The 46th edition of the Dakar Rally will start on 5 January, with a route entirely in Saudi Arabia.
This will be the fifth time that the event will be held in the Arab country, and it is shaping up to be the most demanding to date with a total of 12 special stages plus the Prologue that will open the action.
This year's novelty is the 48-hour challenge in what will be a 584-kilometre timed marathon.
A particular peculiarity in this is that competitors will start in the morning, stop in the evening and resume their march the following day.
On this stage, drivers will have to stop at the next bivouac they come across after the clock strikes 4pm local time before setting off at 7am the next morning.
The total distance is 7,891 kilometres, of which 4,727 kilometres will be under the pressure of the stopwatch.
Al-Ula will host the Prologue that will serve to dictate the starting order, so those 27 kilometres will be vital to tackle a first week that rally director David Castera has described as "very tough".
The first of the special stages will take the drivers from the town where it all starts to Al Henakiyah, before heading towards Al Duwadimi. However, complications will continue on the section that connects this town to the next bivouac at Al Salamiya.
Source: Autosport