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Dakar Rally Roars Back to Africa with New Route
30 Oct
Summary
- Dakar Rally starts in Portugal and finishes in Morocco for 2026.
- The race returns to Africa after a 20-year absence from the continent.
- Organizers aim for a return to Saudi Arabia in 2028.
The prestigious Dakar Rally is scheduled to commence in Portugal and traverse to a finish line in Morocco for its upcoming January 2026 event. This revised route was confirmed after organizers opted to cancel the race's previous location in Saudi Arabia due to regional conflicts.
The Dakar Rally, renowned as the globe's largest off-road competition, is making a celebrated return to the African continent for the first time in two decades. The event will run from January 9th to the 23rd, 2026.
Portugal's Algarve region will host the prologue and the initial stage of the race. Subsequently, Morocco will host the remaining eleven stages, guiding participants south towards Dakhla before a northern return leg concluding in Marrakech.
This new route spans a total of 7,824 kilometers, with 4,341 kilometers designated for special stages, closely mirroring the distances of recent editions. Each special stage is designed to range between 350 and 500 kilometers in length.
The rally's history began in 1979, with an inaugural journey from Paris to Dakar, Senegal. The event experienced a short-notice cancellation in 2008 due to security concerns in North Africa. Since then, it has been hosted in South America and, from 2020, in Saudi Arabia.
