A Saudi odyssey
June 7
th
2025
- 20:15
[GMT + 3]
- The 2026 Dakar, set to run from 3 to 17 January, will bring drivers and crews to the shores of the Red Sea in Yanbu for a loop route of around 8,000 kilometres, including 5,000 kilometres of timed sections. Halfway through the rally, competitors will enjoy a rest day in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. In parallel with the opening of entries, David Castera unveiled the broad strokes of the 48th edition (which will double as the curtain-raiser for the new W2RC season) at a gathering on the Spanish estate of Les Comes, which was broadcast live in the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic and Chile.
- Two "marathon-refuge" stages in which only competitor-to-competitor assistance will be allowed and the backdrop will be stripped back to the bare essentials are among the defining moments of the rally. The 2026 route will also see the return of separate courses for motorbikes and four-wheeled vehicles.
- Stéphane Peterhansel may no longer be a title challenger, but the record holder for most victories at the event is gearing up for a comeback behind the wheel of one of the three Defenders entered in the Stock class, which is about to undergo a major revival in the coming years.
- The sixth edition of the Dakar Classic regularity race, which brought together around a hundred historic vehicles last January, will pit the field against a 7,000-kilometre route, including 4,500 kilometres against the clock —a new record.
- The Saudi Next Gen academy will once again put up-and-coming Saudi drivers and navigators through their paces, with a ticket to the following edition as the prize.
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AN XXL LOOP STARTING AND ENDING IN YANBU Now in its seventh consecutive year in Saudi Arabia, the Dakar has developed an intimate understanding of the terrain, allowing organisers to craft a route that hits the sweet spot between the spirit of adventure and streamlined logistics for everyone involved (competitors, service crews, organisation, media, etc.). The super-sized loop format ticks all the right boxes. The Red Sea port city of Yanbu has been picked to host both the start and finish, with six more bivouacs set up in the heart of the desert and in Riyadh, where the rally will catch a breather on the rest day. Four loop stages are scheduled along the way, ensuring that the challenge remains every bit as punishing in terms of distance and varied terrains for riders, drivers and navigators… while making life a touch easier for the rest. The marathon stage concept embodies the ultimate challenge of the Dakar: striking the right balance between raw performance and endurance. These back-to-back stages, often decisive in the overall shake-up, have taken various forms over the years, most recently the 48 h chrono stage format featured in the past two editions. For 2026, the minimalist philosophy remains intact. In both marathon-refuge stages, one in the middle of the first week and the other halfway through the second, riders and crews will be issued a bare-bones package consisting of a sleeping bag, a tent and a ration pack. To pre-empt any tactical shenanigans aimed at securing a more favourable starting position for the following day, the starting order will follow the standard rulebook, based strictly on the standings in the previous special. The decision to separate FIA and FIM vehicles in certain stages has proved its worth on multiple fronts and will be carried over into the 2026 edition. The format boosts safety by cutting down on overtaking incidents, extends daylight driving time for cars and trucks and rewards the sharpest navigators at the front of the four-wheel field. Four stages will follow this split-course model, grouped into two back-to-back pairs. This way, any strategy hinging on a deliberately late start to gain an advantage the next day is doomed to fail: whatever time is gained on the first day will almost certainly be lost on the second one! The Dakar has kept its promise of an adventure on a human scale from the very beginning. Beyond the cutting-edge machines battling up front, the rally remains open to those bold enough to take on the desert in less competitive, but still desert-capable, 4×4s. The Production class, reserved for vehicles closely based on showroom models, is undergoing a transformation. The regulations now allow a few performance-enhancing tweaks. That shift has caught the attention of the British manufacturer Land Rover, which is set to enter three Defenders in the 2026 Dakar. It was all the incentive that Stéphane Peterhansel, the record holder for most victories, needed to sign up once again, teaming up with Rokas Baciuška and Sara Price. Toyota will no longer be in a class of their own. Dakar enthusiasts and history buffs were quick to heed the call of the Dakar Classic. The regularity race has built a loyal following since its inception in 2021. Veterans of the discipline and connoisseurs of historic vehicles now share the bivouac with rookies who have signed up on impulse or out of sheer passion. Eligible entries now include cars and trucks from the 1980s and 1990s, as well as vehicles registered up to 2005. Crews are grouped into classes based on both the technical capabilities of their machines and their own level of experience. The challenge is set to ramp up again in 2026, with a new record for total special distance: 4,500 kilometres. Call it fate or just a well-timed coincidence, but the very year that the Saudi Next Gen academy was launched to nurture the budding talents of the Kingdom, its top performer, Yazeed Al Rajhi, finally tasted glory in the Dakar. Last January, two crews got their hands on the prize at the end of a five-day deep dive into rally life, both on the tracks and inside the bivouac. Hamza Bakhashab, 21, and Abdullah Alsheqawi, 27, snapped up tickets to the Dakar and are all set for their official competition debut. These rookies will have a chance to pass on a few tips to the next batch of trainees looking to follow in their wheel tracks in the second edition. The Mission 1000 challenge provides a test bed for vehicles to put their cutting-edge alternative technologies to the test in the landscapes of the Dakar, tackling a distance suitable for their current potential every day. The desert laboratory is returning in 2026, with an increasing roster of projects that aim to build the future of rally raids. |
