With MotoGP ending its season last month along with the WSBK and drag races, there is only one race for us, enthusiasts, to look forward to. And it is the mothership.

The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is the world’s most challenging cross-country rally event that judges the physical and mental aptitudes of the rider and the machine since its inception in 1978.

For the 40th edition of this grueling race, the world’s top off-roaders are revisiting the Pacific Ocean and the dunes of Peru on the, to travel on a gruesome track through Bolivia and finally culminating in Argentina. The 5,500-mile race will last 14 days (6th – 20th January 2018) and is split up into seven stages.

Man and machine are made to traverse the toughest of terrains that includes sand dunes, mud, grass, rocks, ergs, and everything inhumane for a catastrophic 5,500 miles. It demands the greatest level of endurance and concentration to charter through the unknown wilderness.

Out of a total 146 motorcycles that started stage 1 last year, only 97 of them crossed the chequered flag at the end of stage 12 with Sam Sunderland on a KTM becoming the first British to win the Dakar Rally in the Motorcycle segment. With this victory, KTM extended its winning streak to 16 and its only time till they pull all pins to make that 17 in 2018.

Their closest rivals, Honda, will take every possible narrative to disrupt KTM’s domination and have been showing strong potential for the past few Dakars’. Joan Barreda and the rest of the HRC squad had a misfortunate penalty of one hour last year for improper fuel stops, else things could have gone either way for them.

Yamaha and Husqvarna bikes also have managed to keep pace with the KTMs’ and Hondas’ to secure spots amongst the top 20. Can they somehow gain an advantage over the Austrian Orange or the Japanese Red Wing? I would say ‘possible’.

Well, that is exactly why the Dakar can become so exciting. 5500 miles and 14 days is a long time for tables to turn for all teams participating and the unforgiving conditions can make life hell for most of them.

Each of the seven stages can range from short distances up to 600 - 1200 miles per day. Both amateur and professional teams participate in this off-road endurance event on motorcycles, quad-bikes, cars, and trucks across three countries in South America (since 2009).