SAUDI NEXT GEN : THE LEARNING JOURNEY NEVER ENDS
Season 3 of the Saudi Next Gen academy, set up to scout and nurture budding Saudi talents in the mould of national hero Yazeed Al Rajhi, will get under way in January 2027. Five crews will fight to come first in their class while the 2026 graduates —the driver Abdulaziz Al Saud and the navigator Meshal Khalaf Alshamrani — try their hand at the Dakar in the 49th edition of the rally.
Talk about an instant hit. The launch of the Saudi Next Gen academy in the build-up to the 2025 edition preceded the start of a scouting and selection procedure involving more than 50 contenders eager to try their luck. Five crews made it to Yanbu for rally-raid boot camp led by the former rider Edoardo Mossi, under whose eye they competed for a ticket to the next Dakar. The final call to name the two warriors set to earn their Dakar stripes in 2027 was made at the end of a spicy, well-rounded appetiser. In line with the latest version of the rules, the best driver and the best navigator were picked separately based on a comprehensive set of criteria: Abdulaziz Al Saud will take the wheel, with Meshal Khalaf Alshammari navigating on the road book.
Building on their success in the second promotion of the Saudi Next Gen, the newly founded partnership will receive bespoke training to get them ready for the big challenge. Their first objective, which evaded their predecessors, will be to make it to the finish and get their hands on finishers’ medals. Not everyone can tame the Dakar on their first try, as the inaugural graduates of the academy found out after entering this brutal race. Neither Hamzah Bakhashab nor Abdullah Al Shegawi managed to take their SSVs to the final podium. This has not dented their determination to try again, but this time they will be fully responsible for every aspect of their participation. There is always something new to learn in the Dakar.
Since the beginning of the program:
- 20 young talents already trained
- 4 completed the Dakar in 2026
- 10 new talents to recruit for 2027
- 2 newly trained talents are preparing to take part in the Dakar 2027
