Innovation is no scary thing for the Dakar Rally, and the newly-implemented Mission 1000 is a “shot in the arm” for the future of the biggest event in motorsport.
The Mission 1000 aims to give competitors and manufacturers a look into the future of rally-raid racing. It consists of running three different engine types -fully electric, fully hydrogen-powered, and hybrid- through the entirety of the event in Saudi Arabia.
Each of the 10 vehicles fitted with the aforementioned technologies will have to complete 100-kilometer sections for each stage of the Dakar, making for a total challenge of 1000 kilometers.
“Entrants need to complete the entire route to score a grand total of 100 points in the challenge and will lose points for each unfinished stage,” a Dakar statement received by Action Sports Network said. “For example, abandoning after 48 kilometers of a 96-kilometer stage will only yield 50% of the points at stake.”
Additonally, vehicles will be awarded points depending on their performances stacked up against an established reference time, divided in three sections:
* Eco Mode: vehicles that complete the stages 10% or more slower than the reference time will receive 0 bonus points.
* Normal mode: those who finish within 5% of the reference time will receive 5 bonus points.
* Sport mode: finishing 10% or more faster than the reference time will award the vehicle 10 bonus points.
Although the challenge is not intended as a competition, “several assesment criteria have been defined to put the vehicles through their paces and keep the riders and drivers on their toes,” Dakar said.
The Mission 1000 also implements a feature often seen in Formula E and Extreme E, called “Fan Boost.” The competitors will be able to share their stories throughout the Dakar on social media, and every weekend fans will vote their favorites, awarding them 5 bonus points twice.
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