This was also the first event under the direction of David Castera, who replaced Etienne Lavigne when he stepped down from the role in March 2019 after 15 years in charge.
Chilean rider Ignacio Casale won his third Dakar rally in the quad category after returning from his brief foray into the UTV class in 2019.
Organisers admitted that there was "hesitation" before the decision to hold the event in a country which has been under fire over human rights abuses and its recent involvement in the war in Yemen.
and South American governments have degraded over the last few years for a variety of reasons, including the disqualification of Bolivian favourite Juan Carlos Salvatierra from the quad class in 2019.
After the rest day the rally headed south to the Arabian Desert, across the dunes of the Empty Quarter, then south-east into the Eastern Province as far as Shubaytah, and then back north-west to finish in Qiddiya.
[5] David Castera, director of the Dakar said "I'm already inspired and delighted to have to design a course in such a monumental geography, made for the most audacious itineraries.
The aim was reduce competitive advantage of the big teams and to rebalance the parameters in favour of the less professional entries.
In order to eliminate cheating with technology only affordable by the largest teams, all unapproved competitor electronic devices needed to be locked in a sealed compartment during the race.
Also, the organizers placed cameras inside top 19 participant vehicles to be able to review footage if suspicion arises.
[11] This year all UTV's were homogenized into a single FIA T3 category for lightweight buggies (< 900 kg) with an engine size less than 1,000 cc.
[12] French motorcycle rider Michael Metge has announced that he is withdrawing from entering the event due to knee injury.
[14] Another Polish sportsman Sebastian Rozwadowski, co-driver to Benediktas Vanagas became ill with tropical virus while on holidays, and was forced to withdraw.
Last year 11-th placed Benediktas Vanagas managed to reach agreement with Filipe Palmeiro as his replacement co-driver.
[18] In UTV category Cyril Despres got the last minute call-up to start in OT3 buggy with co-driver Mike Horn.
[19] Artur Ardavichus could not resolve issues with his license in time and gave up his place in the team to fellow-Kazakh Denis Berezovskiy.
To participate, the rider must have already finished at least one round of the FIM Cross-Country World Cup or a "Dakar Series" race.
T1 - the most common Cars class, it is a prototype vehicle, built of a tubular frame, with fiberglass or carbon bodywork shell.
Typical modifications include roll cage, "bucket" seats with racing safety harness, competition fuel tanks.
Top 10 On 12 January 2020, Portuguese motorcycle rider Paulo Gonçalves suffered a crash 276 kilometres into Stage 7 and went into cardiac arrest following severe trauma to the head, neck and backbone.
[23] Hero Motorsports Team Rally, for whom Gonçalves had been riding, elected to withdraw its remaining entries following the crash.
[25] On 16 January 2020 during the 11th stage, Dutch KTM rider Edwin Straver crashed his motorcycle and suffered a fractured cervical vertebra.
Straver was listed in critical condition and remained in a coma for several days before being transported back to the Netherlands.