Before the start of the 2024 Dakar Rally, twice reigning champion Nasser Al-Attiyah proclaimed he would “give them just three days” before Team Audi Sport retired from the race, citing their mechanical failures and other setbacks that plagued them throughout 2023. Ironically, it was Al-Attiyah who watched from the distance as Audi drove off to victory led by Carlos Sainz, who scored his fourth career Dakar.
Al-Attiyah entered the Dakar looking to be the third driver to score three consecutive Dakar wins, joining Ari Vatanen (1989 to 1991) and Pierre Lartigue (1994 to 1996). However, despite already having a Baja win for Prodrive, his Hunter struggled with mechanical issues and his lone stage win came after team-mate Sébastien Loeb opted to sandbag for a better starting position in the following day’s Chrono Stage. Over the next few days, Al-Attiyah’s race unravelled with more vehicle trouble such as a steering failure and his engine blowing up. He retired from the Dakar for the first time since 2017, his first year at Toyota.
Loeb was the closest competition to Sainz as he won a race-high five stages, but blinked in their staring contest when his suspension broke on the penultimate day. This dropped him to over an hour and a half behind Sainz as the Toyota of Guillaume de Mévius moved up to second, though the latter was also too far back to catch Sainz.
After Sainz’s Audi colleagues Mattias Ekström and Stéphane Peterhansel both experienced mechanical problems that prevented them from contending for the win, they elected to accompany their team-mate over the final stages to provide assistance should something arise. This came in handy during Stage #10 when Sainz suffered a streak of tyre punctures only for his partners to show up and save the day.
While he didn’t win a stage, Sainz scored his fourth Dakar after previous triumphs in 2010, 2018, and 2020; he also won the 2008 Central Europe Rally that replaced that year’s Dakar. Audi’s swan song campaign also begins on a strong note as they notched the first Dakar overall victory for an electric vehicle and their second World Rally-Raid Championship win (after Peterhansel at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge) as they plan to close their rally raid programme after 2024 to focus on Formula One. Sainz’s post-Audi future is not certain either, especially as he stated last April that his final major career goal was to win a fourth Dakar for as many manufacturers—having previously claimed the 2010 race for Volkswagen, 2018 for Peugeot, and 2020 for Mini—though there have been reports that he would join Ford for 2025.
“This victory means a lot to me. It’s my fourth victory with the fourth different brand,” said Sainz. “The team has developed a very special concept with which we are the first in the Dakar Rally. Only Audi was brave enough to take this risk. I’m happy that we’ve made history with it, and in one of the toughest editions of this rally that I have experienced. My family is here, as is the whole Audi family.”
De Mévius and team-mate Guerlain Chicherit carried the defending manufacturer’s champion Toyota as they respectively finished second and fourth. Due to Loeb not competing for points, Chicherit moves up to third on the W2RC podium. Fellow Hilux Giniel de Villiers was seventh to break a tie with Yoshimasa Sugawara for the longest finishing streak at twenty-one; incidentally, Sugawara was concurrently competing in the ‘real’ rally to Dakar at the Africa Eco Race, where he also reached the finish.
Yazeed Al-Rajhi, the 2023 championship runner-up, looked like the top Toyota driver following Al-Attiyah’s departure as he led the overall for three stages but retired after rolling on the first day of the Chrono Stage.
Although he and his fellow 4×2 entries in the T1.2 subcategory are often outclassed by T1+, Mathieu Serradori impressed with a third in Stage #9 en route to a top-ten overall finish. He ran as high as fifth before a suspension failure in Stage #11 dropped him to tenth. His run topped a tumultuous rally for the twelve cars built by Century Racing, with a particular lowlight being their new CR7-T piloted by Brian Baragwanath and Urvo Männama having to sit out two days due to a critical suspension issue that required parts to be shipped in from South Africa; Männama’s race then came to an end when his car caught fire overnight prior to Stage #8.
Other teams also underwent trials by fire for their new vehicles or drivers. Wei Han and Red-Lined Motorsport co-developed a new T1+ car that dropped out on the Chrono Stage; Red-Lined’s REVO T1+ finished twenty-fifth with Aliyyah Koloc, having a slight setback with a front axle manufacturing defect in Stage #2 but otherwise stayed out of trouble. A privateer-friendly version of the Hilux T1+ built by WCT Engineering and piloted by Hennie de Klerk bowed out due to multiple driveshaft failures. At Mini, reigning FIA European Baja Cup champion Krzysztof Hołowczyc‘s first Dakar since 2015 was ruined by a pair of crashes while team newcomer Pau Navarro broke his wrist in a rollover. M-Sport Ford’s Dakar début saw Nani Roma and Gareth Woolridge both retire on the eighth day, though both managed to reach the finish.
Ultimate overall results
| Finish | Number | Driver | Co-Driver | Team | Class | Time | Margin |
| 1 | 204 | Carlos Sainz | Lucas Cruz | Team Audi Sport | T1.U | 48:15:18 | Leader |
| 2 | 221 | Guillaume de Mévius | Xavier Panseri | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 49:35:34 | + 1:20:25 |
| 3 | 203 | Sébastien Loeb* | Fabian Lurquin | Bahrain Raid Xtreme | T1+ | 49:44:30 | + 1:29:12 |
| 4 | 211 | Guerlain Chicherit | Alex Winocq | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 49:51:17 | + 1:35:59 |
| 5 | 208 | Martin Prokop | Viktor Chytka | ORLEN Jipocar Team | T1+ | 50:32:01 | + 2:16:43 |
| 6 | 243 | Guy Botterill* | Brett Cummings | Toyota Gazoo Racing | T1+ | 50:55:51 | + 2:40:33 |
| 7 | 209 | Giniel de Villiers* | Dennis Murphy | Toyota Gazoo Racing | T1+ | 51:05:44 | + 2:50:26 |
| 8 | 223 | Benediktas Vanagas* | Kuldar Sikk | Toyota Gazoo Racing Baltics | T1+ | 51:12:35 | + 2:57:17 |
| 9 | 206 | Lucas Moraes | Armand Monleón | Toyota Gazoo Racing | T1+ | 51:18:30 | + 3:04:12 |
| 10 | 212 | Mathieu Serradori | Loïc Minaudier | Serradori Racing Team | T1.2 | 51:19:30 | + 3:04:12 |
| 11 | 215 | Denis Krotov | Konstantin Zhiltsov | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 51:54:31 | + 3:39:13 |
| 12 | 220 | Christian Lavieille* | Valentin Sarreaud | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 52:36:09 | + 4:20:51 |
| 13 | 245 | Cristian Baumgart | Alberto Andreotti | X Rally Team | T1+ | 52:37:17 | + 4:21:59 |
| 14 | 231 | Romain Dumas* | Max Delfino | Rebellion Racing | T1+ | 52:48:29 | + 4:33:11 |
| 15 | 238 | Laia Sanz* | Maurizio Gerini | Astara Team | T1.2 | 53:09:04 | + 4:53:46 |
| 16 | 226 | Saood Variawa | François Cazalet | Toyota Gazoo Racing | T1+ | 54:09:59 | + 5:54:41 |
| 17 | 228 | Jérôme Pélichet* | Pascal Larroque | RaidLynx | T1.2 | 54:51:14 | + 6:35:56 |
| 18 | 205 | Juan Cruz Yacopini | Daniel Oliveiras | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 57:41:00 | + 9:25:42 |
| 19 | 236 | Ronan Chabot* | Gilles Pillot | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 58:38:40 | + 10:23:22 |
| 20 | 229 | Lionel Baud | Lucie Baud | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 59:17:26 | + 11:02:08 |
| 21 | 257 | François Cousin* | Stéphane Cousin | Compagnie des Dunes | T1.2 | 59:59:41 | + 11:44:23 |
| 22 | 237 | Tim Coronel* | Tom Coronel | Coronel Dakar Team | T1.2 | 61:35:43 | + 13:20:25 |
| 23 | 273 | Karel Trneny* | Michal Ernst | Workoutland ACCR Czech Team | T1+ | 62:14:51 | + 13:59:33 |
| 24 | 260 | Andrea Schiumarini* | Andrea Succi | TH-Trucks Team | T1.2 | 62:18:20 | + 14:03:02 |
| 25 | 239 | Aliyyah Koloc | Sébastien Delaunay | Buggyra ZM Racing | T1+ | 62:24:51 | + 14:09:33 |
| 26 | 207 | Mattias Ekström | Emil Bergkvist | Team Audi Sport | T1.U | 63:34:57 | + 15:19:39 |
| 27 | 261 | Benoit Fretin* | Cédric Duple | YDEO Competition | T1.2 | 63:48:20 | + 15:33:02 |
| 28 | 259 | Gintas Petrus* | Jose Marques | Petrus Racing | T1.2 | 64:29:22 | + 16:14:04 |
| 29 | 264 | Maik Willems* | Robert Van Pelt | Bastion Hotels Dakar Team | T1+ | 64:58:30 | + 16:43:12 |
| 30 | 202 | Stéphane Peterhansel | Édouard Boulanger | Team Audi Sport | T1.U | 65:40:30 | + 17:25:12 |
| 31 | 227 | Eugenio Amos | Paolo Ceci | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | 65:56:36 | + 17:41:18 |
| 32 | 251 | Alexandre Pesci* | Stephan Kuhni | Rebellion Racing | T1+ | 68:03:59 | + 19:48:41 |
| 33 | 272 | Jean-Philippe Beziat* | Vincent Albira | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 68:1501 | + 19:59:43 |
| 34 | 268 | Stefan Carmans* | Antonius van Tiel | CSA Racing | T1+ | 69:42:47 | + 21:27:29 |
| 35 | 266 | Cedric Goumaz* | Pascal Delacour | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 73:24:32 | + 25:09:14 |
| 36 | 235 | Isidre Esteve* | José Maria Villalobos Valcarcel | Repsol Toyota Rally Team | T1+ | 78:23:07 | + 30:07:49 |
| 37 | 254 | Zi Yungang* | Hong Yu Pan | YunXiang Racing | T1+ | 96:52:01 | + 48:36:43 |
| 38 | 219 | Brian Baragwanath* | Leonard Cremer | Century Racing | T1+ | 104:40:28 | + 56:25:10 |
| 39 | 248 | Tomáš Ouředníček* | David Křípal | Toyota Gazoo Racing Czech | T1+ | 111:32:29 | + 63:17:11 |
| 40 | 234 | Jean-Rémy Bergounhe* | Lionel Costes | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 111:37:14 | + 63:21:56 |
| 41 | 241 | Jean-Luc Ceccaldi | Thomas Gaidella | JLC Racing | T1.2 | 112:16:56 | + 64:01:38 |
| 42 | 216 | Seth Quintero | Dennis Zenz | Toyota Gazoo Racing | T1+ | 117:20:01 | + 69:04:43 |
| 43 | 256 | Xiangyan Sun* | Yu Tian | HanWei Motorsport | T1.2 | 122:57:54 | + 74:42:36 |
| 44 | 210 | Nani Roma* | Alex Haro Bravo | Ford M-Sport | T1+ | 130:32:18 | + 82:17:00 |
| 45 | 274 | Magdalena Zajac* | Jacek Czachor | Proxcars TME Rally Team | T1.1 | 133:14:17 | + 84:58:59 |
| 46 | 225 | Gareth Woolridge* | Boyd Dreyer | Ford M-Sport | T1+ | 135:12:23 | + 87:08:55 |
| 47 | 217 | Krzysztof Hołowczyc | Łukasz Kurzeja | X-raid Mini JCW Team | T1+ | 137:12:03 | + 88:56:45 |
| 48 | 232 | Pascal Thomasse* | Arnold Brucy | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 141:43:17 | + 93:27:59 |
| 49 | 240 | Vladas Jurkevičius* | Aisvydas Paliukėnas | Atlantis Racing | T1+ | 143:04:41 | + 94:49:23 |
| 50 | 267 | Jérôme Cambier* | Philippe Gosselin | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | 152:12:46 | + 103:57:28 |
| 51 | 255 | Dominique Housieaux* | Delphine Delfino | Serradori Racing Team | T1.2 | 155:24:14 | + 107:08:56 |
| 52 | 214 | Vaidotas Žala* | Paulo Fiuza | X-raid Arijus Team | T1+ | 158:23:03 | + 110:07:45 |
| DNF | 200 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | Mathieu Baumel | Nasser Racing | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 201 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | Timo Gottschalk | Overdrive Racing | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 218 | Wei Han* | Li Ma | HanWei Motorsport | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 222 | Simon Vitse* | Frédéric Lefebvre | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 230 | Pau Navarro | Gonçalo Reis | X-raid Mini JCW Team | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 242 | Marcos Baumgart | Kleber Cincea | X Rally Team | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 244 | Jean-Pierre Strugo* | Christophe Crespo | MD Rallye Sport | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 246 | Frédéric Chesneau* | Lionel Romanin | Skybox Rally-Raid | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 247 | Michel Kremer* | Thomas de Bois | Coronel Dakar Team | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 249 | Feilong Liu* | Wang Yicheng | YunXiang Racing | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 250 | Urvo Männama* | Risto Lepik | Rally Raid Estonia | T1 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 252 | Ping Sun* | Min Liao | YunXiang Racing | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 253 | Philippe Boutron* | Franck Maldonado | Sodicars Racing | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 258 | Hennie de Klerk* | Juan Möhr | TreasuryONE Motorsport | T1+ | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 262 | Patricia Pita Gago* | Paolo Boggioni | Astara Team | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 269 | Antoine Delaporte* | Yoann François | Off Road Concept | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 270 | Patrice Étienne* | Antoine Sanchez | YDEO Competition | T1.2 | DNF | N/A |
| DNF | 271 | Silvio Totani* | Tito Totani | Motortechnica Racing Team | T1.1 | DNF | N/A |
Ultimate stage winners
| Stage | Driver | Time |
| Prologue | Mattias Ekström | 16:30.9 |
| Stage #1 | Guillaume de Mévius | 4:35:59 |
| Stage #2 | Stéphane Peterhansel | 3:54:40 |
| Stage #3 | Lucas Moraes | 4:14:51 |
| Stage #4 | Sébastien Loeb* | 2:36:02 |
| Stage #5 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 1:37:25 |
| Stage #6 | Sébastien Loeb* | 7:21:56 |
| Stage #7 | Sébastien Loeb* | 4:56:39 |
| Stage #8 | Mattias Ekström | 3:17:15 |
| Stage #9 | Sébastien Loeb* | 4:17:33 |
| Stage #10 | Guerlain Chicherit | 3:19:27 |
| Stage #11 | Guerlain Chicherit | 4:43:00 |
| Stage #12 | Sébastien Loeb* | 1:39:41 |
W2RC standings
Unlike Challenger and SSV, Ultimate does not have its own class-specific trophy and instead has a single championship where drivers from all three points-paying categories are eligible.
For readability, competitors registered for the championship who have yet to earn points are not listed.
Drivers’ standings
| Rank | Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Carlos Sainz | 76 | Leader |
| 2 | Guillaume de Mévius | 58 | – 18 |
| 3 | Guerlain Chicherit | 56 | – 20 |
| 4 | Lucas Moraes | 40 | – 36 |
| 5 | Mathieu Serradori | 32 | – 44 |
| 6 | Martin Prokop | 27 | – 49 |
| T-7 | Nasser Al-Attiyah | 18 | – 58 |
| T-7 | Denis Krotov | 18 | – 58 |
| 9 | Cristian Baumgart | 16 | – 60 |
| 10 | Mattias Ekström | 15 | – 61 |
| T-11 | Yazeed Al-Rajhi | 14 | – 62 |
| T-11 | Saood Variawa | 14 | – 62 |
| 13 | Stéphane Peterhansel | 13 | – 63 |
| T-14 | Mitch Guthrie | 11 | – 65 |
| T-14 | Juan Cruz Yacopini | 11 | – 65 |
| 16 | Rokas Baciuška | 9 | – 67 |
| 17 | Austin Jones | 7 | – 69 |
| T-18 | Yasir Seaidan | 5 | – 71 |
| T-18 | Seth Quintero | 5 | – 71 |
| T-20 | Sara Price | 4 | – 72 |
| T-20 | Eugenio Amos | 4 | – 72 |
| 22 | Krzysztof Hołowczyc | 3 | – 73 |
Underscore – SSV
Co-drivers’ standings
| Rank | Co-Driver | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Lucas Cruz | 76 | Leader |
| 2 | Xavier Panseri | 58 | – 18 |
| 3 | Alex Winocq | 56 | – 20 |
| 4 | Armand Monleón | 40 | – 36 |
| 5 | Loïc Minaudier | 32 | – 44 |
| 6 | Viktor Chytka | 27 | – 49 |
| T-7 | Mathieu Baumel | 18 | – 58 |
| T-7 | Konstantin Zhiltsov | 18 | – 58 |
| 9 | Alberto Andreotti | 16 | – 60 |
| 10 | Emil Bergkvist | 15 | – 61 |
| T-11 | Timo Gottschalk | 14 | – 62 |
| T-11 | François Cazalet | 14 | – 62 |
| 13 | Édouard Boulanger | 13 | – 63 |
| T-14 | Daniel Oliveiras | 11 | – 65 |
| T-14 | Kellon Walch | 11 | – 65 |
| 16 | Oriol Vidal | 9 | – 67 |
| 17 | Gustavo Gugelmin | 7 | – 69 |
| T-18 | Dennis Zenz | 5 | – 71 |
| T-18 | Adrien Metge | 5 | – 71 |
| T-20 | Paolo Ceci | 4 | – 72 |
| T-20 | Jeremy Gray | 4 | – 72 |
| 22 | Łukasz Kurzeja | 3 | – 73 |
Manufacturers’ standings
| Rank | Manufacturer | Points | Margin |
| 1 | Audi | 76 | Leader |
| 2 | Toyota | 63 | – 13 |
| 3 | Prodrive | 30 | – 46 |
| 4 | Mini | 20 | – 56 |
