Competitors hoping to run the Dakar Rally for the first time will once again have an opportunity to earn free admission to the 2025 edition if they win the Road to Dakar subcategory at participating events in 2024. Like in previous years, bike riders and side-by-side vehicle (SSV) drivers may take part.
To be eligible, a competitor (including their co-driver for car classes) must not have any prior Dakar Rally experience, has never been regarded as an elite or priority competitor by the FIA or Amaury Sport Organisation, is not part of an official team, and has never finished in the top ten of an FIM World Championship of any kind. Former RtD winners, excluding navigators, cannot sign up again even if they did not redeem their voucher.
Once they reach Dakar, bike winners compete in the Rally2 class while SSV racers can compete in T3 or T4 but are generally in the latter.
All four World Rally-Raid Championship events after Dakar—the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Transibérico, Desafío Ruta 40, and Rallye du Maroc—make up the bulk of the Road to Dakar. The 1000 Desert Race, a round of the South African Rally-Raid Championship, and the Sonora Rally are non-W2RC events but also programme legs. Unlike the W2RC rounds, the 1000 Desert Race’s four-wheel RtD winner is in the top-level T1 category instead of an SSV. Sonora, a former W2RC race, was an RtD event prior to attaining World Championship status.
All FIM riders except for those in the top RallyGP class undergo a screening process by the Amaury Sport Organisation to determine whether they will be selected for Dakar. Besides winning the RtD for an automatic berth, riders bolster their qualifications via points earned by finishing certain races. Rallies must take place between July 2022 and July 2024 as rider selection takes place on 15 July.
Most W2RC rallies award twelve points save for the new BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Transibérico, which is not in a desert environment like the Dakar and thus gives out six, while the 1000 Desert Race delivers eight. W2RC races held before July 2022 allocate four points.
Those who have already run a Dakar Rally are obviously not allowed to enter the RtD, though finishing one since the race moved to Saudi Arabia in 2020 hands out eighteen points in the application process.
FIM Bajas World Cup rounds give two points each as do unaffiliated rallies that are at least five days long and take place in non-desert climates; examples of the latter include the Rallye Breslau in Poland. Conversely, non-FIM rounds of the same length but are held in deserts or dune-heavy areas, such as the Six Day Baja Rally in Mexico, provide double the points, though those prior to July 2022 also dole out two. Entrants cannot use pre-2022 FIM Bajas and sand-less rallies for their portfolio.
Riders can earn three bonus points if their final time is within 1.3 to 1.5 times that of the Rally2 category winner. Of course, winning the class outright will also guarantee Dakar entry as is the case with Tobias Ebster at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.
Points increase the likelihood of being selected for Dakar, but other factors taken into account include overall fitness and a “dossier du sélection” talking about their motivations for racing and goals.
“You never can be 100% sure on what ASO decides,” Justin Gerlach told The Checkered Flag in June. He was not accepted for the 2024 Dakar Rally, but intends to try again next year. “It depends on the amount of people who are trying to do Dakar in the motorcycle class and the experience other riders bring.”
2023 Road to Dakar winners include Ebster (Abu Dhabi), Sara Price and Francisco Alvarez (Sonora Rally), Jayden Els (1000 Desert Race), and Juan Santiago Rostan and Juan José Semino (Desafío Ruta 40).
130 slots are available for bike and quad riders at the 2025 Dakar Rally.
2024 Road to Dakar races
| # | Race | Date | Classes |
| 1 | Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge | 25 February – 2 March | T3/T4, Bike |
| 2 | BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Transibérico | 2–7 April | T3/T4, Bike |
| 3 | Sonora Rally | TBA | T3/T4, Bike |
| 4 | Desafío Ruta 40 | 2–8 June | T3/T4, Bike |
| 5 | 1000 Desert Race | TBA | T1, Bike |
| 6 | Rallye du Maroc | 5–11 October | T3/T4, Bike |
Bike points scale
| Race | Points |
| Dakar Rally | 18 |
| Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge | 12 |
| Desafío Ruta 40 | 12 |
| Rallye du Maroc | 12 |
| Sonora Rally | 12 |
| 1000 Desert Race | 8 |
| BP Ultimate Rally-Raid Transibérico | 6 |
| Desert rally raid of at least 5 days | 4 |
| Other rally raid of at least 5 days | 2 |
| FIM Bajas World Cup race | 2 |