angola about a possible return to Africa however, with the Angola Motorcycle Federation (FADM Angola) posting the below picture on Instagram on February 3 of a map of a course running through Angola, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia with the text “A good journey for a Dakar Rally.”
A number of other motorsports have announced rounds in Saudi Arabia in recent years with Formula 1 running races in front of near empty stadiums, but there’s no shortage of money in Saudi Arabia to pay the fees Dakar Owners ASO ask to host the event.
No news or even hints regarding the races future in South America has been heard.
Looks like done deal……
It’s now official, Dakar 2020 will be held in Saudi Arabia.
It’s gonna be EPIC!!!
For Dakar 2020 in Saudi Arabia a Kiwi will be racing. The first Kiwi to race in the Dakar event since Chris Birch – @birchynz in 2011.
Phil Wilson grew up in North Canterbury but has lived in Saudi Arabia for over the last 20 years.
After crashing in the 2011 Abu Dhabi Desert challenge Phil suffered back injuries that required learning to walk again followed by learning to ride again.
Now Phil is back into rallying and successfully completed the 2019 Rally Du Maroc cleanly, which entitled him to a confirmed entry place in the 2020 Dakar Rally.
You can see some more details of Phil’s entry in the media pack attached below.
https://youtu.be/IeKAFd3v6AU
In the first day of the 2020 Dakar Kiwi Phil Wilson finished 105th out of 136 motorcycle finishers.
Phil is racing number #152
Phil finished stage 2 in 82nd place, taking him up to 87th overall in the motorcycle rankings.
77th in stage 3 makes Phil 77th overall.
Here’s Phil on his KTM 450 Rally Dakar machine
Phillip Wilson keeps getting better every day,
Stage 4 he finished in 68th in making him 73rd overall.
Stage 5 a 60th place finish takes him up to 65th overall.
After Stage 5 Phillip is now running 8th out of 36 first time Dakar motorcycle competitors still in the race.
Stage 6 finished in 56th, takes Phillip to 65th overall.
Phillip is now in 58th place overall, after a 57th place finish in stage 7.
Unfortunately in Stage 7 Portuguese Rider and 13 times Dakar veteran Paulo Gonçalves was killed in an accident.
As a result of this Stage 8 of Dakar 2020 has been cancelled in respect of Paulo.
Paulo gained attention in Stage 3 of this year’s event by doing an engine swap in the desert, on his own, with only the tools on his bike to use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eytX1dXR4i4
For Stage 9 Phillip Wilson finished 56th making him also 56th overall out of 100 riders still in the race.
Stage 10 was a big day with Phillip cracking into the top 50 for a stage finish, coming in at 47th for the day, 53rd overall.
Dakar is over and Phil MADE IT ALL THE WAY!
Phils final placing was 53rd overall in the bikes.
Phils’ KTM 450RR Dakar machine.
Dakar 2020 road book symbols
Ross Branch’s story is worth a watch, In a crash he separated his shoulder and severed the tip of a finger and damaged his KTM enough to destroy its navigation tower and lose his rear tyre. He rode the remainder of the stage on the rim until 400 metres before the finish line when his chain snapped.
Unable to push his tyre-less bike through the soft sand on his own, another competitor stopped and helped Ross push the bike over the line.
To top all that he was on the start line the next morning and still with the damaged shoulder and finger finished the stage in 3rd place!
Ross Branch was one of Phils team-mates and in this video you can see Phil helping tow Ross back to the Bivouac.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeRmpqxgy2A
https://youtu.be/1zVj6vgziLA