The 2006 Dakar Rally, also known as the 2006 Paris-Dakar Rally, was the 28th running of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

event. The 2006 event ran from 31 December 2005 to 15 January 2006. It started from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal, and passed through Spain,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Western Sahara Western Sahara is a territorial dispute, disputed territory in Maghreb, North-western Africa. It has a surface area of . Approximately 30% of the territory () is controlled by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR); the remaining 70% is ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

Guinea Guinea, officially the Republic of Guinea, is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Guinea-Bissau to the northwest, Senegal to the north, Mali to the northeast, Côte d'Ivoire to the southeast, and Sier ...

, before finishing in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

. The format included speed restrictions on motorcycles and trucks and reduced use of global positioning systems. Competitors included double world rally champion, Carlos Sainz.

Entries

Bikes

;Notes

Cars

Trucks

Stages

Notes: * — Stage cancelled for bikes only in tribute to

Andy Caldecott Andrew David Caldecott (10 August 1964 – 9 January 2006) was an off-road motorcycle racer born in Keith, South Australia. He won the motorcycle division of the Australian Safari Rally four times consecutively (2000–2003) and was a competit ...

, who died during the previous stage.

Motorcycles

Australian motorcyclist

died in an accident during ninth stage. The tenth stage was not timed as a mark of respect for Caldecott. Spanish rider

Marc Coma Marc Coma i Camps (born 7 October 1976) is a Spanish rally racing motorcycle rider. He won the Dakar Rally in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, and 2015 riding a KTM motorcycle, and is also a six-time winner of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Champion ...

on KTM won the motorcycle category, second was French rider

Cyril Despres Cyril Despres (born 24 January 1974) is a French rally racer and resident of Andorra. He won the Dakar Rally five times, in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2013, riding a KTM motorcycle. He also won the Red Bull Romaniacs, an enduro event, three tim ...

and third Italian rider

Giovanni Sala Giovanni Sala (born 23 November 1963) is an Italian enduro rider and a six-time World Enduro Champion (including the overall world championship title in 1998). He is also a four-time winner of the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) World Troph ...

(both on KTM). Notes: * — Ruben Faria was awarded a 12-minute penalty for failing to complete the opening stage (including liaison) within the time limit, denying him the lead of the overall classification.

Cars

Sainz riding VW Race Touareg won the first stage from Lisbon to

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

, and also the second stage.

Jean-Louis Schlesser Jean-Louis Schlesser (born 12 September 1948) is a French racing driver who has competed in both circuit racing and cross-country rallying. He is the nephew of Jo Schlesser, a former Formula One driver. Jean-Louis entered two Formula One races ...

, winner of the event in 1999 and 2000, riding Schlesser- Ford Buggy, won the third stage between

Nador Nador () is a coastal city and provincial capital in the northeastern Rif region of Morocco with a population of about 158,202 (2024 census). The Nador Province has over 600,000 inhabitants. Nador is considered the second largest city in the Ori ...

Er Rachidia Errachidia (), formerly known as Ksar es-Souk, () is a city in Morocco, located in the Errachidia Province, and is the capital of the Drâa-Tafilalet region. Toponymy Formerly known as "Ksar es-Souk" (), the city was renamed Errachidia around ...

, with

Nani Roma Joan "Nani" Roma Cararach (born 17 February 1972) is a rally racing driver from Folgueroles, Barcelona, Spain. He won the Dakar Rally riding a motorcycle in 2004. Since then, he has entered the car category, taking the win in the 2014 edition ...

Mitsubishi Pajero The Further information on the Mitsubishi P ...

Evo taking the overall lead. Sainz won the fourth stage and took the overall lead. Stephane Peterhansel, winner in 2004 and 2005, won the fifth stage while Sainz held on to the overall lead. Giniel de Villiers moved into the lead, 22 seconds ahead of Sainz, after the sixth stage from Tan Tan to Zouerat, which was won by Thierry Magnaldi. Stephane Peterhansel won the seventh stage between Zouerat and

Atar Atar, Ahtra, Atash, Azar () or ''Dāštāɣni'',, s.v. ''agni-.'' is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is conside ...

in Mauritania but

Luc Alphand Luc Alphand (born 6 August 1965) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from France. He specialized in the speed events and later became a race car driver. Ski racing Born in Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), Alphand was world junior champion in 19 ...

, who took second place, moved into the overall lead. Stephane Peterhansel moved into the lead after finishing third in the eighth stage, which was won by Thierry Magnaldi. Peterhansel won the ninth stage between

Nouakchott Nouakchott ( ) is the capital and largest city of Mauritania. Located in the southwestern part of the country, it is one of the largest cities in the Sahara. The city also serves as the administrative and economic center of Mauritania. Once a ...

and

Kiffa Kiffa () is a large town in the far south region of Mauritania, and the name of an administrative area within the local Assaba Region. Kiffa is located at , some from the coast and at the western end of the Aoukar sand sea of southern Mau ...

in Mauritania to extend his lead; however, his win was overshadowed by the death of Australian motorcyclist

in an accident. The tenth stage was won by Sainz with overall leader Stephane Peterhansel third. Peterhansel's overall lead was reduced after he finished 11th in the eleventh stage behind winner Giniel de Villiers. Peterhansel lost time after hitting a tree during a duststorm in the twelfth stage, which was won by Luc Alphand who took the overall lead. Alphand also won the thirteenth stage between

and

, which was marred by the death of a 10-year-old boy who was hit by a car as he crossed the road. He retained the overall lead after the fourteenth stage, which was won by

Guerlain Chicherit Guerlain Chicherit (born 20 May 1978 in Paris) is a French Rallying, rally and rallycross driver, and a professional Skiing, skier who was four times world champion in Freeriding (winter sport), freeriding (1999, 2002, 2006 and 2007). Biography H ...

; a second child was killed after reportedly being hit by a support lorry. The final stage was not timed as a mark of respect for the three deaths. The rally was won by Luc Alphand.

Trucks

Vladimir Chagin riding Kamaz won the truck category, second was Hans Stacey on

MAN A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

, and third was

Firdaus Kabirov Firdaus Zaripovich Kabirov (; born 19 May 1961) is a retired Russian rally racer who twice won the Dakar Rally in the trucks category, competing for Kamaz. In 2016, he was named Kamaz's Deputy Director for Development. In December 2021, he was a ...

on Kamaz.

Final standings

Motorcycles

Cars

Trucks

In media

A motorcycle team organized by English actor

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British television presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made four long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in '' Long Way Round'' (20 ...

competed in the rally. Boorman was injured and fellow team member Matt Hall dropped out, but

Simon Pavey Simon Pavey (born 4 April 1967 in Sydney, Australia, Sydney, Australia) is a motorcycle enduro and Off-roading, off-road racer, currently based in Wales. Pavey started his racing career in Sydney in 1981 with a motocross race in Appin, New Sout ...

finished in 86th place. Their experience was documented in the 2006 television miniseries ''

Race to Dakar ''Race to Dakar'' is a documentary series following actor and keen motorcyclist Charley Boorman's entry into the 2006 Dakar Rally from Lisbon to Dakar. First aired on Sky Two and ABC Television (Australia) during 2006, it was also released as ...

'' and an accompanying book.

References

{{Dakar Rally Dakar Rally by year D Dakar Rally, 2006 2006 in French motorsport