2011 Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah will join forces with 2010 winner Carlos Sainz for this year's event. The pair will compete for the newly formed Qatar Red Bull Rally Team, in a custom-designed California-built Buggy.
Both men's respective co-pilots are also previous winners: Al-Attiyah's partner Lucas Cruz triumphed with Sainz in 2010, while the Spaniard's guide Timo Gottschalk shared victory with Al Attiyah one year later. Al-Attiyah competed in last year's event in a Hummer, but spectacular speed was undone by reliability woes and he retired in the second week. Victory instead went to Mini's Stephane Peterhansel, who will spearhead the team's 2013 squad in pursuit of an 11th Dakar triumph.
He will be joined at the X-Raid team by Nani Roma – second to Peterhansel last year – and Krzysztof Holowczyc, who led early on last year before dropping down to 10th following a spate of mechanical troubles.
Meanwhile, Toyota's new Hilux will be driven by 2009 winner Giniel De Villiers – third in 2012 – and Lucio Alvarez. Six Hilux V8s in total will compete in the 2013 Rally, making Toyota the second biggest team to participate.
This year's course will start in Lima, Peru, before winding through Argentina and then finishing in Santiago, Chile, with some 5,300 miles being covered across 14 days of competition.