Video: This onboard shows how incredible Dakar trucks are

17th December 2019

Laura Thomson

Dakar 2020 is within touching distance and we’re readying ourselves for an onslaught of sandy dunes and lunar-like landscape as the epic rally raid heads to Saudi Arabia for the first time ever.

For the past 11 years, it has been held in South America, after terrorism fears chased it from its original West African route.

The new territory is very much the unknown, with vast desert, rocky mountains and deep canyons promised over 13 days of actions and 12 stages.

So, in anticipation we’ve been looking back at some of our favourite Dakar clips from previous years, including this onboard gem courtesy of Big Shock Racing.

Watch as the trio navigate their way through tight gravelly pistes and into deep sandy ruts as it cuts from La Paz to Uyuni in Bolivia’s Stage 7. The driver and navigator’s concentration is palpable, while the mechanic keeps a close eye on the truck’s vital statistics across a myriad of screens and dials.

From the 5^th to the 12^th January 2020, more than 500 competitors will battle through Saudi on the 42^nd edition of the rally, 46 of which will be giant trucks such as the above.

We took a look inside a similar beast at this year’s Festival of Speed – the Kamaz Bonnet truck…