mwplay888 Dakar Rally Disaster: Organisers' Roadbook Error Causes Massive Chaos In Saudi Arabia

Driver Simon Vitse and co-driver Max Delfino compete during the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally with start and finish in Al Duwadimi, Saudi Arabia Photo: AP Driver Simon Vitse and co-driver Max Delfino compete during the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally with start and finish in Al Duwadimi, Saudi Arabia Photo: AP

An error in the driver’s route guide caused massive chaos at the Dakar Rally on Sunday (January 12) as the cars went off route into the Saudi Arabian desert in a blunder called a “disaster" by former champion Nasser al-Attiyah. (More Motorsport News)mwplay888

The route blunder came during the 158th kilometre of the rally, at stage 7 in a race that started and finished in AI Duawadimi (412 km loop). 

“The final was really intense; the Chinese were breathing down our necks throughout the game and made it really difficult for us to create a clear goal scoring chance,” Harmanpreet said in a Hockey India release.

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On Tuesday, deep inside Chinese Mongolia, the Harmanpreet Singh-led Men in Blue did just about enough to beat a spirited Chinese side. The occasion: the final of the Asian Champions Trophy 2024.

After going off course, the drivers lost time, driving without direction in the desert until a helicopter arrived to put the cars back on the right route.

The blunder garnered quite a bit of criticism and had to also cancel the times on the 20-km section of the race, with some confusion over the remainder of the course after the cars had set out. 

🍿 Here we go! The extended highlights from #Dakar2025 Stage 7️⃣ are up now! 📺Extended highlights presented by @aramco 👉 https://t.co/ry66E7rhpI#DakarInSaudi pic.twitter.com/jIAzmiJZOB

— DAKAR RALLY (@dakar) January 12, 2025

"We were there for 50 minutes, 50 minutes of going round in circles," Belgian driver Guillaume de Mevius was quoted as saying by the Black Hills Pioneer. 

"We were crossing paths with everyone who was turning round, trying to get to the same place as us but which we'd already tried," he added. 

Toyota’s Lucas Moraes (7 min 41 sec) came out as the stage winnermwplay888, finishing the race ahead of Mattias Ekstrom (9 min 28 sec ) from Sweden and United States’ Mitchell Guthrie (9 min 28 sec) in Fords.