It’s a grain of sand that shakes up the tradition of the Dakar. For the 46e edition of the famous rally-raid, which takes place from January 5 to 19 in Saudi Arabia, the organization has decided – for the first time – that there will be no mention anywhere of any nationality on all of the vehicles committed. Article 6.3 of regulations for the 2024 editionpublished on November 29, 2023 on the race website, specifies in fact “that no flag of nationality of the pilot and co-pilot must be affixed next to the names”.
This unprecedented measure surprised many participants. On November 30, 2023, during technical checks in Barcelona (Spain), “the organization [du Dakar] asked us to remove the flag from the vehicle”, says Benjamin Melot, motorcycle driver who is participating in his eleventh rally-raid this year. For Alexandre Giroud, double winner of the quad event (2022 and 2023), this decision does not suit him.“prevent racing”. “But we still ask ourselves questions about its interest”he specifies.
If no justification concerning this provision was given by the organizer, Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) – which did not wish to answer the questions of the World –, the geopolitical context in the Middle East is certainly not unrelated. Since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, tensions have been high in the region. Saudi Arabia, led by Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Salman (MBS), has stopped talks with the Jewish state and the population strongly supports the Palestinian cause.
For participants” there is a risk (…) in terms of security, estimates David Rigoulet-Roze, associate researcher at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS) and author of Geopolitics of Saudi Arabia (Armand Colin, 2005). The idea of avoiding the display of national affiliations with a virtual identification of countries supporting Israel undoubtedly explains the decision of the Dakar organization. »
Vehicle explosion in 2021
“For MBS, if a major attack were to take place on the Dakar, it would obviously be catastrophicadds the researcher and editor-in-chief of the journal Strategic directions. He must be able to show that there is no security problem in Saudi Arabia, even if he knows that this could happen. And especially since there is a precedent in this matter. » On December 30, 2021, two days before the start of the 2022 edition, in Jeddah, the second most populous city in the country, the French pilot – also president of the US Orléans football club – Philippe Boutron was seriously injured in his legs. after his car exploded near the hotel where he was staying with his team. Repatriated and hospitalized in France, he survived the explosion.
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