144 riders receive numbers for 2023 Dakar Rally

As the 2023 Dakar Rally looms, the Amaury Sport Organisation provided Thursday the number bibs for 144 bike and quad riders. Each bib is of a different colour to signify their status or class: elite riders have yellow bibs, quads and amateur bike racers use white, and those in the Malle Moto category have red.

Twenty-seven riders comprise the yellow numbers. These racers have factory support and usually compete at the top level of rally competition, which in the case of Dakar and the overarching World Rally-Raid Championship is the RallyGP class. 2022 Dakar winner and W2RC RallyGP champion Sam Sunderland gets #1 after spending the previous year with #3.

White numbers fall under Rally2 and include amateur riders, rookies, among others. Seventy-three such riders are competing on bikes while seventeen are on quads. Alexandre Giroud will defend his Quad title as #151.

The Malle Moto, also known as Original by Motul, features twenty-seven competitors. The class is arguably the toughest of any at Dakar as riders may not receive any support whatsoever including crews. The only help Malle Moto racers get are a trunk from the ASO for storage of personal belongings and tools and free use of generators and toolboxes in the bivouac. Category sponsor Motul also provides some supplies like a backpack, sleeping bag, tent, and headline.

David Pearson, who is making his Dakar Rally début in Malle Moto alongside American Rally Originals team-mates Morrison Hart, David and Jim Pearson, and Kyle McCoy, described the class at being like “choosing to run the Iditarod (on foot) rather than taking a dog sled.”

Despite winning Malle Moto in back-to-back years, Arūnas Gelažninkas will not try for a three-peat as he sold his bike in June.

Many of the participants are newcomers who were accepted in late July after passing the selection process, including TCF interviewee Ace Nilson. Others secured their spots via strong performances in certain races that fall under the Road to Dakar banner like Pearson at the Sonora Rally, Stefano Caimi and Ruben Saldaña Goñi at the Rallye du Maroc, and Ottavio Missoni Jr. at the Andalucía Rally.

The 2023 Dakar Rally begins on 31 December 2022.

Rider numbers

RallyGP (yellow)

Rally2 (white)

Quad (white)

Malle Moto (red)

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